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Devils owner ensures team will not rebuild similar to basketball's Sixers

Eduardo Munoz / Reuters

The New Jersey Devils will not be the NHL's version of the Philadelphia 76ers.

At least, that's not Josh Harris's plan.

Harris - who co-owns the Devils and 76ers with partner David Blitzer - recently spoke to a group of Devils reporters, including Steve Politi of NJ.com, and provided some insight on the future of the once-dominant New Jersey franchise. That future is not expected to include a Sixers-like roster teardown and glacial rebuild.

"God I hope not," Harris said.

"They're two totally different situations," he continued. "It's hard to draw parallels. I think our goals are very much the same. We didn't do this to be second best. We want to build an elite organization. What that means is that we're consistently in the mix, deep in the playoffs for the Stanley Cup, and we ultimately deliver a Stanley Cup or a number of Stanley Cups."

The owner understands that the competition is stiff and that winning a Stanley Cup - or establishing any long-term success - is going to take some work.

"That's not easy to do. 29 other owners want to do that," Harris said. "They're all really smart and resourced. There aren't really any shortcuts. We're going to really put in place plans that allow us to do that. Every decision that we make will be oriented around that. Ultimately I believe we'll be successful. I don't see the two situations as similar. I think the goals are similar."

The Devils finished seventh in the Metropolitan division after a 32-36-14 record and recently hired Ray Shero as general manager.

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