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[New Jersey Devils]

What Can the Devils Ultimately Take from This Carolina Series?

Sebastian Aho scoring a goal in Game 5 against the Devils | Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

The Devils battled hard in Game 5 but fell short and now their season has come to an end. But there are things they can take from this going forward.

There’s a saying that failure is the best teacher.

We are human, after all. All of us have had failures, setbacks, and other disappointments throughout our lives. It’s what you learn from each one that ultimately comes to define you as a person and makes us who we are.

Unfortunately, and as expected, the Devils came up short in the postseason, losing Game 5-4 in double OT last night and losing the series four games to one.

It’s not all that surprising in the sense that we talked last week about how the Devils effort was simply not good enough, and a lot of those critiques then wound up defining the series. The Devils were too slow against a Carolina team that outskated them. The Devils lost the special teams battle in lopsided fashion. Mistake after mistake piled up, culminating in the Dawson Mercer double-minor penalty and the ensuing Carolina power play that ultimately ended New Jersey’s season.

So where does that leave the Devils? A disappointing second half of the season that put a sour taste in a lot of people’s mouths and a gentleman’s sweep in the first round.

What a waste of time only to lose in the first round, right?

Far from it.

I know there were a lot of comments in the comments section around the deadline that, while I’m paraphrasing, went something like this.

“Why bother adding? The team is missing Jack Hughes. The team isn’t good enough. They should be selling, not buying. They’re not good enough to do anything in the playoffs even if they get there. They’re not winning a Cup this year, so why bother?”

I couldn’t disagree with that sentiment more.

Losing in the playoffs is something that happens to every playoff team except one every year, so it was certainly plausible the Devils would be one-and-done as was the case. But teams in playoff position shouldn’t just punt on the season either because things look bad at the time. And things certainly looked bad at the time with Jack Hughes and Dougie Hamilton suffering injuries in consecutive games.

There have been plenty of teams in NHL history that experienced years of losing in the playoffs before winning. Ask the Florida Panthers. Ask the Tampa Bay Lightning. Ask the Colorado Avalanche or the Washington Capitals or the St. Louis Blues or Vegas Golden Knights. Teams that lost in the playoffs year after year after year before finally learning what it took to win. Heck, go ask the Devils teams of the 90s and early 00s. Those teams had plenty of playoff heartbreak when they weren’t winning the Cup.

That experience is invaluable and is something that you just can’t buy, even if you bring “rings into the room” from outside teams. It shouldn’t be dismissed or hand-waved as insignificant. So in that respect, while I’m disappointed the Devils struggled for much of the second half and lost this series in five games, I’m glad the group at least got to experience that. I’m not throwing a parade for this group for simply making the playoffs, but they at least managed to put the stink of the 2023-24 season behind them and accomplished that as a group. It’s a start.

But what else can they take away from this brief playoff run?

This is Hard, But So Is Anything Worth Fighting For​

Every Devils player should look in the mirror and say the following to themselves after the Game 5 loss.

“This is hard. And I have to work harder.”

Carolina is a very difficult team to play against, especially in a best-of-seven playoff series setting. In a series against a team like that, you have to be on top of your game right from puck drop. And when you have a chance to put the foot to the throat and finish them off, you damn well better do so or it will come back to bite you. You can’t give teams life and energy when they have none. You can’t make things easier for them.

The Devils didn’t do that, which is a big part of the reason why they’re now going home for the summer.

Giving up a goal 2:24 into Game 1 or 0:52 into Game 4 and immediately trying to dig yourself out of a hole isn’t being ready from puck drop.

Blowing a 3-0 lead to lose Game 5 in the fashion the Devils did is something the Devils players will have to stew over all summer. It happened. There’s no hiding from it or excusing it, and every player played a part in it. The Devils managed the early successes of Game 5 poorly. They had their chance to bury Carolina in Game 5 and at least force a Game 6 back in Newark. They couldn’t get the job done. They have to own that.

Accept it, and acknowledge that it happened. Then learn from it so it doesn’t happen again. It’s not enough to get better as a player physically on the ice. The players have to get better “between the ears” as well. And losing an elimination game in the fashion they did should be the wakeup call for just how difficult this actually is.

Carolina has had far more playoff failures with their group than the Devils have with theirs. They’ve been there before. They started Game 1 on time. They started Game 4 on time. They knew when to dial it up and as the overtime periods played out in Game 5, it was apparent they had far more left in the tank than the Devils did.

I’m not saying Carolina is the be-all, end-all for what hockey teams should be this time of year. We’re talking about a franchise where this iteration hasn’t even been able to get past the Conference Final, let alone win a Stanley Cup. But they’re battle tested. They know what it takes. And they learned enough from their past failures to know that good enough isn’t good enough. They had to get better. They had to work harder. And yeah, there’s a little chicanery slash gamesmanship slash veteran savvy at play as well. Carolina has been there before plenty of times and knows first hand how difficult this is, and believe me, it’s really hard to win hockey games this time of year.

The Devils got a taste of that when they lost to Carolina two years, and they got a second helping of that this year. Carolina has made things very hard for them. Tough.

Do something about it. Be better. It’s not gonna get easier in future years.

The Devils Core Is Worth Building Around....But They Need Help​

If there’s one thing the Devils shouldn’t do this summer, its panic and decide it's time to “break up the core”.

The core hasn’t been the problem this season, and they weren’t the problem in this series.

Timo Meier was arguably the Devils best forward in this series, which shouldn’t be a surprise as he was arguably one of their best forwards in the Rangers series two years ago despite failing to register a point. This time around, he did. But he also got under Carolina’s skin with his physicality and heavy game. He looked like the player the Devils envisioned they were getting when they made the trade two years ago. Granted, I would like to see Meier spend his summer watching Matthew Tkachuk tape and take another step in that regard by emulating #19’s game, but he wasn’t the problem.

Nico Hischier led by example, led the Devils in goal scoring, and left it all out on the ice. He’s the most complete player the Devils have. He’s not part of the problem. Jesper Bratt has a fine series despite having to carry a washed up Erik Haula and “not a center” Dawson Mercer on his line. He’s not part of the problem.

The one “yeah, but” is they’re all a part of the PP unit that went 0-15 in the series.

There’s no excusing that. The Devils lost the series in part because they got obliterated at special teams. Although I’d also point out this is where the loss of Luke Hughes for most of this series loomed large. This is where the loss of Jack Hughes loomed larger.

As projected by our @Sportlogiq model, the Hurricanes take care of business in 5 games. Dominant in possession and off-the-rush, Carolina is off to the second round. https://t.co/JdA8HmQfuR pic.twitter.com/ipr1sQrYc2

— Mike Kelly (@MikeKellyNHL) April 30, 2025​

The impact of their losses was also felt on rush chances, which makes sense. The Hughes brothers are two of the better skaters on the team. Luke is one of the best skaters in the league among defensemen.

