1998-99 record: 47-24-11, 105 points, 1st Atlantic Division
Coach: Robbie Ftorek (47-24-11, one year as Devils coach)
New faces: D Colin White, C Scott Gomez, D Brian Rafalski, C John Madden, assistant coach Larry Robinson
Losses: C Bob Carpenter, LW Dave Andreychuk, D Kevin Dean, D Sergei Vyshedkevich
Strengths: Despite their reputation as a boring, defensive-minded team, the Devils had four 20-goal scorers and two other players with 17. They have a solid mix of size – Cs Bobby Holik and Jason Arnott – and speed – RW Petr Sykora and LW Brian Rolston – up front. D Scott Stevens remains a force in his own zone and D Scott Niedermayer thrived in Ftorek's first season. Allowed the odd foray into the offensive zone, Niedermayer had 46 points. The Devils got younger with the retirement of Carpenter and the departure of Andreychuk to Boston. Expect White and Madden to get long looks in training camp. Robinson returns as an assistant, a role he filled when New Jersey won the Stanley Cup in 1995.
Weaknesses: No team has shown the regular season to be more irrelevant than the Devils, who have lost in the first round of the playoffs each of the last two years as the top seed. G Martin Brodeur remains one of the best in the game, but his performance in the playoff loss to Pittsburgh has some whispering about his commitment. GM Lou Lamoriello has used two of his last four first-round draft picks on goalies. Sykora led the Devils in scoring last season but committed a cardinal sin by holding out during training camp. Promising C Brendan Morrison joined Sykora in the Czech Republic as a holdout. Their postseason failures highlight the need for a legitimate sniper. New Jersey has won a grand total of one playoff series since trading Claude Lemieux.
Ftorek says: "First of all, we have to pick a team, we don't have a team yet. We've got everybody in camp and they're still working for jobs. I don't have a schedule, I'm observing, watching and learning from the players. They're showing me what they can do and they're showing the coaches what they can do. Then we'll make a decision about who is going to be on the team and how we're going to approach the season. We have to make sure that we all go and play hard, play well and play positional hockey. We have to do the same thing as always – be disciplined."