Locker Clean-Out Day | BLOG

The 2022-23 season is officially over.

On Saturday, the players gathered for the final time at Prudential Center for locker clean-out day, or "Get Away Day." The players had physicals with the training staff, exit meetings with the coaches and hockey operations staff, packed their equipment and personal belongs and will head off for the summer.

It's also the final time this particular group will be together. There are a lot of players on the roster who will be unrestricted free agents this summer (Tomas Tatar, Miles Wood, Erik Haula, Damon Severson, Ryan Graves) and restricted free agents (Jesper Bratt, Timo Meier, Michael McLeod, Dawson Mercer, Nathan Bastian, Kevin Bahl, Mackenzie Blackwood and more).

The Devils roster will undergo changes. Some of the above players will return, while others may find a new home. Rosters never remain static from year-to-year.

So, that means that today is one final chance for this team to relive a magical year and say goodbye to each other for possibly the last time.

Stay tuned with our running blog throughout the day as we get reaction from the locker room. Stories, videos, interviews and more will be posted right here as the day goes on so stay tuned and check back frequently for updates.

Interviews:

• Bahl
• Sharangovich
• Smith
• Schmid
• Palat
• Blackwood
• Vanecek
• Boqvist
• Hamilton
• Bastian
• Lazar
• Mercer
• Hischier
• Siegenthaler
• McLeod
• Graves
• Severson
• Wood
• Bratt
• Marino
• Haula
• Meier
• J. Hughes
• L. Hughes
• Lindy Ruff

Hughes Played Through Injury in Playoffs

Jack Hughes suffered an undisclosed injury in the Devils playoffs run and was a game-time decision for Game 5 of the Second Round. Hughes warmed up but didn't participate in line rushes before the game and then talked with Devils head coach Lindy Ruff and others to make the call.

"I didn't think I was going to play," Hughes explained. "Same with Lindy Ruff I'd say. But it's different once you get the adrealine going and you do your things you need to do before the game. And then at the end of the day you're a competitor too. You don't want to be in the press box with the season on the line. I know I'd have a pit in my stomach if I was in the press box for that game. I just tied my skates and went out there and tried to do the best I can."

"There were conversations," Hughes continued. "Like if you can't help the team then they don't want you in there but I felt like I was ready to go and obviously Ruff and Fitzgerald were good with that so that's how the decision was made."

"I'll tell you this, I didn't even think he was going to finish Game 4," Ruff explained about Hughes' injury. "He got hurt in Game 4, it really effected his play. And I didn't think there'd be any way he played Game 5. I give the kid a lot of credit. It showed a lot of guts and a lot of character to say I'm going to give this a go, not even close to 100%. I think if you looked at the game closely, you could see that was obvious. But he wanted to play so (we) played him."

Jack's younger brother Luke discussed how impactful it was to see his brother fight through an injury in the playoffs.

"He's an unbelievable player," Luke explained about his brother. "I think if he didn't play it would hurt the team a lot but that's just the dedication of him and him grinding through stuff like a lot of guys, and I think that's just playoff time. So you got to do what you got to do and he played well. Obviously we're not happy with the outcome but I'm proud of him for grinding through that."

Injury Updates

Throughout the Devils locker room pack up day, multiple players discussed injuries they suffered during the season and playoffs.

Mackenzie Blackwood: MCL and groin injuries

Ryan Graves: undisclosed injury that kept him from playing some of the playoffs

Dougie Hamilton: Wrist injury. He said: "I hurt my wrist pretty bad at the end of the Rangers series. Trying to figure out right now what I got to do. Not an excuse for me but trying to deal with that and playing in the playoffs. Just doing my best with what you got, it was pretty disappointing for me when it happened."

Nathan Bastian: Undisclosed injury. He said: "When you're playing every other night there's no real time to give yourself a chance to get better and obviously I want to be out there but there's stretches during the season that I'd sit down and talk like I need a couple more weeks here. I can't go every night.

"Part of the game I think a lot of guys play through injuries and I was unfortunately one of them."

Timo Meier: confirmed he broke his nose during the Rangers series.

Jack Hughes said he was "banged up" in playoffs but feeling better. He wasn't sure if he would play Game 5 of the Second Round but felt ready to play when it was game time.

Free Agency Notes

Jesper Boqvist is a restricted free agent (RFA) at the end of the season and awaits his extension from the Devils.

"I've thought about that a little bit. I feel like something gets done in the near future," he said.

When asked about staying with the Devils, Boqvist added: "I love these guys, and where we're going too."

Mackenzie Blackwood is also an RFA.

"We didn't really talk about that," Blackwood said of his contract status. "It's more of a summertime thing but I'm not really too concerned with that at the moment. That's kind of a wait and see sort of deal."

When asked about wanting to return to the Devils: "I've been here for my entire NHL career so far. I love this team, I love all the guys, so it would be hard to leave that but at the end of the day though you want to go where the opportunity is so it depends on a couple of things."