You don’t think having a couple of difference makers like the Hughes brothers wouldn’t make a difference in a series like this? Where a couple of power play goals here or there, with a unit that featured both of them throughout most of the year, might be the difference between a win or a loss? Where an odd man rush that leads to a goal could’ve been the difference? Where their speed could present a challenge for Carolina if they get caught flat-footed? I’m not saying the Devils win the series given their other issues with the roster, but its probably still going on.

The Hughes brothers are not part of the problem, and were sorely missed this series.

Unfortunately, we can’t say the same for most of the forward group outside of those guys.

I will say that I thought Ondrej Palat had a solid series and one of Sheldon Keefe’s best decisions this series was stapling him to the Hischier-Meier line. Palat battles hard along the walls and picked up a few assists for his efforts. I don’t think that alone is worth his $6M AAV the next two years, but in the grand scheme of things, he was fine.

But this is a bottom six that needs an overhaul this summer in the worst way.

Chris was right a few days ago when he wrote the Top Six wasn’t the problem and how much of an issue the Bottom Six was. Where I disagree with him is that the Devils have no combination of forwards on the current roster that can form a cohesive bottom six unit. There’s no identity there. It’s a mish-mosh of parts that simply don’t work together. And calling upon the Mike Hardmans and Brian Halonens of the world wasn’t gonna fix it.

Compare that to the Carolina team they just played where the Jordan Staal line has an identity, and when that line isn’t the third line, they have former Hart Trophy winner Taylor Hall on that line. Or the Florida Panthers who have an actual third line center in Anton Lundell and BRAD MARCHAND on their third line. Or the Golden Knights who have a battle-tested third line of Barbashev-Roy-Smith....all players who have hoisted the Cup for them.

Meanwhile, the Devils have Paul Cotter-Cody Glass-Stefan Noesen on their third line and Tomas Tatar-Justin Dowling-Nate Bastian on their fourth.

Are you kidding me?

At least half of those names that I just wrote should never play another game for this franchise again if they’re serious about taking that next step. And let’s just leave it at this....I can see why Cody Glass has been on four NHL teams before the age of 26. I can see why Vegas didn’t play Cotter in the playoffs in years prior.

Star players will always get scrutinized, but no hockey team is winning with what is effectively a two-line team at best (and that’s before injuries take their toll on the blueline, which they did for the Devils). If teams could win solely on their superstar players level of talent, the Oilers and Maple Leafs would be dueling it out for the Cup every year. There’s a reason why those teams haven’t won. Sidney Crosby would have more than 3 Cups and Alex Ovechkin would have more than 1 despite being the two best players since the turn of the century. I’m not saying the Devils star players are on their level, but I am illustrating the point of how you need more than just sheer talent to win. You need that depth and the Devils just didn’t have that among their forward group.

The Devils core isn’t the problem. But a decent chunk of the forward group is and will need to be addressed this summer.

Give Up On Simon Nemec At Your Own Risk / The Devils Need to Find a Way to Keep Brian Dumoulin​

I will lump Nemec and Dumoulin together because I thought both of them did about as good a job as one could reasonably expect given the circumstances.

Game winning goal aside, Nemec didn’t wilt under the pressures of playoff hockey, which is very impressive for a young player who had far more downs than ups this year. Nemec can hold his head high and feel good about his playoff run, having that confidence to build off of it going into his age 21 season next year.

I know we talked a lot at the trade deadline about Nemec’s future, particularly after the Johnathan Kovacevic extension was announced, but if I were Tom Fitzgerald, I would be very careful in regards to giving up on Nemec, or using him as a trade chip for the forward the Devils need.

I’ll also say this, and its something I rarely say on these forums, usually because my takes are pristine and excellent.

I was wrong on Brian Dumoulin.

I did not like the Dumoulin trade when it was announced. Not because I thought he couldn’t help, but because he wasn’t addressing what the Devils needed. But as it turned out, he was exactly what the Devils needed.

The Devils needed a minutes-munching defenseman who could play tough minutes and they got exactly that in Dumoulin. 36:24 in Game 3. 37:19 in Game 5. He was thrown into a very tough position given the status of the Devils blueline this series and more than held his own. This series is probably an actual sweep for Carolina without him. He’s a gamer, he’s a guy who can play on my team anyday, and I see why Tom Fitzgerald wanted him at the deadline.

I don’t know how the Devils blueline is going to shape up next season. Brenden Dillon is signed through 2027. Dougie Hamilton and Jonas Siegenthaler are signed through 2028. Kovacevic and Brett Pesce are signed through 2030. Luke Hughes is going nowhere, and I wouldn’t rule out the possibility of the Hughes triforce being completed after the Canucks parted ways with Rick Tocchet today and Quinn couldn’t be reached when Jim Rutherford reached out to break the news. Maybe because Quinn was in New York at the Knicks game last night, but who’s to say?

It might not be feasible to keep Simon Nemec and/or Brian Dumoulin for very different reasons. But man, I’d really like to try.

Tough Questions Need To Be Asked With Respected Veterans​

I’ve already talked about the need for the Devils to trim the fat and cut the dead weight this summer, so I’ll be brief here. I think the last big takeaway is that a few noteworthy players may or may not have just played their final games as a member of the New Jersey Devils.

In the case of the bottom six, which we already discussed, most of those players will be unrestricted free agents. And I don’t see any reason to bring back guys like Tatar, Bastian, Dowling, Curtis Lazar, or Daniel Sprong. But there are other players under contract for next year and beyond that Fitzgerald will need to make a decision on, in regards to whether or not they still fit what the Devils are trying to build.

I already talked about Palat and while I thought he was solid in this series, solid isn’t good enough when you’re on the books for $6M AAV and you are what you are at this stage of your career. He has a 10-team trade list starting next season, but a NMC as well, so Fitzgerald can’t pull a Chris Drury and threaten to put Palat on waivers like Drury did with Barclay Goodrow. He also can’t do that with Dougie Hamilton, who has a $9M AAV with 3 years left.

Erik Haula has one year left at $3.15M and can only block trades to six teams so is his time up in New Jersey? What about Dawson Mercer, who has two years left at $4M before hitting RFA again, but his development has plateaued? Does he have another level to gain? What about Stefan Noesen, who cooled off in the second half? He has two years left at $2.75M and can block trades to all but 10 teams this summer. Never mind the waste of money that is Kurtis MacDermid, who has two years left at $1.15M.

The Devils aren’t going to have a ton of salary cap flexibility this summer, especially once the Luke Hughes contract is done. But they do have some flexibility. The question is whether or not Tom Fitzgerald is honest with his assessment of the bottom six and what they brought this year, and whether or not he’s willing to play the bad cop and find a way to move a player or two who might not want to be moved at this point to open up valuable cap space.

This isn’t unfixable. But it does take some work.

Final Thoughts​

Aside from Game 1, I didn’t think Carolina dominated the series by any means. I didn’t think the Devils showed that they don’t belong. I do think they were outmatched, partly because of injuries, partly because of some bad decisions by Tom Fitzgerald when it comes to roster construction. But I don’t think this series was unwinnable. There were opportunities to win games in this series. The better, more experienced team found a way to win, and it wasn’t New Jersey.

