Devils have achieved heavenly offseason with roster retool

The Cup can neither be won or lost the first week of July, but I dare you to tell me a team in the East that took more strides to lifting the chalice in 11 months than the Devils.

GM Tom Fitzgerald and the New Jersey hierarchy followed their curious gap year with a strategic vengeance that, if it did not address every deficiency, seems to have come pretty darn close, and that started with the hiring of Sheldon Keefe behind the bench as head coach.

Jacob Markstrom has filled the void in net, Brett Pesce and Brenden Dillon should solidify a defense that was way too skittish and young last season, the additions of Stefan Noesen and Paul Cotter should solidify and add physicality to the bottom six with Tomas Tatar adding depth to the middle of the lineup.

The Devils have been a little bit too cool for school the past couple of years. Too much of a surfer vibe. That was obliquely referenced by Fitzgerald, who talked about having created “a more mature team.”

In retrospect, do you know what has helped?

Signing Jack Hughes to an eight-year deal for an annual average value of $8 million on his second contract after the 2019 first-overall had played just 119 games in his NHL career has helped immensely, just the way the Penguins were always helped immensely by Sidney Crosby taking $8.7M per and not worrying about it in the least when Evgeni Malkin came in at $9.5M per.