With Return Of Hughes And Pesce To Lineup, Devils' Defense Corps Is NHL's Deepest and Best

New Jersey D-men Luke Hughes and Brett Pesce made their season debuts Thursday, and Adam Proteau says the Devils now have the NHL's deepest and best defense corps.

The New Jersey Devils have gotten off to a sub-standard 5-4-1 start to the 2024-25 regular season, and they’ve lost their past three games by a combined score of 19-13. But don’t fret, Devils fans – the cavalry is on its way for New Jersey, in the form of defensemen Luke Hughes and Brett Pesce, both of whom made their season debut Thursday in the Devils’ 5-3 loss to Detroit.

Don’t get us wrong – we’re not suggesting Pesce or Hughes are going to put the Devils on their back and carry them to a Metropolitan Division title. New Jersey coach Sheldon Keefe eased both D-men into the lineup Thursday, giving Hughes 15:11 of ice time and Pesce 17:33 on the ice. Comparing that to cornerstone blueliner Dougie Hamilton (24:28) and Jonas Siegenthaler (21:14) tells you where Pesce and Hughes are in the pecking order at the moment, but considering Hughes led the Devils in ice time (21:18) and Pesce averaged (20:17) for Carolina last season, their on-ice average is bound to increase relatively quickly.

And really, the Devils’ defensive metrics are almost assuredly going to improve now that they’re more or less back at full strength. They’re currently in the 17th spot in the league in terms of goals-against average (3.30), but that’s actually a slight improvement on their performance last season (3.43), which was 26th in the league – and it was that bad because Hamilton was out of the lineup for 62 games.

But now, with Hamilton and first-year Devil Brenden Dillon on the top ‘D’ pairing, Siegenthaler and Johnathan Kovacevic as another pair, and Hughes and Pesce as the other duo, New Jersey has arguably the top defense corps in the league. And bear in mind youngster Simon Nemec is still developing into an everyday NHLer; once he settles into a role in the top six, the Devils’ back end is going to become all the more formidable.

New Jersey GM Tom Fitzgerald has locked up Hamilton, Pesce, Dillon and Siegenthaler for at least this season and the following two years – and Hughes will be an RFA next summer and the following off-season, respectively. So there’s a sense of stability with this group of defensemen that you don’t see much of through the rest of the league. Keefe can comfortably roll out three solid pairings, and not have to worry about a significant drop-off in performance.

There are other deep and talented defense corps – Buffalo’s, for instance, as well as Vegas’, and Colorado’s – but the Devils’ D-men stand out as especially balanced and dangerous. As New Jersey hones their collective game, its defense will be prominent and effective in their duties, and the Devils’ goalies will have a considerably easier job because of the defenders in front of them.