That said, Fitzgerald, Keefe, and the players have work to do going forward if they want to put this behind them.

Carolina isn’t going anywhere, I would guess the Rangers bounce back to some extent, and while Washington might take a step back, they still look like a solid playoff team. And as long as the NHL insists on their dumb divisional playoff format for a bracket challenge nobody asked for, these are the teams the Devils will need to get through to get to where they want to go.

Fitzgerald needs to find a way to build a deeper team and add speed and skill to a lineup that gave too much of that away since 2023 in an effort to build a heavier hockey team. I’m not saying he was wrong to go in that direction....we all know how soft last year’s team was. But he needs to find the right balance. Keefe needs to find a way to make the pieces work instead of just throwing his hands up when the bottom six stinks. It’s his job to maximize what he has and while he can’t squeeze blood from a stone, I wouldn’t say he maximized what he had either.

I give the players credit for battling hard and giving it everything they had in Game 5 with the season on the line. Guys like Pesce and Siegenthaler in particular were nowhere near 100% and battled. But we saw that battling alone isn’t enough. Not when the other team is deeper than you. Faster than you. Has better structure than you. The players have to be better to get where they want to go, and that’s a lesson they need to take from their second playoff series loss to this Carolina team in the last three years. Losing sucks. Losing in the playoffs sucks even more. Use it as fuel, build off of it, and be better for it tomorrow after your failures today.

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/2...ils-ultimately-take-from-this-carolina-series

 

[New Jersey Devils]

Will the New Jersey Devils Move on From One of their Right Handed Defenders This Offseason?

Photo by Rich Graessle/NHLI via Getty Images

With seemingly a glut of right handed defensemen, and a few other team issues that need fixing, will we see the Devils move a player from that group to address a weakness, and if so, who?

The New Jersey Devils saw their season come to an end on Tuesday night, going down in five games against the Carolina Hurricanes. While the team fought hard at times, it seemed like an eventuality with the group missing three regular defenders by the end of the series, having another two just recently return from injuries and of course still also missing one Jack Hughes. Even if those injuries had not been, there were glaring flaws with the 2024-25 team that showed as the season progressed. Scoring aside from the core players was a question mark, and forward depth in general just seemed to be a problem as well. So now the Devils have a summer to bolster the underperforming areas; so how do they do it?

Well, good news is the salary cap is expected to rise and the only restricted free agent that will see any sort of substantial raise is Luke Hughes, meaning the Devils will have some cap space. However, there could be some potential issues that arise from trying to add both some additional scoring and replace the underwhelming, underperforming depth guys. The first issue is who is available, which is outside of the Devils’ control, while the second is offering contracts so large that they diminish long-term cap flexibility. While the Devils are in a position where they should be close to the cap as a team wanting to compete for a Stanley Cup, they also can’t put themselves in a spot that results in an earlier closing of their competitive window.

There is, however, one option that can solve both of those problems: trades.

The Devils are no strangers to making moves that they think will make the overall group better; heck they made a couple last summer. Draft capital, however, is a bit think, and the team doesn’t have the best prospect pool in the league either. They do, however, have a bunch of right handed defensemen, which in today’s NHL, is a commodity. Everyone assumed that Johnny Kovacevic would be the casualty of the team also having Dougie Hamilton and Brett Pesce signed long-term while youngsters Simon Nemec and Seamus Casey pushed for spots. The team surprised everyone at the trade deadline though when Kovacevic was extended for the next three seasons. This, of course, has led to speculation of varying degrees with the other three names.

Dougie Hamilton may be the player that the Devils move on from, particularly when you consider his reduced role with the team. He’s not an ineffective NHLer by any means, but a lot of what he brings, the Devils already get from Luke Hughes, as well as (to a lesser extent) Seamus Casey. Combine that with the facts that Dougie’s full no movement adjusts to include a modified no trade clause, as well as him at 31 being the oldest RHD, and perhaps he’s the one to move on from.

Trading Hamilton, however might not bring back as big of a return as a younger defender though. He’s not old by any means, but he is exiting (arguably has exited) his prime years, and he’s also coming off of injuries both last season and this most recent one. To some teams that could lower his value. To other teams, his $9 million salary cap hit could be a separate reason to avoid acquiring him. Dougie is not a salary dump though; he’s still a useful NHL player. Said injuries affecting his postseason play, and again he carries a cap hit that might not have other teams parting with the assets that the Devils would want in return for him.

The other option here would be to part with either Simon Nemec or Seamus Casey, who both still have some growing to do before they reach their full potential. I’m not wild about trading either guy, as I think both could be good NHL players, but with Pesce and now Kovacevic here for years to come, that only leaves one slot on the right unless someone shifts to their off hand side. An additional possibility here: the Devils could eventually move Hamilton AND one of these two, but as the playoffs showed us, you still have to have some depth; for that reason, I don’t expect two of the three names being discussed to be moved quite yet.

Of the two youngsters, if we had to keep only one, I think I prefer Nemec at this point. Not that I don’t like Casey (and game winning goal aside), but Nemec did not seem out of place during the playoffs. There were times where he was one of the few Devils defenders having a good game when others were getting hemmed in their own zone. I also think Casey could have a bit more value to other teams because of his offensive upside, which could net the Devils a bigger return. It might have to be a package deal if the Devils are aiming for a higher priced piece, but Casey is a good asset that could help the Devils patch a lineup hole while not sacrificing the future.

If you wanted me to make my choice, however, it would be Hamilton out of all three who would go. Keeping him just continues to block both Nemec and Casey regardless of if you keep one or both, and even without Dougie, there’s still enough experience on the back end with veterans like Pesce, Jonas Siegenthaler and Brenden Dillon. Nemec and Casey are both also still waiver exempt according to PuckPedia, meaning for the time being one could be an every night defender in the NHL while the other plays the same role in the AHL; neither would have to be press box fodder. I honestly don’t like writing this; Dougie has been a good Devil in his time and he seems like a funny, likeable teammate. Hockey is still a business though and at some point, perhaps as early as this summer, the Devils have to contemplate what moves need to be made to get the team to the next level. The lineup spot and cap space might be more valuable used elsewhere than on a defender whose skills can be replicated by others in the lineup.

What are your thoughts on the Devils right handed defense situation; do you see them moving on from a player this summer? Is it Hamilton or one of the younger guys? Do you have a preferred target to move one of these players for? Leave any and all comments below and thanks as always for reading!

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/2...f-their-right-handed-defenders-this-offseason

 

[New Jersey Devils]

DitD & Open Post - 4/30/25: It’s Over Edition

New Jersey Devils goaltender Jacob Markstrom (25) in consoled by right wing Timo Meier (28) after their loss in the second overtime to the Carolina Hurricanes in game five of the first round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Lenovo Center. | James Guillory-Imagn Images

New Jersey Devils & Related Hockey Links for 4/30/25

Here are your links for today:

Devils Links​

Jacob Markstrom could only hold the Hurricanes off for so long late. The Devils blew a 3-0 lead, limped into overtime and Carolina came up with the game winner on the power play in double overtime to take Game 5, 5-4, on Tuesday. The Hurricanes won the series, 4-1, and the season, sadly, is over. [Devils NHL]

Injuries:

Keefe said he knew Luke Hughes and Brenden Dillon would be out for the series after Game 1.

