New Jersey Devils: Rebuilding, Regrouping, and Ready to Compete

The 2025-2026 NHL season is officially in full swing, now being a month into the season. So far, we’ve seen which teams are still lacking the “wow” factor, which players are making their mark, and which teams are ready to chase the Stanley Cup in June. One team that is sticking out above the rest is the New Jersey Devils. After an early exit in the first round of playoffs in the 2024-2025 season, the organization was determined to build up their team and finally make some changes. But the question remains: will New Jersey turn into playoff, or even Stanley Cup, contenders?

Last season, the Devils had specks of greatness, but there were still inconsistencies. They took many rocky roads, but ultimately made the cut for the playoffs. Unfortunately, the Devils couldn’t make it past the first round, losing to the Carolina Hurricanes 4-1. The Devils would end their season with the following record;

Games Played	Wins	Losses	Overtime Losses	Points
82	42	33	7	91

According to NHL.com

After this season, Devils General Manager Tom Fitzgerald was determined to rebuild this team over the off-season. Fitzgerald made it very clear that his first priority in the off-season was to re-sign Devils defenseman Luke Hughes. Hughes’ rookie contract expired after last season, and he knew that he wanted to continue his career in New Jersey with his older brother, Jack Hughes. While Fitzgerald did say it was his number one priority, it ended up being one of the last things he did before the season started. After weeks of a standoff, Luke Hughes finally signed his contract on October 4th. Hughes’ deal is a seven year contract worth $63,000,000 ($9,000,000 AAV). In an interview with Sam Kasan, Fitzgerald stated how;

“‘He’s excited. He wants to be a Devil long term—just like his brother (Jack). We’re excited about that.’”

Sam Kasan, NewJerseyDevils.com

Along with the signing of defenseman Luke Hughes, Fitzgerald added more key players to the Devils’ roster. The Devils picked up players such as Connor Brown, Evgenni Dadanov, and rookie Arseny Gritsyuk. With these changes, Fitzgerald was ready and confident for the 2025-2026 NHL season.

The New Jersey Devils’ season officially began on October 9th, facing none other than their former playoff rivals, the Carolina Hurricanes. This game was a perfect chance for redemption, but things didn’t go quite as planned. What looked like a strong opening match up ended with them losing 6-3 to the Hurricanes. They took the next day to prepare and work on what they did wrong and made a huge comeback. The Devils would then play the Tampa Bay Lightning for their second game of the season and they dominated down in Tampa. The Devils won 5-3 and finally had their first win of the season. Right off the bat, the Devils put up 3 goals made by Timo Meier, Connor Brown, and Captain Nico Hischier. Then, in the third period, Jesper Bratt and Connor Brown would bring the goals up to 5 for the team. With that first win under their belts, the Devils began what would be an 8 game win streak. The Devils took down numerous teams during this win streak, such as the Columbus Blue Jackets, Florida Panthers, Edmonton Oilers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Minnesota Wild, San Jose Sharks, and Colorado Avalanche. On the contrary, every hot streak eventually simmers down.

Following their 8 game run, the Devils faced a bump in the road. Over their past few away games, they slowly lost their fire and took a few losses. For instance, the Devils had two games against the Colorado Avalanche. Their first game ended up being their 8th win in the win streak, as they won 4-3. Two days later, they took an awful defeat in Denver, losing 4-8. This was only the start of their losses. The Devils would continue to lose their fire when playing against the San Jose Sharks and the Anaheim Ducks. After these tough few games, will the Devils bounce back? We’ll get to see this when the Devils play their 14th game against the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday, November 6th. This will be a strong match up as the Canadiens are currently 2nd in the league with 19 points, only holding 1 point above the Devils. When looking at the statistics, the Devils definitely have an advantage with their power play and penalty kill, being 4th in the league for power play percentage and 7th for penalty kill percentage. What it really will come down to will be how consistent they can stay on both ends of the ice. The Devils’ offense has proved that they are strong and can create amazing plays. However, they need to work up their defense in order to create less turnovers and mistakes. With their most recent game against the Anaheim Ducks, most of their issues were from simple mistakes that these players should not be making. For instance, the first goal that the Ducks scored was due to miscommunication between two players, Simon Nemec and Dennis Cholowski. Next, Ducks forward Frank Vatrano scored off a pass from Jackson Lacombe, who intercepted a pass attempt from Devils forward Dawson Mercer. It’s simple mistakes like these that can cause a loss. If the Devils communicate better on the ice and make smoother plays, then I believe they have what it takes to bounce back and be true contenders for this year's playoffs.

So far, the Devils have proven that they can compete with anyone when they are at their best. Despite their recent setbacks, they have still demonstrated how their depth, speed, and chemistry contribute to the strength of the team. If they show more consistency, like they did in their win streak, then they could easily find their way back to the playoffs and maybe even have a possible run at the Stanley Cup.