New Jersey Devils general manager Ray Shero announced that the club won’t be offering long-time Devils forward Scott Gomez a tryout invitation to camp this year.
“With Scott, as I’ve said before, it really wasn’t so much about him but more us going in a different direction and giving an opportunity to younger players. We drafted (Pavel) Zacha and I’ve talked about (Jacob) Josefson.”
The news isn’t overly surprising. The Devils cleaned house this offseason and brought in new management and they probably weren’t looking to keep the status quo.
Gomez made the club last season on a tryout contract, and he had a very impressive year with the Devils, finishing fourth on the team in scoring with 34 points in 58 games. The comeback was unexpected as Gomez, once a prolific point scorer with the Devils in the mid-2000s, bounced around from team to team, scoring 38 points in the last three seasons with the Montreal Canadiens, San Jose Sharks and Florida Panthers.
The comeback was helped by the fact he played significant time with the club’s leading point producer Adam Henrique. On top of that, Gomez played on the power play, racking up 14 power play assists. He was given every opportunity to produce points for the offense starved club, and did a solid job in doing so given a pretty big opportunity.
Even though he didn’t receive an offer from the Devils, Gomez likely won’t fade away. He wrote for the Players Tribune back in March in a piece titled “Not Done,” where he went over his career, his struggles and the fact he thinks he’s still got a lot of gas left in the tank.
My story isn’t finished. I feel like I’m in control of my career and there’s still tread on these tires — after getting limited minutes the past few years, I feel fresh. I’m a smarter player too. I used to think I had to carry the puck end to end, but Adam Oates has taken that out of my game. He’s helped change my approach to hockey and that’s a big part of what has made this season so great.
The whole piece is a great reflection on the ups and downs throughout his career, and I’d recommend reading it.
The 35-year-old has shown that he can still produce at the NHL level given ample playing time, but it’s questionable whether how many teams are willing to provide that. His point production last year should mean he’ll get a chance at another try out with a different club however.
For a player who was once a star in the league, Gomez’s career is now winding down. Can he still play at the NHL level? That remains to be determined.
UPDATE: Gomez has accepted a tryout offer from the St. Louis Blues.