“We would’ve got swept, had no chance without Nemo stepping up.”

— Gabriel Trevino (@GabeCTrevino) April 30, 2025​

Hockey Links​

The Penguins say farewell to Mike Sullivan:

The Pittsburgh Penguins and Head Coach Mike Sullivan have agreed to part ways.

Details: https://t.co/9AB8bPOijI pic.twitter.com/lPeZXj3HC1

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) April 28, 2025​

Five teams have already inquired about free-agent coach Mike Sullivan. No surprise there given his stature in the coaching world. My sense is some called tire kicking, curious, others very much with serious interest. He won’t be out of work for too long.

— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) April 29, 2025​

And Rick Tocchet is leaving the Canucks:

The Vancouver Canucks announced today that Rick Tocchet has decided not to return as Head Coach for the upcoming season.

After thoughtful discussions with the team and management, Tocchet has opted to step away from his role, concluding his tenure with the Canucks.

PRESS… pic.twitter.com/ZW2T6Dc811

— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) April 29, 2025​

The newest edition of Jim Rutherford just saying things:

"I hope he's playing golf because he usually returns my calls right away and I called him within half-an-hour of talking to Rick and he hasn't called me back," says Jim Rutherford when asked if he's talked to Quinn Hughes about Tocchet's departure. #Canucks

— Noah Strang (@noahstrang_) April 29, 2025​

Aaron Ekblad gets a two-game suspension:

Florida’s Aaron Ekblad has been suspended for two games for elbowing Tampa Bay’s Brandon Hagel. https://t.co/X3QeNt39Va

— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) April 29, 2025​

Norris finalists:

Quinn Hughes, Cale Makar and Zach Werenski are the finalists for the Norris Trophy! #NHLAwards

The James Norris Memorial Trophy is awarded annually "to the defense player who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-round ability in the position." pic.twitter.com/GQSaLKugOT

— NHL (@NHL) April 29, 2025​

OK, this is a very good bit:

Jared Bednar coaching while Bared Jednar crushes a cold one behind the bench pic.twitter.com/TZ7Ui7G9NS

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) April 29, 2025​

Valtteri Filppula hangs up his skates:

Valtteri Filppula is calling it a career after 1,056 NHL games! pic.twitter.com/X3Gor3UARJ

— NHL (@NHL) April 29, 2025​

Feel free to discuss these and any other hockey-related stories in the comments below.

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/2025/4/30/24420760/devils-in-the-details-4-30-25-its-over-edition

 

[New Jersey Devils]

Five Lessons for the New Jersey Devils in Their Five Game Playoff Loss to Carolina

Sheldon Keefe and the Devils need to learn some lessons from their playoff loss to Carolina. | Photo by Katherine Gawlik/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

The New Jersey Devils lost in five games to the Carolina Hurricanes in the playoffs. As they also did in 2023. This post is a list of five lessons that I think the Devils need to learn from this playoff loss in order to be better next season.

The New Jersey Devils were not expected to beat the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round of the 2025 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs. Even I did not think they would. I predicted the Devils would lose in five games in the series preview. Unfortunately, I was right. Some of how it happened matched up with the expectations laid out in the series preview. Namely that Carolina’s system would be a Problem and the forward matchups in particular favored the deeper Carolina Hurricanes.

Some of how it happened did not match up at all with expectations. I do not think anyone foresaw Luke Hughes and Brenden Dillon getting injured in Game 1. Or Jonas Siegenthaler being rushed back to the ice. Or Jonathan Kovacevic getting injured in Game 3. And no one expected the Devils power play to go ice cold. A fact that stings harder with the fact that the Devils, somehow, outscored the Canes in 5-on-5 play, 10-9. Most of all and perhaps most heartening was that the Devils made an actual game of it in Games 2 through 5 despite the injuries and the sheer dominance of Carolina in 5-on-5 play (yes, the goals do not tell the tale there). I can understand the People Who Matter who appreciate how the Devils battled and tried to grind out results despite the adversity.

Regardless, the 2024-25 campaign for the New Jersey Devils ended the same way the 2022-23 campaign did: a post-regulation loss in Game 5 in Raleigh, North Carolina. I smirk at the consistency given all of the changes the Devils made since 2023. The Devils will have to make more difficult decisions ahead of next season. What should guide them is to learn what I think are the right lessons to take away from their first round loss. There are five that come to my mind. Some of these echo what Jared wrote about on Wednesday, which makes sense as Jared was right. Please feel free to add more in the comments as you see fit.

Lesson #1. You Need to Have a Gameplan for Carolina’s System​

Like it or not, the Carolina Hurricanes are both in the same division and the same conference as the New Jersey Devils. The Devils are going to play them multiple times in the regular season. With the current playoff structure and the fact that Carolina is really good, the Devils are going to continue to see Carolina more often than not in the postseason. This is not to say that the Devils need to blow up their team and intentionally try to build a roster to beat one team. That rarely works anyhow; ask Our Hated Rivals about Tom Wilson. But what they do need is a roster with the quality (more on that later in this post) to beat the Canes, and an actual game plan for how to handle how Carolina plays.

Carolina may have been outscored by one in 5-on-5 play, but they dominated the puck over the five games with the Devils being out-attempted 261 to 334 over the whole five game series. Game 1 and the first overtime period in Game 5 bookended the series with the Canes just owning the puck and forcing the Devils to dump-and-change the game away. The Carolina forecheck is fierce and they come at opponents in waves, pinning teams (Devils) back constantly. Their defensive coverage of man-on-man has been effective, especially against teams who are sloppy on the puck (Devils). Their forwards and defensemen commit at both ends, supporting with pinches and backchecks as needed. At their best, it is 18 skaters playing a 200 foot game knowing full well that one battle, one forced turnover, one mistake, etc. will open up the space for a shot - and the Canes took a lot of shots in this series.

The Devils seemingly figured out how they can beat the system in spots. Game 2 and Game 3 featured plenty of high flips out of the zone. Longer, slower exits to force the Canes to drop back and slow down the pace of their zone entires. Those were effective in giving the Devils some breathing room even at the expense of its offense since those flips were often retrieved by a Hurricane. In overtime of Game 3, parts of Games 2 and 4, and the first period of Game 5, the Devils seemingly figured out that they can beat the forecheck with some patience to draw in the forecheckers and skill to either beat them one-on-one or make a pass to a Devil higher up in their own zone or just past their blueline to catch the Canes back with only two or three skaters. That did help their offense bloom in those times.

