Jake Gardiner #51 of the Carolina Hurricanes. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
The New Jersey Devils missed out on Jake Gardiner before last season. He was the best available left-handed defenseman, and it was clear he could have helped this team. There wasn’t really anyone that made sense to pair with P.K. Subban, and John Hynes and Alain Nasreddine tried playing Damon Severson and Sami Vatanen on their off hand to make it work. The season went off the rails, and now the Devils are once again staring into the abyss when it comes to competition.