New Jersey Devils and Scott Stevens Need To Reunite

The New Jersey Devils decided the time was right to move on from head coach Lindy Ruff. At times during the season, their former head coach called this team “soft.” Not to mention, star player Jack Hughes said after the losses to the New York Rangers and other teams back they did not match the physical presence of their opponent. Hughes was not the only one to say that. However, that physical edge was prominent when Scott Stevens played for the Devils.

The losses of Ryan Graves and Damon Severson on defense are more significant than we think. Not to mention a player like Miles Wood, who was a one-dimensional player, brought a physical presence necessary on the third and fourth lines.

The Devils do not have that stay-at-home defenseman anymore like they used to. The team still makes mistakes in their zone, and the players lack an understanding of situational hockey. And while the Devils are past a point to save their save and make the playoffs, they need to build a foundation toward next season. The players must grasp the idea of playing as a team and with an edge.

So how are they going to do that? Well, it is as simple as bringing back Scott Stevens to the organization. Whether that be as the head coach or associate coach, the Devils need to find a way to bring him back into the fold.

The following article from NHLRumors.com will outline why the Devils need to bring back Scott Stevens into their organization.

Vox Media NHL Analyst Bruce Zeman on the Full Press Hockey Podcast has stated on numerous episodes, that the Devils need to bring Scott Stevens back to help with the defensive issues with the team.

“I’ve said this on a couple of shows that I’ve done this week. I think, to me this is a glaring error and, we don’t know what’s in the room that’s like, and we may sound like a broken record when we say we don’t know, but my feeling on this if you could get the situation with Marty fixed which was pretty bad, you can, you know, you need to bring him into the situation you need to give him the authority to make a difference.”

Hockey Hall of Fame:  Alexander Mogilny Deserves To Be In The Hockey Hall of Fame

Scott Stevens was last seen on the bench with the Minnesota Wild as part of Bruce Boudreau‘s staff during the 2016-17 season. Stevens resigned to spend more time with his family.

Before that, he was the interim co-head with Adam Oates after the Devils relieved Peter DeBoer of his duties. Before his head coaching duties, he was a consultant and then an assistant coach with the Devils from July 2012 to September 2014.

While being the co-head coach, Stevens’s job was to focus on the defense. At the time, the Devils were not in a position to win a Stanley Cup, but if you watched the games, the structure was there because he understood the game.