The problem was that the Devils struggled to do either consistently. When they faltered, it did not take long for Carolina to take the game over and, in some cases, the score too. The issue with the Canes is that their system is indeed their system and the whole squad buys into it. All four lines do it. All three defensive pairings support it. They have done it for years. You know it is coming. Beating it consistently is a challenge in of itself. But it is necessary. Expecting Carolina to make mistakes or blow opportunities is not something any team can rely on. To beat Carolina means two things and the first is having a gameplan to handle how they play.

Lesson #2. You Need to Have Quality Depth​

The second thing is to have quality depth and the Devils just did not have it in this series. Particularly at forward. Nico Hischier did his job. Timo Meier did his after getting robbed a heap of times. Jesper Bratt carried Haula and Mercer for five games. The Devils’ bottom six has been a black hole for months and it was a black hole in this series. Here are the final results of the six skaters that ended up following either Nico Hischier’s or Erik Haula’s lines. This is all situations play too:

• Stefan Noesen: 1 goal (tip-in in Game 5), 1 assist (secondary on Hischier’s goal in Game 5), 7 shots, 11 attempts, 82:31 ice time
• Cody Glass: 0 goals, 0 assists, 6 shots, 10 attempts, 70:28 ice time, 1 penalty
• Paul Cotter: 1 assist (primary on Hischier’s goal in Game 5), 5 shots, 11 attempts, 72:06 ice time, 1 penalty
• Tomas Tatar: 0 goals, 0 assists, 3 shots, 4 attempts, 46:52 ice time, 1 penalty
• Justin Dowling: 0 goals, 0 assists, 4 shots, 7 attempts, 56:13 ice time
• Nathan Bastian: 0 goals, 0 assists, 6 shots, 9 attempts, 58:01 ice time, 1 penalty

The combined bottom six: 1 goal, 2 assists, 31 shots, 52 attempts, and 4 penalties in five games. For comparison’s sake: Jesper Bratt alone had 1 goal, 2 assists, 20 shots, and 31 attempts in five games. Do not whine to me about Bratt when the Devils were dragging these six phantoms along in this postseason.

What about Carolina’s bottom six? Logan Stankoven alone outscored all six of the listed Devils forwards and Taylor Hall matched their goal output. The only Canes to end up pointless in the series were Jordan Staal (his thing is matchups anyway) and William Carrier, and only Mark Janikowski had fewer than 10 attempts at the net - and he played in only two games in this series. The Canes did not have nearly as many passengers as the Devils did in this series.

That was all just points and boxscore stuff. It gets worse when you look at the run of play in 5-on-5. I will use raw numbers to make a point:

• Stefan Noesen: 48-68 CF, 23-28 SF, 1.42-2.81 xGF
• Cody Glass: 44-75 CF, 14-32 SF, 1.08-3.47 xGF
• Paul Cotter: 46-92 CF, 21-38 SF, 1.51-4.12 xGF
• Tomas Tatar: 24-49 CF, 9-18 SF, 0.72-1.64 xGF
• Justin Dowling: 32-78 CF, 14-29 SF, 1.33-4.33 xGF
• Nathan Bastian: 40-81 CF, 21-30 SF, 1.63-4.21 xGF

It would be one thing if the Devils’ bottom six was dragging the other team down into a low-event quagmire of hockey. But the five games showed the Devils getting pounded more often than not when they were on the ice. The Corsi (shot attempts) is especially pointed as it can be used as a proxy for possession. Getting out-attempted by 20 or more - even if it is across five games - means the Hurricanes dominated the matchup. It was often worse than that for this sextet of skaters. This meant fewer shifts for them and more shifts for the top six that tried to carry the load and by extension more risk for them as Carolina could focus on stopping the lines centered by Hischier and Haula. This also meant more work for a shorthanded defensive group - which often laid at the skates of Brian Dumoulin and Brett Pesce - and even more work for Jacob Markstrom.

And, mind you, this is to say nothing of the individuals. Glass looked and played like he was Justin Dowling in disguise. Justin Dowling played like he was an AHL veteran in over his head. Noesen showed that his career season was more or less driven by being on the primary power play unit and spending about two months next to Nico Hischier. Paul Cotter played like he had the hockey IQ of a turnip; and his Game 4 performance alone seemingly was an effort to try to lose the Alexander Holtz trade. Tatar did nothing to beat the playoff ghost allegations. Nathan Bastian was the definition of a guy out there. That Curtis Lazar, Daniel Sprong, and any one from Utica could not replace any of these guys speaks loudly of what the coaching staff thinks of them.

Many of the People Who Matter lamented this group of six’s existence. Even Sheldon Keefe stated after Game 4 that to “expect (depth guys) to come out and dominate (offensively) is probably not realistic.” Forget dominating. The group looked like replacement-level NHL players. Not getting dominated would have been a huge step forward. They could not even do that. This was a big reason why the series went the way it did. If the Devils want to prevail in the future, they need upgrades at this end of the lineup. I can argue that Hischier, Meier, and Bratt may be better than almost all of the Canes forwards individually. I cannot argue that the Devils are better off with a twoish line team going up against a team that has four effective lines.

What about the defense? What about it? The Devils lost three defensemen due to injury. Forget the strength and conditioning staff, that is just rotten luck. Simon Nemec stepped up and ended up being one of the better Devils of the entire series on top of ensuring they would not get swept. Dennis Cholowski may be slow as a snail but he was somehow not crushed. Seamus Casey deserved more than the 5:43 he played in the series at 5-on-5. Even so, expecting your #8 or #9 defenseman to fill in the spots for #2-#4 (or #3-#5, whatever) is asking a lot. Can the Devils look to find a more trustworthy player that deep on the defenseman chart? Sure. But the bigger problem was half of the forward lineup that played throughout this whole series. There was no material difference between the #7 forward and the #15 forward sitting in the scratch suite. That needs to change for 2025-26, period. Even getting consistently competent NHL players for the bottom six would give the Devils more of the quality they need to beat the Carolinas of the league.

Lesson #3. You Need to Have Adjustments for the Power Play​

This one was the shocking part of the matchup and arguably the biggest difference maker in this series at a high-level. The Devils lost the series despite outscoring Carolina 10-9 in 5-on-5 because Carolina out-scored them 5-0 on the power play. 6-0 if you add in their shorthanded goal in Game 2. The Devils’ power play was one of the best in the league this season. Even without The Big Deal and Dougie Hamilton, the Devils’ power play scored 15 goals out of 46 situations for a success rate of 32.6% - the best in the NHL from March 4 to April 17. They were certainly capable of performing - even against a great penalty killing team in Carolina. In spite of the questionable refereeing in the series, the Devils received 15 opportunities on the power play over five games.

They got nothing. Zero goals out of fifteen opportunities. Worse, they gave up a back-breaking shorthanded goal in Game 2 so the power play ended in the red. A net -1 for the whole series. Even one power play goal could have tied up a game (Game 2, Game 4) or put them ahead (Game 3 in regulation, Game 5). They could not even get that.

Believe it or not, it is even worse than that. The Devils not only failed to score on the power play in this series. They also failed at generating offense. Which is significant given that the Canes controlled the play in 5-on-5, especially against the weak-sauce bottom six put out by the Devils. It would be one thing if the power play was shutout because Frederik Andersen or Pytor Kochetov was fantastic. That was not the case. The Devils generated the following on-ice rates with their power play in the postseason; a massive drop off from their regular season.

