Janne Kuokkanen is the New Jersey Devils' biggest disappointment this year

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Today’s post was written by C.J. TURTORO. You can find C.J. on Twitter @CJTDevil.

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Part of the reason New Jersey Devils fans were so excited heading into this year is that there were a lot of pieces that overachieved last season.

Combined with new additions, it felt like those pieces would help the Devils contend ahead of schedule.

And part of the reason the season has been so disappointing is that so many of those players have not continued to produce at the level they did last season.

Jack Hughes has been injured for much of the season, and wildly inconsistent in the games he’s played; one year after being the only consistent player on the team. Yegor Sharangovich was held goalless for the first 13 games of the season one year after leading the team in even-strength goal rate. Ty Smith has looked like he doesn’t belong in the NHL one year after garnering Calder votes.

That last one has gotten a lot of attention because of just how brutal Smith has been so far this season. We’ve talked much less about the forward version of Smith this season – Janne Kuokkanen.