from Stu Hackel of Sports Illustrated,

There's no denying that the New Jersey Devils have been a very successful organization for most of the past two decades, with president Lou Lamoriello building three Stanley Cup championship teams and two other finalists. Few other NHL clubs have played that well during that time, but the Devils are now at a crossroads, drowning in red ink and attracting the interest of what could be a very significant ownership group.

if the reports are accurate and the buyers are the owners of the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers, the Devils will have abundant resources at their disposal and lots of brainpower for using them. They're going to need all of it to solve the problems that have long plagued the franchise.

As well as the Devils have done on the ice, they've remained a low-profile operation in the shadow of the nearby New York Rangers, a far less accomplished club since the Devils' first Cup, in 1995. Unlike its cross-river rivals and many other consistently good NHL teams, New Jersey has not been able to sustain a fan base that can fill its arena night after night, year after year, regardless of how well the team plays. Other than when playing heated rivals like the Rangers or Flyers (and enemy fans buy up the unsold seats), the Devils have only sporadically been a "hot ticket," despite the hugely loyal fans they have. Some of that is because, even when they've won, the Devils have done so mostly by playing exceptional defense, not the kind of hockey that regularly brings fans to their feet or packs the building.

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