• Shooting Attempts: Playoffs: 76.77 CF/60, Season: 120.32 CF/60
• Shots on Net: Playoffs: 40.4 SF/60, Season: 63.23 SF/60
• Scoring Chances: Playoffs: 46.46 SCF/60, Season: 76.89 SCF/60
• High Danger Chances: Playoffs: 26.26 HDCF/60, Season: 33.63 HDCF/60
• Expected Goals: Playoffs: Playoffs: 6.65 xGF/60, Season: 10.84 xGF/60

These drop offs from the season are huge. Enough to demonstrate how the power play was not generating much offense in the playoffs. Which would have at least tilted the ice for a bit and provide some respite. Nope!

It is true that not having The Big Deal or Luke Hughes hurt this power play. It is also true that Carolina’s penalty kill was great in the season and clearly great in this series. It is further true that the Devils just did not perform as they have been on the power play. The rotation they had in their 1-3-1 formation was their secret sauce in the recipe all season. Somewhere, I think Game 3, the Devils reverted to being static at positions as if Mark Recchi was coaching the power play. The Canes managed to isolate the puck carrier and force poor passes or poor reads to kill offensive situations. Setting up was a challenge as well, contributing further to lack of an attack.

What the Devils needed was some kind of adjustment or two to how they carry out their power plays. No, not a slingshot pass on a breakout. An actual adjustment beyond swapping Noesen for Dawson Mercer for a few situations. This could have been an instruction to have three Devils crash the net every time Hamilton is set up. Or an instruction to have Timo Meier or Jesper Bratt attempt a rush entry just to keep Carolina’s defense honest. Or just yell at the guys to keep moving. Whether these individual ideas would have work or not misses the larger point: that what the Devils tried to stick to was not working. Something had to change and it did not over all 15 situations in the series. And it was a big contributing factor to this series loss. For the future, the coaches and the players have to have some modifications to put in place when the original power play plan of attack is not working out.

Lesson #4. You Need to Play Like You Actually Know Better ​

One of my big frustrations throughout the last four months of Devils hockey is how a team made to be older and more experienced could be this stupid on the ice. Whether it was from the slow starts to not reacting well to certain game situations to some of the just plain dumb penalties they would take to other things. I get that mistakes happen. Brainfarts are a thing. Lack of focus is another. I just did not - and still do not - understand how a team full of veterans and coached by one can have so many of them so often. This was another factor in why this was a five-game series loss.

While the officials certainly did not have a good series themselves, most of the calls on the Devils were both legitimate and groan-worthy. From the three calls on Dougie Hamilton to Brett Pesce clearing a puck over the glass in Game 3 to Erik Haula’s absolutely brain-dead trip during a penalty kill in Game 5, the Devils were guilty of some really needless penalties. And the Canes punished enough of them to get back into games or take leads in them. It was somewhat poetic that it all ended with Dawson Mercer whacking Jesperi Kotkaniemi in the face. Even if it could be argued as a follow through, it was not at all smart from the guy with over 300 NHL games and played in the 2023 postseason.

The vaunted playoff experience of some of the Devils only appeared to be a real benefit in the forms of Brian Dumoulin and Brett Pesce. As much as I hated the trade, Dumoulin was a bright spot on the defense. While often pinned back, the Devils managed to only get outshot by 3 with him on the ice. That was impressive. As was Pesce, who absolutely justified Less impressive were several other veterans on the squad. Playoff Palat looked a whole lot like the Ondrej Palat we struggled to watch for 82 games this season. Erik Haula was not awful as he was, say, two months ago. Yet, Erik Haula’s performance still had the caveat of him being Erik Haula on and off the puck (I am still salty about that trip in Game 5, Erik). Hamilton definitely could have had a better series. I already covered the bottom six that included vets in Noesen, Tatar, and Dowling. Even Jacob Markstrom had absolutely bizarre decisions in how he played the puck - which burned him big time in Game 4 - and conceded some truly soft goals. This was most apparent in the team’s final game. He managed to play like he deserved to be pulled in Game 5 and drag the team to double overtime single-handedly. The duality of goaltending and man. I am still left wondering how the series could have gone if all of these experienced players played like they had the wisdom you would expect from people who have played at this level for at least five seasons or more.

This is also extended to the coaching staff. Sheldon Keefe correctly pointed out how bad the forward depth was after Game 4. Why did he decide to make zero changes to the forwards for Game 5, then? Did he expect something else for some reason? The team came out very poorly in Game 1 and Game 4 and that contributed to those losses. Was his pre-game talk that bad? Was the preparation that poor? Likewise, what did he say in Game 5 when the 3-0 lead went up in smoke? At least he took a timeout in the middle of that choke job. Keefe also weirdly chose Cholowski over Casey in Game 4, switched that in Game 5, and then gave them so few minutes as a clearly not 100% defensive group of Jonas Siegenthaler, Pesce, and Hamilton took on huge minutes. Then there’s the inconsistency of the gameplan against Carolina in 5-on-5 plus the lack of adjustments on the power play. All told, Keefe and his staff performed as the players did on the ice: not good enough in comparison to Rod Brind’Amour and his staff. I have a lot of respect for Keefe and I believe he has the skills, but his choices and non-choices left something to be desired in this series.

The lesson is not that the Devils now need to go in the total opposite direction and get younger. Or necessarily get less experienced. It is that the Devils need to find players who actually play smart hockey instead of only having the experience that suggests that they have some smarts. It would also help if Keefe and his staff coached as if they knew better too, but I have more faith in him figuring that out than some of the skaters, who are very much who they are at their points in their careers.

Lesson #5. You Always Need More Scoring ​

The playoffs are a time where team management is not in a position to really do much of anything. It is like a test for them. Did the front office build a successful hockey team? Did they win or lose because of how they were put together?

In the case of the Devils, the respective answers are not enough and they lost partially (or mostly?) because of how they were put together. The Devils did succeed in 2024-25 in that they made the playoffs. After missing it in 2023-24, making it in the following season was the primary goal of this past season. The Devils did that. This combined with the injuries that beset the Devils in March and April will likely be more than enough for the front office and the coaching staff to remain in place.

It was a flawed achievement. The Devils’ 2024-25 season was driven by an awesome first half of the season as the Devils treaded water throughout the second half of the season. When Jack Hughes or Jesper Bratt were not on the ice, the Devils scored just 110 goals and allowed 140. Or, using rates, the Devils scored 2.11 goals per 60 and allowed 2.68 goals per 60. With either, the GF/60 rate shot up above 3. With the two together, the Devils scored goals at a rate of 5.17 per 60 minutes and allowed 2.52 per 60. In other words: this team was leaning heavily on The Big Deal and Bratt. They needed offensive help. An issue more apparent as the muddling continued in January and February. An issue even more obvious when The Big Deal was injured in Las Vegas on March 2.

