Making the Playoffs Might Be Too Tough for the Devils to Accomplish This Season

Based on the way the NHL standings currently look, making the Stanley Cup playoffs might be a bit of a tough ask for the New Jersey Devils.

As of this writing (Tuesday, February 3), the Devils are ninth in the Eastern Conference, seventh in the Metropolitan Division, 26th in the NHL, and ten points out of the second wild card spot with a record of 28-25-2 for 58 points. Again, clinching a spot in this year's postseason might be out of reach for this hockey club.

A lot has gone wrong for the Devils this season. It begins with the poor play of their starting goaltender Jacob Markstrom.

Simply put, Markstrom is not doing what is expected of him. He is currently 15-12-0-1 with a 3.24 goals-against average and a .881 save percentage.

The numbers mentioned above are certainly not numbers of a starting NHL goaltender. Markstrom has had trouble coming up with timely saves, is allowing a lot of soft goals, and more importantly, is not supplying the consistent goaltending that this team needs in order to win on a regular basis.

Another problem that the Devils are having has to do with franchise superstar Jack Hughes. Yes, Jack Hughes's numbers have been solid as he currently has 36 points (12 goals and 24 assists) in 36 games, but production is not the issue when it comes to Jack.

Rather, it is injuries that is holding both Jack Hughes and the team back. Earlier in the season, he suffered a freak injury at the team dinner and then last week, he had a lower-body injury that kept him out of his team's loss to the Ottawa Senators.

We all know that injuries cannot be prevented. They happen in every sport.

With that said, Jack Hughes has missed a lot of time in his career already. It does not help when your team's best player is out of the lineup a lot, so both the Devils and Jack Hughes need to figure out a way for him to remain on the ice.

Speaking of offense, the Devils have struggled mightily when it comes to putting the puck in the net. As of this writing, they are 29th in the league in goals scored, as they have scored 142 goals in 55 games, which means they are averaging under three goals per game (2.58).

This team currently does not have a 20-goal scorer. Right now, Devils' captain Nico Hischier has 18 goals and he is followed by Timo Meier (14), Jesper Bratt (13), Cody Glass (13), Dawson Mercer (13), Jack Hughes (12), and Connor Brown (10).

Someone on this team needs to step up offensively and start putting the puck in the net with regularity. The Devils have players that can do this, but they have not been able to do so consistently this season.

Lastly, Devils' President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Tom Fitzgerald has not done much of anything to make his team better. When the team was spiraling out of control three weeks ago, he met with the media and took blame for what has gone on this season.

Fitzgerald needs to figure out a way to make his team a contender. Right now, they are simply a middle of the pack hockey club, which might be putting it nicely because it looks like they do not and will not have what it takes to play hockey come springtime.