Devils look like a ‘Mickey Mouse organization’ again. Will ownership wake up and do something?

The Devils are an embarrassment of a hockey team right now, and to understand just how far they have fallen over the past few days, you have to go back to one of the darkest moments in franchise history.

You have to go back to 1983. That was the last time the Devils were outscored by 14 or more goals in a three-game stretch, and that ugly week of hockey might have stayed buried in the Meadowlands along with Jimmy Hoffa if not for the venomous quote it produced.

Alas, the team’s utter ineptitude caught the ire of the greatest player in NHL history. Wayne Gretzky faced New Jersey on Nov. 19 of that year in Edmonton, and when his high-powered Oilers embarrassed the Devils, 13-4, he uttered three powerful words that followed the franchise for years to come.

He said the Devils needed to stop running a “Mickey Mouse organization” and put some real players on the ice. The Great One was right, of course, even if he quickly regretted the comments. And, while the road remained rocky for a while, the Devils eventually did just that. They were Stanley Cup champions 12 years later.

Devils Penguins Hockey New Jersey Devils goaltender Jake Allen (34) blocks a shot by Pittsburgh Penguins’ Evgeni Malkin (71) during the third period of an NHL hockey game in Pittsburgh, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar) APAP

That infamous Gretzky snipe became an important milepost in franchise history, a moment that provided context for the great success that followed. It was never supposed to be remembered as a comparison for the team’s current performance.

It was certainly never meant to be relived.

Well, dust off that Thriller LP and slap it onto your turntable, because we’re back in ‘83. The Devils have now been outscored 16-2 in their last three games after the listless 4-1 defeat in Pittsburgh. What made this loss so unacceptable is that it was supposed to be a “response game” after an embarrassing 9-0 drubbing against the Islanders two nights earlier.

Then again, in many ways, this was a response — and it is a white flag. These Devils look like they have surrendered on a 2025-26 season that started with great promise, and based on the brutal honesty from their head coach in Pittsburgh, the man behind the bench knows it.

“We’ve got work to do to become a real hockey team,” Sheldon Keefe said when NJ.com reporter Ryan Novozinsky asked about his job security. “There’s a perception we were a real hockey team before the work was put in, and you get exposed.

“It’s closer than you think (but) that’s where we’re at right now. I believe I can be part of the solution here, and I’m going to keep doing my job to find answers.”

Keefe might not find the answers, but hey, give him credit for answering the questions. His boss, Tom Fitzgerald, hasn’t addressed the media for months, a dereliction of his duties that, sadly, doesn’t rank in the top 10 examples of how he is failing as general manager.

It is time — past time, really — for a leadership change with these Devils. Fitzgerald has failed to make a single impactful move to help this team when the cracks were showing earlier in the season. Now, with a lineup that is mostly healthy, these Devils look broken beyond repair.

The GM’s list of mistakes is too long to rehash here. The goalie he signed on Nov. 1, Jacob Markstrom, gave up all nine goals in that ugly Islanders loss, one of the worst games ever, according to analytics. The defenseman he signed to a $63 million deal on Oct. 1, Luke Hughes, scored two goals for the wrong team in a loss to the Hurricanes that started this three-game skid.

Fitzgerald is on the kind of run that guarantees him a new job in a hurry — as a cooler at an Atlantic City casino.

Keefe is a trickier case. I’m not convinced that firing the head coach will solve much, given the team’s current state, but what’s the alternative? He made the case that the Devils “can use this, as an organization, to take great steps in the big picture,” but they are supposed to be well past the point of taking baby steps and suffering growing pains. The Devils are dead last in the league in 5v5 goal differential.

A new voice behind the bench might not change anything, but it’s worth a shot.

The question is this: Are Devils owners Josh Harris and David Blitzer watching? Do they even care? They are asking for $300 million in taxpayer-funded subsidies for the 19-year-old Prudential Center this month. Someone should remind them that the bells and whistles in the arena are not nearly as important as the product on the ice.

“Well, it’s time they got their act together,” a wise man once said of this franchise’s leaders. Those words, and the three that followed referencing a popular Disney rodent, shook this franchise to the core when Wayne Gretzky uttered them 42 years ago.

It is not the kind of history anyone around this team wanted to see repeated. Alas, here we are.

Devils look like a ‘Mickey Mouse organization’ again. Will ownership wake up and do something?

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