However, offensive help would not come. Why? Simply put, management did not think they needed it. On December 16, 2024, General Manager Tom Fitzgerald had a media availability prior to the Christmas break. In response to a question about the off-season, the GM said this as transcribed on the Devils site (If you prefer video, there’s this video of the session.)

We had boxes to check in the summer. We did that. We really like our D. We feel we addressed the goaltending to give ourselves a chance to be in games every day. We knew we could score. That was never a concern. More depth. More physicality. We did that. The ebbs and flows of a season and the ebbs and flows of production from certain players, it comes and goes. We’d like to see more of it coming to take some pressure off some other guys. We’re just a one-day-at-a-time team. That’s it.

This quote ran through my mind when the Devils were shaking the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes late on Tuesday night.

This quote was, in retrospect, a sign of what would come for the trade deadline. Fitzgerald said it himself: scoring was not a concern. Not when the team was struggling to get regular production outside of 86, 63, and 13. Not when the ebbs and flows of a season were blocked by rocks. Not when the team was flailing in games against opponents they should be beating. Not when the team lost second place in the division to Carolina in the standings; or when they came close to losing third place to Columbus in the standings. It was not a concern to the front office. Scoring was not a concern to GM. And that was all true before The Big Deal was injured in Las Vegas. The injury to Jack Hughes, somehow, did not make this concern any more of one to the entire front office of the New Jersey Devils. If it did, you would not know about it since they did not do anything about it.

With this context, the 2024 NHL Trade Deadline makes more sense for the Devils. Scoring was not a concern to management. So they went out and got Brian Dumoulin, Cody Glass, Daniel Sprong, a bunch of retained salary for Edmonton to get Trent Frederic, a new contract for Jonathan Kovacevic, Shane LaChance, and Dennis Cholowski. Bodies? Yes. Competition for a truly bad bottom end of the roster? Sure. Offensive help? Not at all. (Aside: And I again acknowledge that Dumoulin played really well in the series.) It was not a concern to management. What could have helped the Devils in this series where it was a one-goal game for large stretches of Games 2 through 5? Or a power play gone cold? Offensive help. Go read Lessons #2 and #3 again as to where it could have really helped a lot. You know, where it was an actual, real-deal concern for the Devils.

Since the Devils were eliminated by Carolina in 2023 and missed the playoffs in 2023-24, Fitzgerald decided that the real issue with New Jersey was a lack of grit, a lack of defensive depth, and a lack of experience. He fixed that to a point where it was clearly an overcorrection. And, again, did not choose to bring in offensive help even when it was warranted. No, Jack Hughes could not be replaced. I fail to see how that meant an upgrade over Cotter, Tatar, Dowling, or Bastian could not be done.

Contrast that with Carolina. Carolina did not win the Cup in 2023 and were bounced early in 2024, but they largely stayed the course. Same system. Same coaching staff. Holes in the lineup were filled with players they figured could fit in their system. And even they did not settle with their offense. Hurricanes GM Dr. Eric Tulsky swung big to bring in Mikko Rantanen and Taylor Hall and even sent a part of their core away in Martin Necas to make it work. When that did not work out and Rantanen made it clear he was not going stay, the Canes sent him to Dallas for Logan Stankoven. They even added a depth piece in Mark Janikowski. The recently-extended Taylor Hall and Stankoven each made big impacts in this series, Janikowksi was a fourth line scoring dynamo in the season and chipped in a bit in the two games he played in the first round. This is all while maintaining their system of play, which again, controlled a lot of the series against the Devils. It remains to be seen if they will win it all in 2025, but the Canes did not think their scoring was enough. If anything, Tulsky demonstrated that he is willing to take a ‘L’ and not let his ego get in the way of making team better with the Stankoven trade. And the Canes have reaped some reward from it as they are going to play playoff hockey in May.

We saw this with other teams by the trade deadline too. Not every contending or playoff-hopeful team does it, but a lot of them did this year. Colorado (Necas, Nelson, Coyle), Los Angeles (Kuzmenko), Tampa Bay (Bjorkstrand, Gourde), Ottawa (Cozens), Dallas (Rantanen), and Florida (Marchand) all made additions to their roster like Carolina that would, in theory, help their offense. Whether or not they were all successful is beside the point. Their teams went for more scoring knowing full well that getting that one extra goal can mean a lot in the postseason. A big part of what I call Fitzgerald’s softness comes from the fact that these other organizations found a way to make these moves happen or took advantage when they could while Fitzgerald openly said he came in second place and left a ton of LTIR room on the table for a second straight season.

How Tulsky built this team is a big reason why Carolina performed as they did in this series and why they are moving on after five games as the Devils are not. Now the attention goes back to Fitzgerald. I have called him Soft Tom since the deadline because he was unwilling to pay major prices for a trade to help his team beyond Dumoulin. He needed to be bold to spark his own roster. Instead, they meandered to the end of the season and were often overmatched against a deeper Canes team. Remember, Game 1 happened before the defense was cut down by injuries and that was one of the more dominant playoff performances you would see from a team in recent memory. Questions are correctly being raised about how the Devils can improve their team for next season. Undoubtedly correct about the bottom six, big contracts (Palat, Hamilton), and more. The underlying question to those is whether Soft Tom is willing to look past his own ego and make those improvements. My concern is that he is not. He built this team that just lost to Carolina in the first round. Fixing it requires admitting he got it wrong to a degree. If can not do that, the Devils will be worse for it and his seat in Newark will to get a lot hotter and a lot faster than you may want in 2025-26.

His own big lesson from this series is that his changes from 2023 and 2024 absolutely did not succeed at making the Devils better. He went for physicality and it meant diddly squat over the five playoff games. As it usually does, much to the chagrin of Ken Daneyko and those raised on Don Cherry tapes. He went for experience and it changed zero things about this series. He went for defensive guys and did nothing when offense became the more immediate need. I honestly do think the Devils roster is correctable to turn them into a contender very quickly. They very much played like one for 40 games in this season. But to do that, Soft Tom Fitzgerald, Dan MacKinnon, Kate Madigan, Chuck Fletcher, Martin Brodeur, Andy Greene, Matt Cane, and the rest of the Devils front office needs to learn and accept this simple lesson about today’s NHL:

YOU ALWAYS NEED MORE SCORING​

As a suggestion: I can think of a player who can help with that. Go get him and go from there.

Your Take

As a postscript: faceoffs. In total: Hischier won 89 out of 164, Haula won 31 out of 52, and even Glass won 27 out of 52. Only Dowling (22 out 48) and Mercer (8 for 28, who did not center his line) finished below 50%. Sure, get centers, Devils, but this was not the issue you feel it was.

Feelings and facts are what we have left as the litigation, criticism, and recommendations for what the New Jersey Devils should do next can run from May through to the start of next season in October. For this post, I would like to keep it to the lessons the Devils should learn from this playoff series loss. You know the five I think the Devils need to learn. What other lessons do you think the Devils need to learn? Why do you think they need to learn them? Related: Do you think the organization will actually learn them? I can only hope they do, but they did not learn all the right lessons from 2023 and so here we are. Please leave your own lessons for the team to learn and why they do in the comments. Thank you for reading.

