Devils Offseason preview

 Offseason plans blog post PT 6 (New Jersey)

So today we have the eliminated Devils who were the 6th team eliminated from playoff contention who have definitely had a bad year as they couldn’t build off making the playoffs last year and now find themselves the 2nd Metroteam eliminated, they are the 6th team in my offseason preview series, as I will breakdown why the Devils missed the playoffs and what I personally think they could do in the offseason to improve their team to try and make it better for next year.

1st up the Devils stats for the 25-26 season

40-36-3 83 3 games left

217 27th GF 

243 T-19th GA

PP% 22.0 13th

PK% 79.3 16th  

Goal Scoring Leaders

Hischier 26

J.Hughes 26

Meier 24

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Point Leaders

J.Hughes 73

Bratt 68

Hischier 62

So when looking at the Devils stats for the 25-26 season they were basically a mediocre team the entire season and the stats represent that, now we are going to start for the Devils on the defensive side because that wasn’t great but also wasn’t terrible for the Devils this year, now the teams defensive play was subpar this year as they still let in 243 goals this year but it was only tied for 19th worst in the NHL, so even with injuries to key defenders and the goalies not playing spectacularly they were still a just below average defensive team and the PK wasn’t terrible either hitting a 79.3% PK which is average at 16th in the NHL, so they definitely had their hurdles on the defensive side but it could have been a lot worse and they have some promise defensively, and on the PP too they weren’t terrible as they actually had a 13th ranked power play that was clicking at a 22% power play so their big scorers were doing damage on the power play and is a huge reason with their power play is one of the top end power plays in the NHL, but that’s where the offensive success ends as their offensive numbers were terrible as they scored 217 goals for which currently ranks 27th in the NHL as they are just outside a bottom 5 offensive team in the NHL which is never good, and even though some of their big guns up front like Hughes, Hischier, Meier and Bratt etc all had pretty decent seasons, their supporting cast didn’t pull their weight, they had some injuries and bottom line was they didn’t score enough to make it into the playoffs this year, so once again they were a average defensive teams with a slightly good special teams but the offensive numbers in particular did them in and is why the Devils missed the postseason this year

3 Reasons I believe they missed

1.) Lots of injuries to key players: now I think the main reason the Debils were not been able to find success this year has to be the fact that the Devils dealt with a ton of injuries throughout the year especially to key players, now the s go through injuries as it happens to everyone but the Devils in particular were pretty banged up this year as only 8 players played this year missing 10 games or less for the Devils and they lost some key guys like L.Hughes for 10+ games to end the year, J.Hughes for 21 games, good veterans like Noesen, Kovacevic and Pesce didn’t even play half a season and there were others, so all in all the injuries I thinks were a huge reason as to why they missed the postseason. 

2.) Not enough depth scoring: now the 2nd reason I feel they didn’t do well was the fact the depth scoring really wasn’t there for the Devils this year, now like I said even though their injuries the top end guys of Jack Hughes, Bratt, Hamilton, Luke Hughes, Meier etc didn’t have fantastic season but weren’t terrible this year either putting the puck in the net and some of those stats are inflated by the teams success on the power play, but the depth guys you expect to produce didn’t this year as even though nice stories like Gritsyuk looking good as a rookie or Glss doing decent, it just wasn’t enough as guys like Bjugstad, Dadonov, Tayplakov/Palat, Noesen and a few other bottom six forwards either barely or couldn’t reach 10 points for the Devils, so I definitely feel that the lack of depth scoring was quite bad this year and were a huge reason that the Devils missed the Postseason. 

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3.) Markstrom had terrible numbers: now the final reason I believe the Devils were not able to make the playoffs was the rather bad numbers Markstrom produced this season, so the Devils had Markstrom for a few years now and were hoping that he would replicate his numbers from the past few years which weren’t his Vezina level stats from Calgary but were pretty solid numbers, but instead Markstrom had a terrible season as even though the defensive stats don’t show it, he had a 3.07 GAA and a .883 SV% which was the first time in his career as a starter (playing more then 15 games) he had a sub .890 SV% and above a 3 GAA, so Vezina caliber Markstrom disappeared this year and this worse version of Markstrom showed up and if Markstrom isn’t on his game then Jersey was never going far , so I believe the fact that they had a lot of injuries + the lack of depth scoring  and Markstrom’s terrible play were the 3 main reasons in my opinion that the Devils missed the postseason. 

Projected cap hit: $91.83

Projected cap space: $12.17

Significant Pending UFA’s

R.Dadonov 1-0-1 in 23GP

Z.MacEwen 0-0-0 in 3GP

M.McLaughlin 6-7-13 in 21GP (AHL)

D.Cholowski 0-1-1 in 16GP

C.White 0-5-5 in 25GP (AHL)

Significant Pending RFA’s

P.Cotter 9-6-15 in 76GO

A.Gritsyuk 13-18-31 in 66GP

S.Nemec 11-15-26 in 65GP

C.Addison 5-22-27 in 60GP (AHL)

T.Brennan .901 SV% and 2.88 GAA in 26GP (ECHL)

N.Daws .891 SV% and 2.84 GAA in 42GP (AHL) 

