The New Jersey Devils have just one win in the playoffs since their breakout 2022-23 season. What do they need to get back to a the Stanley Cup Playoffs?
Remember when there was an idea that the New Jersey Devils were the next great young team in the NHL? That was four years ago.
Since then, they have just one playoff appearance, which matches their number of playoff wins.
There are some really good players on this team, and it's conceivable that they could put it all together to make another playoff appearance and maybe start living up to the hype.
If that's in the cards, the following things will have to go right for them in 2026-27.
1. A Full Season From Jack Hughes
Jack Hughes led the Devils with 77 points and was second in goals with 27 despite missing 21 games last season. His game has matured to the point where now he can be counted on to do a lot of stuff in most facets of the game.
However, he has just one season in his entire career in which he played more than 62 games.
If the Devils are going to have success, it will be because he was fully healthy. It's not a coincidence that their one good season in recent memory — the 112-point, 2022-23 campaign that saw them get through to the second round — came because Hughes was in the lineup for all but four games.
That season he produced 43 goals, 99 points, and finished eighth in Hart Trophy voting.
They just need him to be available. If he is, that's an immense shot in the arm. If he's in and out of the lineup again, that's going to be a huge problem.
2. Stable Goaltending In New Jersey
It is incredibly rare for NHL teams to get into the playoffs with anything less than average goaltending. The problem for the Devils is that average would be a huge improvement from what they did last year. Their .887 team save percentage was 21st in the league according to NaturalStatTrick.
The good news is they moved on from their biggest liability, Jacob Markstrom, who allowed almost 12 more goals than expected according to MoneyPuck. The bad news is they replaced him with David Rittich, who hasn't been any more than a serviceable 1B option over the past few years.
It's up to a platoon of Rittich (.894 SP last year) alongside returners Jake Allen (.903 SP) and Nico Daws (.908 SP, but in just three appearances). Can that group cobble together a respectable season? Maybe. Can they do much more than that? Only one way to find out.
3. Devils' Off-Season Additions Shore Up Depth
Frankly, goaltending wasn't the Devils' biggest problem last season. They had an abysmal offense, scoring 2.76 goals per-game, which was 27th in the league. Some of that could be due to injuries, but that doesn't explain all of it, especially because the problems were mostly at 5-on-5.
At even strength, they scored 33.6 goals fewer than expected, and the next-closest team — the lowly New York Islanders offense — was only 20.7 short of expectation.
That's probably a big reason why they went out and got Anthony Mantha, who is coming off a 33-goal season. The same goes for their acquisition of Evan Rodrigues, who's become a reliable 12-18 goal guy who also plays a solid two-way game. If those guys aren't coming in with an extra 40-ish goals between them, it could be a pretty frustrating season.
4. Figure Out The Devils' Defensive Core
So, are the Devils going to trade Dougie Hamilton? Is Luke Hughes going to live up to that contract? Are the rest of these guys going to be any kind of significant positive difference-maker?
The answer to all those questions doesn't need to necessarily be positive or negative, either. We just need answers.
The fact that they moved on from Simon Nemec this summer is at least a sign they knew they had to do something, but finding an overall situation that works for everyone would be really helpful here. It just gets everyone on the same page and allows you to go through the season without everyone asking, "So what's up with…" every single day.
That way, whatever guys they do keep will be able to show up to work knowing what's expected of them. It's really helpful when you can point someone in a direction and have them go that way.
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