The 2024-25 season looked promising for the New Jersey Devils, who appeared to be cruising atop the Metropolitan Division and Eastern Conference on December 23rd, the final day of competition before the holiday break, and were third in the NHL with a 23-11-3 record. However, their first-half success quickly petered out, and they had fallen to third in the Metro by the end of January. The Devils held onto third for the rest of the season but never found the consistency that they had in the earlier months, leading to a first round exit at the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes.
So, what went wrong for New Jersey this season, and how can it improve for 2025-26?
Depth
The Devils’ biggest problem was the lack of depth scoring. Two seasons ago, the Devils were a powerful offensive team with great depth scoring, but an inexperienced defense and spotty goaltending led to a second-round exit. Last season, in 2023-24, the defense and goaltending, combined with major injury trouble that spanned the entire year, caused the Devils to miss the postseason entirely. Therefore, this past offseason, General Manager Tom Fitzgerald made moves to make the Devils heavier and more defensively sound. While many of the moves worked as intended, they cost the speed and skill that made the 2022-23 Devils so dangerous.
Tyler Toffoli was a huge loss of offensive production for New Jersey this season. He scored 26 goals and had 44 points in 61 games with the Devils before he was dealt at last season’s trade deadline. At the surface level, Stefan Noesen replaced some of his production, with 41 points in 78 games, but over half of his points came in the first two months of the season.
Dawson Mercer recorded 36 points (19G, 17A) in 82 games, marking a slight increase in production from last season; however, the Devils were hoping he would replicate his performance from the 2022-23 season, when he scored 27 goals and 29 assists for 56 points. Ondrej Palat posted 28 points in 77 games but struggled in a top-six role. Erik Haula also found himself in the top half of the lineup fairly often, yet managed only 21 points in 69 games.
With depth guys playing top-six minutes, the bottom six became paper-thin. Justin Dowling had seven points in 52 games, Curtis Lazar had five points in 48 games, Nathan Bastian had 10 points in 59 games, Kurtis MacDermid had no points in 23 games, and so on. That kind of production across the board from the lower half of the lineup was simply not sustainable and hurt New Jersey in the regular and postseason.
Special Teams
The Devils’ special teams units were a highlight of the regular season but emerged as a major negative factor in the first-round loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. It was anticipated that the Hurricanes would be the stronger team at even strength, but the Devils were expected to have an edge on the power play. That was not the case.
Even with a decimated defense and no Jack Hughes, the Devils, at the very least, matched the Hurricanes at 5-on-5, but they lost the series on special teams. They went 0-15 on the power play in five games and were the only team in the first round to not record a special-teams goal. Additionally, they allowed a shorthanded goal, and the penalty kill struggled a bit against a weak Hurricanes power play.
Injuries undoubtedly played a role, with Jack Hughes, Luke Hughes, Johnathan Kovacevic, and Brenden Dillon all unavailable. Even so, the power play in particular was showing cracks long before the playoffs began. The power play was red hot for the first two months of the season, but began trailing off in December. It continued to struggle in January and hit a low point in February, when it went 3-18 for a 16.7 PP%. There was some resurgence leading into the playoffs, but with injuries piling up, it never returned to the lethal form from the first few months of the season.
Offseason Fixes
In essence, the offseason is simple for Fitzgerald and the Devils’ front office. The defense and goaltending were highlights, and the core offensive pieces of Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt, and Timo Meier all proved themselves in the playoffs.
Ultimately, the Devils need more offense. New Jersey is missing at least one certified top-six winger. The production from Palat, Noesen, Mercer, Haula, etc. would be good if it were coming from a bottom-six role. However, the Devils didn’t address the holes on the top lines this season and instead banked on depth players overproducing in an elevated role.
One potential candidate to fill that role is Arseniy Gritsyuk, who signed a one-year entry-level contract with the Devils beginning in 2025-26. Drafted in 2019, the 24-year-old winger has spent much of the past five seasons in the KHL in Russia. This past season with SKA St. Petersburg, he recorded 17 goals and 27 assists for 44 points in 49 regular-season games. He also tallied five points in six playoff games, tied for the most on his team.
Additionally, the Devils announced that 2023 second-round pick Lenni Hameenaho has signed a three-year entry-level contract set to begin in 2025-26. The 6’1” 20-year-old has spent the past six seasons with the Ässät organization and debuted in Finland’s top professional league, Liiga, in 2022-23. Hameenaho had a breakout season in 2024-25, when he scored 20 goals and 31 assists for 51 points in 58 regular-season games, good for 15th in the Liiga. He also recorded a goal and four assists in ten postseason contests.