Now when it comes to their UFA’s and RFA’s they don’t have a ton of UFA’s or significant ones but do have quite a few interesting RFA’s, so if you look at their UFA’s they have 5 significant players currently scheduled to hit free agency this July but I have a feeling potentially all of them won’t be back with the Devils, as you have semi decent depth forwards Dadonov and MacEwen who both missed time due to injuries and didn’t get to play a ton with the Devils but I think won’t be back with New Jersey, now Cholowski and White are both pending UFA’s but also decent depth defenders and I think for the right deal one of them may be back on a short term deal to provide some added defensive depth should they deal a defender and they also have young call up option McLaughlin who was injured a ton this year and is someone who I think may get a 1-2 year deal with the Devils to prove that he can play bottom six NHL minutes,  now as for the RFA’s they have a couple interesting ones, now I feel Addison probably won’t be qualified and Brennan being a young goalie will get a low AAV deal to stay with New Jersey but the other 4 are interesting, Gritsyuk I think is very likely to sign a extension with the Devils, not sure if it will be long or short term but he showed enough that he should definitely be back, now Nemec has been mentioned in trade rumours and I guess there is a potentiality he gets dealt but I think it is more like he gets signed and then when it comes to Daws and Cotter, I am not sure which direction they go as I could see them sign short term, or be dealt and I wouldn’t even be shocked if they weren’t qualified, but I definitely think those two along with Nemec and Gritsyuk are the most interesting RFA’s for the Devils, but that is what I think of the Devils UFA’s and RFA’s. 

Current draft capital for Devils in 2026: 5

1RD: NJ

2RD: NJ

3RD:

4RD: WIN

5RD: NJ

6RD: NJ

7RD:

Just real quick here the Devils,  they they surprisingly have very little draft capital although they may be able to add more by the draft, now they are in a similar boat to the Panthers and Leafs as they were trying to make the playoffs this year so they didn’t have much draft capital but surprisingly they are in a worse position then those two teams as they only have 5 draft picks for those year, now unlike Toronto and Florida they do have their 1st and 2nd round picks which is a positive but still, only having 5 picks for a team who missed the playoffs is quite terrible and I hope they get more picks in the offseason but that isn’t a ton of draft capital for the Devils going into the offseason.

Lastly I look at 3 things I think they should look at in the offseason to improve 

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1.) Add a goal scoring top 6 forward: now we look at 3 ways I feel the Devils could improve in the offseason to become a bit more competitive next year, so the first thing I believe the Devils should do is add another impact forward who can play in the top 6 and put up points, now the Devils as we mentioned above did not have a great season scoring goals this year and I know injuries and lack of bottom six production was a big reason for that but I think k adding a solid top six scorer wouldn’t hurt as Meier hasn’t been as good as the Devils were hoping to be and guys like Hischier, Bratt and Jack Hughes are all more playmakers, so add another sniper who can play with guys like Hughes and Bratt might be a solid move for the Devils and something I think they should consider as it would drastically improve their scoring, but I feel like the top priority for the Devils in the offseason has to be adding a top 6 scorer. 

2.) Move a defender or two (Hamilton, Kovacevic, Nemec): now another thing I believe the Devils have to figure out this offseason is how to free up cap space and (most likely) which defender to move, now the Decils like we mentioned before actually have less cap space then the Panthers who we mentioned needed to free up cap space as well but on top of needing space the Devils also have a logjam on the blueline as they have a pretty crowded blueline and someone needs to be moved so it would make sense that the Devils try and free up cap space by moving a defender and the 3 guys most likely are Hamilton, Nemec and Kovacevic, now Hamilton has been in trade rumours all year long, is making $9 Million on the AAV and is still a solid top 4 defender so he could bring in some value and clear cap, Kovacevic is signed long term with a $4 Million AAV and is a serviceable 2nd-3rd pair defender and is someone who is expendable and could free up cap and then there is Nemec who has a good showing this year but was mentioned in rumours too and is a Pending RFA so if the Devils feel they could get a solid return for m then maybe he is the one that gets moved, but I got to think that moving one of these 3 to free up cap space has to be a priority going into the offseason.

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3.) Figure out whether to trade or resign Hischier: now another thing I really believe that the Devils need to do the in the offseason to compete a little more next year is figure out the situation with Nico Hischier going into the offseason, now this is a big decision because Captain Hischier is eligible for a extension July 1st and will be entering the final year of his contract with New Jersey and will be a UFA in 2027, so I feel they have to make a decision on him this offseason, does he want to stay and if so sign him as soon as he is eligible or if he doesn’t want a extension then deal him because I believe going into the year with him unsigned is a bad idea and with all the teams out there needing a top 2 Center he could get them a haul, so I think the Devils need to make a decision this offseason on if they are going to move or sign Nico Hischier and in my opinion along with adding a scoring top 6 forward and freeing up cap space by moving a defender, I feel those 3 things have to be the priorities for the Devils this offseason. 

So those are my thoughts on the Devils, and what I think they should do in the offseason, now I feel like after the season they just had if they push the right buttons and make the right moves in the offseason they should be right back there competing for a top 3 Metro team as I think they have the right pieces, so if they stay healthy and can get some more offense I feel they could do damage next year, but I would love to hear your thoughts below, are you surprised how bad the Devils were this year, do you think they keep all their Free Agents and could they add more draft capital by the draft and what do you guys think they could do in the offseason to improve for next year, love to hear your thoughts in the comments below and don’t forget to check out my YouTube channel as well.