A kakar wasa ta gaba, Devils sun sake sauka a kasa da.500 kuma sun rasa wasan karshe. Daga cikin sauye-sauyen 'yan wasan da Lamoriello ya yi a cikin kakar wasa ta bana shine sanya hannu kan taurari biyu na Soviet <unk> Viacheslav Fetisov da Sergei Starikov. The Devils sun tattara Fetisov shekaru da suka gabata a cikin
1983 Entry Draft, amma Gwamnatin Soviet ba ta ba da damar Fetisov, wanda ya kasance memba na ƙungiyar ƙasa, ya bar ƙasar ba. Ba da daɗewa ba bayan haka, aljanu sun sanya hannu kan abokin haɗin Fetisov, Alexei Kasatonov.