
A season that seemed so promising ended far too early for the New Jersey Devils with a five game elimination at the hands of the Philadelphia
Flyers.
The Devils were lifeless and listless for the most part in the series and deserved to lose.
The Devils were once again

successful in the regular season and the acquisition of
Ilya Kovalchuk seemed to be a possible missing piece of the playoff puzzle,but it was not meant to be.
Some are blaming
Kovalchuk and perhaps his play in the postseason was not what many expected,(he did lead the team in points with six) but I did like his effort and would love to see him back in red and black.
Look for a post soon on my thoughts on the Devils unrestricted free agents,who I would like to see stay,who I would like to see go and some possible replacements and positions that need help.
Left Wing was the strength at forward with
Kovalchuk,Zach
Parise,
Patrik Elias and Brian
Rolston.
Kovalchuk and
Parise each finished the season with over eighty points,while
Rolston scored 20 goals with only an early season injury kept Elias short of 20 (he finished with 19).
The big question is will the Devils make an effort to keep
Kovalchuk and would he stay if the effort was made.
That is a bigger question with the homegrown
Parise being an unrestricted free agent at the end of next season.
Can the Devils afford to put so much of their cap into left wings?
Time will tell.
Elias slipped a bit from his previous season's performance,but was along the lines of his normal production,while
Rolston improved from his first season,but is certainly slipping with age.
The centers are the weakness of the team and it showed against the
Flyers,who used their superiority down the middle to control the series and win with ease.
Only Travis
Zajac with 25 goals and 42 assists provided anything close to offensive help among the centers.
Dainius Zubrus continues to be erratic with his play and the Devils are paying far too much for this level of production.Rob
Niedermayer and Dean
McAmmond were decent enough all things considered,but both are getting up there in age and aren't the type of offensive threat that the team needs.
I grew tired of seeing either of them on crucial power play situations that one knew they weren't up for.The Devils need help here in the worst way.
Right wing featured the Captain Jamie
Langenbrunner,who's numbers of 19 and 42 look good until you peel the onion for his late season and playoff sulking and non-production.
I realize that with Jacques
Lemaire gone,this could change but a team cannot have its captain behaving in such a manner.
It does affect the team and some players more than others....
David
Clarkson missed a bit over half the season,so his numbers aren't as bad as they look.
Vladimir
Zharkov started strongly,but finished without a goal and faded down the stretch.
Jay
Pandolfo played both wings and showed signs that his career is nearing its end.
Rod
Pelley saw time at various positions and even though the John Madden comparisons were a bit much,
Pelley played well enough to stick around.
Andrew Peters won his share of fights,but was a liability otherwise and needs to go as Pierre
Luc Leblond can do the same job for less cost.
Having both of them on the parent roster is quite redundant.
On defense,the breakout star was Andy Greene,who entered the season battling to see ice time and ended it as arguably the Devils best
defenseman.
I would like to see Greene do it again before assuming he has arrived,but I liked Greene's season very much.
Paul Martin missed much of the season with a broken arm and wasn't quite a standout after his return.
The Devils have a huge decision to make with Martin,who will be an unrestricted free agent.
Mike
Mottau basically was himself with the occasional good evening mixed with some boneheaded mistakes.
Colin White was really strong on some nights and not so swift on others,while Bryce Salvador was the steadiest of the D first
blueliners as far as consistency goes.
Late season pickup Martin
Skoula was better than expected in the regular season,but struggled in the playoffs.
Mark Fraser had the struggles that young players will have,but his physical game and willingness to be physical gives me hope.
I really liked what I saw from Matt
Corrente in small exposures and next year should be his full time chance with the Devils.
Anssi Salmela was often scratched after his return from Atlanta.
I thought
Lemaire didn't like him,but he has offensive possibilities,if the Devils would give him more of a chance..
Martin
Brodeur was as good as ever and the playoff loss had little to do with him other than a weak Game five,Marty will not be around forever,so maybe next year is the year Jeff
Frazee will sit and learn from the best.
If not,I would be fine with
Yann Danis returning.
Danis wasn't awful in his few games.
The Devils exceeded
expectations with an Atlantic Division title,but the third straight first round exit from the playoffs shows me that some things need to change.
What are they?
I'll hit them after the playoffs are over with some thoughts for the Devils off season...
Photo Credit:c. 2008 NJ TRANSIT/Michael Rosenthal-Photographer