While Gritsyuk and Hameenaho could very well come in and play big roles for the Devils next season, Fitzgerald can’t afford to stop there and leave the season dependent on rookies. New Jersey should’ve gotten an established top-six forward last offseason to go with the defensive and goaltending improvements, but the need remains nonetheless, and it can’t go unaddressed for another year.
Another forward at the top of the lineup will help the depth scoring by default, but the Devils should still look to add to the bottom-six group. In his postseason press conference, Fitzgerald addressed the lack of depth scoring and said, “I think players underachieved.”
He also made it clear that changes are coming in the offseason, stating, “We won’t be coming back with the same group, I can tell you that, because it wasn’t good enough.”
Unrestricted free agents on the roster include Jake Allen (G), Nathan Bastian (F), Dennis Cholowski (D), Justin Dowling (F), Brian Dumoulin (D), Curtis Lazar (F), Daniel Sprong (F), and Tomas Tatar (F).
New Jersey’s restricted free agents are Luke Hughes (D), Cody Glass (F), and Nolan Foote (F).
Other Offseason News
Injuries
At locker room cleanout, the Devils revealed a host of injuries and gave timetables for return.
Johnathan Kovacevic suffered a knee injury on the first shift of game three and underwent successful surgery. He will not be ready for the start of training camp next season.
Luke Hughes suffered a shoulder injury in game one and underwent successful surgery performed by Dr. Peter Millett in Vail, Colorado. He is expected to make a full recovery before training camp.
Jesper Bratt also suffered a shoulder injury and has opted for surgery. He is expected to be ready for training camp in September.
Brenden Dillon suffered a neck injury in game one after falling on his back. In his exit interview, he revealed that he had never experienced a head/neck injury that bad in his career, but is optimistic that he will be ready for training camp in September.
Though he didn’t miss any games, Brett Pesce revealed that he suffered a shoulder injury in game one, which was the reason behind missed practices and his status as a game-time decision in game five.
Curtis Lazar dealt with a knee injury for most of the season and explained numerous setbacks including a knee brace that didn’t fit and dissolvable screws in his knee that caused inflammation and made even getting out of bed and down the stairs hard.
In an interview with Slovakian news outlet Denník Šport, Simon Nemec revealed that he had never fully recovered from a shoulder injury suffered in August, when he took an awkward spill and crashed hard into the end boards during an Olympic Qualifier game.
Nemec struggled in the regular season with the Devils, tallying just four points (2G,2A) in 27 games with a -10 +/-. However, he broke out with an excellent performance in the playoffs, putting up two points in four games, including the huge double overtime winning goal in game three.
IIHF Men’s World Championship
While the season might be over for the New Jersey Devils, many players have opted to play for their respective national teams in the IIHF Men’s World Championship Tournament, taking place May 9th – 25th in Stockholm, Sweden, and Herning, Denmark.
New Jersey’s Swiss trio of Nico Hischier, Timo Meier, and Jonas Siegenthaler have all been named to the Team Switzerland roster. Hischier will serve as the team Captain, while Siegenthaler will sport an “A”.
Goaltender Jacob Markstrom will have an opportunity to play for Team Sweden after he missed out on the NHL’s Four Nations Face Off due to an injury.
Newly signed Lenni Hameenaho will also play in the tournament, suiting up for Team Finland.
Catch all five Devils representatives in action on Friday, May 9th, with Finland facing Austria and Switzerland taking on Czechia at 10:20 a.m. EDT. Sweden will also be in action, playing Slovakia at 2:20 p.m. EDT.
Additionally, fans can cheer on Team USA as they take on Denmark, also at 2:20 p.m. EDT.
NHL Draft
The NHL Draft is set for June 27th and 28th at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, California.
As it stands, the Devils don’t have a first-round pick, as it was traded to Calgary in the deal to acquire Markstrom. They have six selections over the next six rounds, including two second-round picks, one third-round pick, one fourth-round pick, and two sixth-round picks.
Round one will air live on ESPN, ESPN+, Sportsnet, and TVA Sports, while rounds 2-7 will be aired on the NHL Network, ESPN+, Sportsnet, and SN1.
ITR 37: Round Two – Inside The Rink
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