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<\/a><\/p>\nMathieu Darche was hired as GM of the Islanders in May. (Bruce Bennett \/ Getty Images)Hischier: Devils are \u2018right there\u2019<\/p>\n
As captain, Nico Hischier was proud that the New Jersey Devils didn\u2019t crumble when Jack Hughes was lost for the season after the 4 Nations Face-Off. They were 33-23-6 at the time and finished 42-33-7 to claim third place in the Metropolitan Division.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was impressive,\u201d Hischier said. \u201cObviously, we all felt for Jack. He was devastated. And everybody that plays with Jack knows how bad he wants to win \u2014 how bad he wants to help our team win a Cup \u2014 so for him to go down during our playoff push was a tough pill to swallow.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut just the way we saw how other guys stepped up, how we found each other again and just made the playoffs, it shows how much we have guys that care. Our best player goes down, and we didn\u2019t throw our hands up and be like, \u2018OK, that\u2019s our season.\u2019 We got together and kept going.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Hischier says it\u2019s time for New Jersey to really make a postseason impression.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re right there,\u201d he said. \u201cYeah, it\u2019s still a process. Like, we\u2019re not stupid. We\u2019re still young and growing, but we\u2019re coming toward the years where there could be a window, and, I mean, we\u2019ve gotta understand that we are a good team if we play a certain way, and with our fast style of game, we need to find a game where we can win games when it counts.\u201d<\/p>\n
Forsberg on Josi, Predators<\/p>\n
As Roman Josi\u2019s close friend, Filip Forsberg is just happy the star Nashville Predators defenseman finally got some clarity on what he was dealing with when he was diagnosed with Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) following a concussion last season. He said Josi is doing well in his training and the expectation is he\u2019ll be ready for training camp, although it\u2019s still up in the air whether he\u2019ll represent the Predators in Las Vegas at the North American player media tour next month.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was tough because I\u2019ve dealt with a fair share of head stuff that he was dealing with a little bit, too,\u201d Forsberg said. \u201cWhatever he\u2019s dealing with, at least he found the right people (to) talk to about it. Started his treatment program, and I feel like he\u2019s doing great at this point, too. I\u2019m sure he\u2019s learned a lot because I\u2019m assuming he\u2019s been dealing with this for years, just kind of not knowing what it is and why things keep happening.\u201d<\/p>\n
Forsberg said it\u2019s still hard to pinpoint why things came off the rails early last season after an offseason in which Nashville brought in Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault and Brady Skjei.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not like there was something that I would immediately switch and change,\u201d Forsberg said. \u201cWe had a great group of guys. Team is really tight. Just got off to a bad start and were out of it by Christmas. Maybe expectations got to us a little bit. You get off to a bad start, and everybody starts questioning everything. It\u2019s the only thing I can really think of, that we thought it was going to be easy, that we were able to out-skill teams, and early on, we didn\u2019t really play hard enough.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we were in a bad spot somewhat early. I like the fact (Barry Trotz) didn\u2019t blow it up completely or that Trotzy didn\u2019t go all in even more, too. Like, he could have gone out and swung for some of the big people in free agency, but we didn\u2019t really do much, which I think is good. Because I\u2019d like to get another year with this group.\u201d<\/p>\n