Damon Severson has spent all nine of his NHL season with the Devils and for the first time in his career, he is a free-agent. "Free agency is in July, I don't know if something will happen before then, I have no answers today," Severson said about his UFA status. "I got a lot of good buddies on this team and a few of them are RFAs and some of them have contracts and some of them don't. It's all part of the business, we're all excited to kind of see what happens. Whether we're all on the same team again or not, that's to be seen. We're all kind of looking forward to the process and see how it plays out."

Ryan Graves is also another UFA defenseman and he discussed the upcoming free agency process: "You never know. I have loved my time here. It was great, this team is going to be good. You never know what free agency is going to bring. But there's a business side of things and I understand that so we'll see."

Jesper Bratt is a RFA this off-season and he discussed his relationship with Devils General Manager Tom Fitzgerald and his thoughts on an upcoming contract: "Me and Tom we have a good relationship, we've talked all the time. I feel like we have the trust in each other. I've been clear since day one that I think this is a great place to play and a place that I call home. I'm so excited about what this team and franchise did and this is obviously something and a ride I want to be a part of. I think the contract negotiation will all get settled somehow ... I have full confidence in my agent and in Tom that we'll get something done."

Miles Wood has spent seven seasons with the Devils and discussed his upcoming UFA status on the Devils pack-up day: "I'm not really sure what my future holds. I've been here for my whole career, seven years. I'm not really sure, I can't really speak about it."

Erik Haula is determined to come back to the Devils as he enters the off-season as a free-agent: "I don't want to play for any other team. I want to come back here. It seems like the right spot for me. This is my family.

"I was just in Fitzy's office and I was like 'hey, let's get it done.'"

Big Steps:

After only 63 points last season, the Devils completely turned things around this year: 112 points, a 52-22-8 record, and the first post-season appearance for the franchise since 2018. It was a complete team effort that everyone from coaching to players were proud to be a part of.

"Very proud of where things went," Devils head coach Lindy Ruff shared. "Where we started, the goals we set - first was trying to play in any meaningful games at the end of the year. Improved in a lot of areas we talked about, defensively, offensively. To win the first round."

"The players put the work in," Ruff also shared. "We got the results we needed. We were an exciting team, we were a fast team, we're a team that improved in a lot of areas. So you know as a coaching staff, we're proud, we're excited about where we got the team to."

The Devils brought in veterans like Ondrej Palat and Brendan Smith to bring perspective, teach the young core, and help the Devils make a post-season run. They have seen the growth of the Devils in the regular season and how a disappointing Second Round exit can fuel the group moving forward.

"If we look back at the year, it's pretty impressive," Smith shared about the season. "If you look around the room, you can basically go through each stall and say everybody took a huge step. I think as a young group that's what you're looking for, you're looking for growth. Our record obviously speaks for itself, I think the best thing about the entire year is that people counted us out, maybe not even making the playoffs and we made a run for first place."

Nathan Bastian just wrapped up his third full season in the NHL and over his time in the franchise, he's seen the foundation that was built here in New Jersey to lead to the post season.

"When you're rebuilding and you're losing games, it's nice to really see a light at the end of the tunnel and you can always see it here," Bastian explained. "You can always see players growing on the ice, off the ice. (With Hischier and Hughes) we have the right pieces there. We're so proud of these guys and so excited to see them at the NHL Awards in the summer and just a big step for us."

Palat was a part of the Lightning for parts of ten seasons where he saw the team grow into a perennial playoff contender. He saw the impact losses, like the one the Devils suffered in the Second Round, can help a young team gain the necessary experience to win.

"All the losses helped every player to just get experience in playoff hockey," Palat shared. "Even the losing, it's experience. I think this playoff (series) against Carolina, I think everybody's sad and pissed off that we lost but it's a learning experience for those younger guys and now they feel what it's like to win a Second Round of the playoff sand how tough it is to win."

Bastian saw the impact that veteran players had with this group and how critical it was for the team's success.

"We're still such a young group and if you've only been in one spot you only really know what you know and having guys like Palat to be able to come from a team who's won and won and won it was nice to have a different perspective."

In the most successful season the Devils have had in several years, Captain Nico Hischier discussed the big improvements and the mentality moving forward.

"It's definitely been a really fun season, really proud of this group," Hischier shared. "Think we proved a lot of people wrong and we've always believed in each other here. We've shown more. So we're excited for what's coming up for us but I think we can sit back a bit now, and look at how good of a year we've had. And we definitely can be proud of that."

D-Core Improvements:

One of the most significant improvements the Devils made this season was with the strength of their defense. Whether it was a strong d-core or all players buying into the system, the numbers were impressive. The Devils limited their opponents to a 2.71 goals against per game average (eighth in the NHL) and held the opposition to 28.2 shots a game on average (fifth in the NHL). Some of the Devils members of the defense commented on the improvements this season.

