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The 2010-2011 New Jersey Devils did something that only two other Devils' squads have done since 1989. The problem is that something was miss the playoffs. Devils' fans have seen a sudden downturn in their team's playoff performance. After back to back trips to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2005-2006 and 2006-2007, the Devils have not advanced past the first round in their last three trips to the Stanley Cup Playoffs and now they have missed the postseason altogether.

The biggest free agent prize was Ilya Kovalchuk. At first the Devils signed him only to have the NHL void the contract because of the Devils' being found guilty of circumventing the salary cap. Eventually, the Devils, Kovalchuck, and the NHL came to an agreement on a contract that would make everybody happy. Kovlachuck was money well spent by the Devils as he tallied 31 goals and 29 assists good for second overall in total points on the team. Left winger Patrick Elias, squeaked past Kovalchuk with 62 points including 21 goals and 41 assists.

The Devils did themselves no favor by going 12-29 in the first half of the season. An 11-2 mark in the month of February got the Devils back into the playoff conversation but it was too little too late to overcome that abysmal first half of the season. The face of the franchise, goaltender Martin Brodeur, took a lot of the heat for the Devils' struggles. He limped to a 23-26-3 record in 56 games played. Brodeur, while still big in name, is starting to be questioned if perhaps he's on his last legs as an elite goaltender in the NHL.

One of the biggest problems facing the Devils on a year to year basis is who is going to be their head coach. As soon as they struggle or are not meeting expectations, Jacques Lemaire gets pulled out of retirement or from the front office to right the ship. Heading into 2011-2012, Lemaire has once again stepped away from the Devils and the head coaching search starts back at the beginning again. A little consistency may go along way and maybe the best bet is to talk Lemaire into coaching from the beginning of the season that way the ship is righted from game one not game 41.

This offseason, the Devils will once again want to address the offensive attack. They ranked 30th overall in goals per game and 28th on the power play. Johann Hedberg filled in for Brodeur admirably in 2010-2011 and if Brodeur can't be counted on, Hedberg may need to return or the Devils may be in the market for a top goaltender as well. Defensively, the Devils are top notch but without any fire power, eventually the "D" is going to falter and there will be nobody there to pick up the slack, breaking the hearts of fans with New Jersey Devils tickets to the Prudential Center once again.