The Stanley Cup can only be won after 16 victories in the playoffs. For the New Jersey Devils that dream will require almost twice that number. You see entering play on Thursday, the Devils sit at 71 points, with a record of 29-24-13, good for fifth place in the Metropolitan Division.

Unfortunately that total is only good enough for 10th place in the Eastern Conference, which would mean a second consecutive summer without playoff hockey. In all honesty there probably weren’t a lot of people thinking that the Devils would even be in contention for a playoff spot given the offseason of 2013.

After failing to qualify for the postseason one year removed from a Stanley Cup Final appearance, New Jersey watched their best player Ilya Kovalchuk fly off to the Russian KHL with both middle fingers extended. The shock of his decision was trumped only by the timing of his premeditated abandonment. Kovalchuk ditched the Devils two weeks into free agency, with no notice and even less regard for the state of the franchise. Even after New Jersey had rescued his career from a putrid Atlanta franchise four years earlier and rewarded him with a $100 million contract

The Devils had already seen their team captain Zach Parise bolt for a huge payday in his home state, but were left without a contingency plan when their star sniper fled for mother Russia.

Fast forward seven months later and the Devils are actually in the thick of the playoff race. The strength of the team is still the defense and goaltending which has been reinforced with Cory Schneider in net for Martin Brodeur. Picking up the slack on offense has been the ageless Jaromir Jagr, who has been re-writing the NHL record book as he continues to knock down milestone achievements.

The faces have changed, but this seems like the same type of team that lifted three Stanley Cups in the past 20 years. Does this mean that this version of New Jersey can win a Stanley Cup? Pump the brakes for a second folks. This team can skate with any team in the league, and Schneider can steal a game on any given night, but just getting to the playoffs is a task unto itself. Though the offense sits at 22nd in the NHL right now, the stingy defense and elite special teams have hovered between top five and top ten all year.

Of the final 16 games the Devils play ten at the Rock on home ice. The six road games are as follows, in order: Florida, Tampa Bay, N.Y. Islanders, Buffalo, Calgary, and Carolina. They only play five teams ahead of them in the Eastern Conference standings and all five are on home ice. The Devils have been pretty vanilla this year but have a decisively superior record at home (16-8-7) than on the road (13-16-6). For New Jersey to make the postseason they will need to catch/pass Detroit, Philadelphia, Columbus, Tampa Bay and the New York Rangers.

So how does it all play out? The Devils will be in the picture and tease us until the final three games. The schedule obviously falls in their favor and I don’t think anyone in their right mind can count out Brodeur in the clutch. With his career on the line, somehow the team rallies around the face of their franchise and musters enough offense to reach the second season. Once they get there, look out. This is a team that is tailor-made for grind-em-out, low-scoring defensive nail biters. Don’t pencil them in for Lord Stanley, but they won’t be a one-and-done either.