In the past, it was almost impossible for a teenager to make the New Jersey Devils. When veterans like Scott Niedermayer and Scott Stevens were leading the team to automatic playoff berths and Stanley Cups, there wasn't much motivation for transition in New Jersey.
That has changed. Coming off an 81-point season, it's a great time to be a young player trying to make the Devils. There's opportunity in New Jersey.
"I would definitely concur," Devils coach Pete DeBoer said during a recent phone conversation. "There's an injection of young guys coming into this organization. When you look at players that have moved out and the guys that are replacing them or battling to replace them, you can see there's an injection of youth."
The two players best prepared to make an impact this season and help push the Devils back into playoff contention are center Jacob Josefson and defenseman Adam Larsson.
To read more about the youth movement in New Jersey, along with news on James Wisniewski, Kyle Turris, Jamie Benn and others, you must be an ESPN Insider.
- Senior NHL writer for ESPN The Magazine
- Wrote for Atlanta Journal-Constitution
- Wrote for The Sporting News
ABOUT THIS BLOG
Craig Custance
Craig Custance joined ESPN in September 2011 as an NHL reporter for ESPN the Magazine, ESPN Insider and ESPN.com. A graduate of Michigan State University, he lived for nearly a decade in Georgia working for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution where he spent time covering the late Atlanta Thrashers. He was the only Thrashers beat writer to get the team to the playoffs.
From 2008-11 he was the national hockey writer for the Sporting News, writing regularly in print and online. A member of the PHWA, he's a proud voter for the major NHL awards and can occasionally defend his selections.
Like hockey, he left Atlanta to return north where he currently lives in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, with his wife Cassie and their three kids.
Follow Craig on Twitter: @CraigCustance
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