"The depth for sure was one of them," Severson shared. "The consistency, the expectation was obviously higher. So we had plenty of things that just we raised the level of. It wasn't just one guy, it was everybody in the whole d-core. So nothing that we did made us worse, I feel like just made us better and the defensive was definitely a strong part of this team. I'm proud to be a part of that."

"I thought the whole defensive core this year played great together," John Marino shared. "We were able to really communicate well out there. We were all pretty close knit group. Obviously Luke Hughes came in and played really great for us. So there's a lot to look forward to here for sure."

"I think we can be pretty proud," Jonas Siegenthaler shared about the d-core's play. "If you compare last season to this year, it's totally different. I think as a d-core we made a big jump as well. We established ourselves as one of the top d-cores in this league and I think overall, a pretty good year for us."

Off-Season Plans and Improvements

Yegor Sharangovich played 75 regular season games but only three playoff games. He wants to keep working this off-season on improving his game, becoming stronger and faster to make a spot for himself on the roster moving forward.

"I will work on my stuff in the summer, and I will change my pre-season work," Sharangovich explained. "A lot of guys going (into next season) will be on a different level and a couple new guys (on) the team and maybe because my ice time a little bit went down and my role is changing."

Dougie Hamilton will spend the summer recovering from a wrist injury he sustained in the First Round of the playoffs, in addition to staying committed to growing his game once again this off-season.

"Just trying to get better," Hamilton shared. "Every year work on different things, trying to get better and try to have a better season than the season prior. So I think that doesn't change for me. Never happy with where I'm at, I always want to get better and want to keep doing it."

Nico Hischier also has areas he want to improve with his game that he'll focus on this off-season.

"All around, I'm always trying to work on everything a bit," Hischier shared. "Definitely skating, like with the team we have here, we want to play with a lot of pace. So I'll definitely do some power skating during summer and also shooting some pucks. All that stuff, I think definitely my shots could be improving for sure."

When it comes to the World Championships, Switzerland may see some Devils players on the roster. Hischier is trying to meet the team halfway through the tournament once he wraps up his team duties with the Devils and Jonas Siegenthaler is planning on competing for the Swiss National Team.

Schmid's Confidence Made a Difference:

Akira Schmid came in and left an impact during his second season with the Devils. He played 18 regular season games and nine playoff games, in a whirlwind year.

"I would say confidence in the net which makes such a big difference," Schmid said on his biggest improvements. "Takes that nervousness out of your game."

Lindy Ruff was complimentary of the rookie goaltender in his first substantial season with the Devils.

"Schmid had a great first season for us," Ruff said Saturday. "Schmid is definitely part of what we see (in) our future ... we had three guys that gave us consistent enough year that helped us get to where we needed to go, he was a big part of it."

Although the season is over for Schmid and the Devils, he's had some time to reflect on all the team accomplished with their run this season.

"First day it's disappointment," Schmid shared about the season ending. "Once you get some time to reflect, not just on the game but on the whole year, you get proud of what the team has done all year."

Schmid discussed the relationship he had with Mackenzie Blackwood and Vitek Vanecek throughout the season and the camaraderie they grew.

"It's been huge," Schmid shared. "We're all very tight with each other and just having them there for me and I'm there for them, whatever they need me and whenever I need them. It's been awesome."

Bahl Building Experience:

For Kevin Bahl, the 2022-23 season was an opportunity to grow his game, fight for a spot in the lineup, and gain the confidence he needs to compete in the NHL. It all started with gaining trust and getting more minutes in the lineup.

"I think just consistency and then I think a big thing was just getting the coaches trust," Bahl said in his exit interview Saturday. "As soon as I did that I started getting more opportunities and I was able to expand on that opportunity. So I think a big thing was trust.

"I started to get a couple games under my feet," Bahl continued. "And then consistently being in the lineup and then things started kind of rolling from there. So I think part of it was my defensive play, and then I started moving pucks while getting back for pucks and first touches, things like that."

Bahl has a better taste of what it's like to play in the NHL with 42 regular season games and 11 playoff appearances this season. For him, he knows a big off-season is necessary looking forward to the 2023-24 season. "It's a valuable off-season, especially for me," Bahl explained. "I'm a young guy, I realize it's not go (train), and milk it and lifting lighter weights or whatever. It's an opportunity to get better but I'm only going to have this summer once so I really want to take advantage."

-Catherine Bogart, NJD.TV

The Finish:

The Devils season came to an end Thursday night in their Video: Jack Hughes | END-OF-SEASON RAW. It's hard to overlook the disappointment with the exit. But I tried to step back and look at the bigger picture:

Full Video: Jack Hughes | END-OF-SEASON RAW

--Sam Kasan

Video: An Unfortunate End | REWIND

In Case You Missed It:

WRITTEN:

VIDEO:

• REWIND: Video: Jack Hughes | END-OF-SEASON RAW
• GAME HIGHLIGHTS: Video: Jack Hughes | END-OF-SEASON RAW
• BEHIND-THE-SCENES: Video: Jack Hughes | END-OF-SEASON RAW