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/2...-carolina-hurricanes-keefe-fitzgerald-offense

 

[New Jersey Devils]

A Lot of Rentals Is a Problem

Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

Against Carolina, the Devils had a ton of problems with scoring and production outside of the best players on the team. And among the rest, there were too many rentals and guys at the end of short-term deals. Lack of permanence at the bottom of the roster was a real problem this year and in this playoff series.

In the 5 games against Carolina in the first round of the playoffs, the New Jersey Devils skated out 23 different players at some point, 24 if you want to also include Jakob Markstrom. Of those 23 skaters, 10 were defensemen and 13 were forwards. With the injuries to the blue line, it was a constant churning out of different pairings just to ice a full team without being shorthanded. And in some of those games, with the injuries, they were still shorthanded with fewer than 6 defensemen in the rotation. The only change in the forward group in those games was Daniel Sprong coming in for Tomas Tatar in one game, but otherwise, the forwards actually remained fairly healthy.

However, one of the problems with this roster, I think, that led to a deficiency against Carolina, and led to the lack of depth in the series that many have harped on since the game 5 defeat, is that so many of those 23 skaters were essentially mercenaries on one-year or short-term deals, or on the way out on the final year of a deal. Here is a chart of those who laced it up for NJ in the playoffs who are about to become free agents, according to PuckPedia:

So as you can see, of those 23 skaters who played in the playoffs, a full 8 of them are on expiring contracts, just over a third of the entire roster of players who skated in at least one game. That is a large number. And of those 8 skaters, only one is anything more than a rental or bottom of the roster plug-in, that being Luke Hughes. Luke is a core Devil and will get a long contract, so he does not fit in this discussion. However, he fit the bill of being on an expiring contract, so I threw him in. But for the purposes of this argument, he can be thrown out.

The other 7 are made up mostly of mercenaries. 4 of them were added late in the season. I wrote a half year with NJ in parentheses, as I did not want to calculate exactly what percentage of the season they played with the Devils, but in reality, none of those four guys played with NJ for more than 20 games or so, and so they were really with the team for a very short time. Those four- Cody Glass, Daniel Sprong, Brian Dumoulin, and Dennis Cholowski- were pure rentals. There is a chance Glass returns, as he is an RFA despite being 26 years old, but otherwise, these guys were all brought in for right now. There was no long-term connection with the team at all.

The others played with the team for the entire season, but it was mostly just for one season. The only exception that was not really a rental or mercenary is Nathan Bastian, who has been around for a while and is simply at the end of a “prove it” two-year deal, where he mostly just proved that he is a fourth-line player in the NHL. He has some good usage there, but that is about it. Tomas Tatar was with the team previously, but not last year, and was brought back on just a one-year, mercenary-type deal. And he wildly underperformed compared to how he used to play when he was here years ago, so that did not go well. Justin Dowling just finished a two-year deal, but barely played at all last season, so he almost felt like a rental when he was on the ice.

All in all, when you look at that list, Luke Hughes and maybe Nathan Bastian notwithstanding, that was a large and largely unhelpful group of short-term players for this team. The Devils struggled mightily with scoring and production outside of the top scorers on the team, and these players all played a part in that failure. It would be no surprise if, among that entire list, only Luke Hughes returns, and Tom Fitzgerald might have to go on a spree this offseason, bringing in players to fill out the bottom 6 on offense and the bottom pairing on defense. But this keeps the same problem alive: is he just going to keep bringing in mercenaries and short-term players at these positions, cycling them in and out, looking to find proper complements to the core of this team? Or is he actually going to sign some guys like these to longer deals, perhaps a few years in length, with the intention of building a longer-lasting team and a squad with more depth? His short-term moves for this season clearly did not work and were entirely unhelpful in generating offense in the playoffs. He will need to do better if he wants this team to go further next season. I would think he would need to find some more players for longer deals than just one season. Having that many players, and specifically that many rentals, on the team is not the answer.

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/2025/5/3/24421750/a-lot-of-rentals-is-a-problem

 

[New Jersey Devils]

DitD & Open Post - 5/2/25: Breakup Day Edition

New Jersey Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe walks to the hand shake line after the loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in the second overtime in game five of the first round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Lenovo Center. | James Guillory-Imagn Images

New Jersey Devils & Related Hockey Links for 5/2/25

Here are your links for today:

Devils Links​

The Devils held their end-of-the-season locker clean out and breakup day on Thursday. Hear from Nico Hischier, Jacob Markstrom and the rest of the team: [Devils NHL]

Some notables:

It’s a knee injury for Johnny Kovacevic that he sustained on the first shift of Game 3.

It will likely require surgery and he’s not sure he will be ready for the start of next year’s training camp.#NJDevils

— Amanda Stein (@amandacstein) May 1, 2025​

On raising the bar for next season, here's what Nico Hischier had to poignantly say about his #NJDevils team:

"I think the next step for this team is having a great year, winning the division, and from there on, going for the playoff run. That’s what I’m looking for." pic.twitter.com/cE6IW6RTTP

— Amanda Stein (@amandacstein) May 1, 2025​

Brett Pesce on Nico Hischier:

“I would follow him to the end.”#NJDevils

— Amanda Stein (@amandacstein) May 1, 2025​

Asked Jacob Markstrom, entering the final year of his contract, if he’s given thought to signing an early extension with the #NJDevils:

“If Fitzy is calling, I’m answering.”

— James Nichols (@JamesNicholsNHL) May 1, 2025​

Cody Glass, a pending RFA, “would love” to return to the #NJDevils

— James Nichols (@JamesNicholsNHL) May 1, 2025​

Daniel Sprong says he wants to come back next year and believes his numbers from past seasons show that he can produce in a bottom-six role.

— Bill Spaulding (@BillSpaulding) May 1, 2025​

Nate Bastian was first to meet the #NJDevils media this morning.

He's a UFA for the first time in his career heading into this summer. Says of course he wants to be back, this is his home.

But "will let the dust settle."

— Amanda Stein (@amandacstein) May 1, 2025​

Hockey Links​

The second round is shaping up:

THE ORANGE AND BLUE ARE THROUGH

The @EdmontonOilers rattle off four straight wins and are off to the Second Round! #StanleyCup

Presented by @NavyFederal pic.twitter.com/MaIQvBjL00

— NHL (@NHL) May 2, 2025​

THE MAPLE LEAFS MARCH ON

The @MapleLeafs advance to the Second Round of the #StanleyCup Playoffs for the second time in three years!

Presented by @NavyFederal pic.twitter.com/VJM29GTsls

— NHL (@NHL) May 2, 2025​

STAY GOLDEN

The @GoldenKnights have punched their ticket to the Second Round! #StanleyCup

Presented by @NavyFederal pic.twitter.com/JUxc0G4lIG

— NHL (@NHL) May 2, 2025​

CATS ARE THROUGH

The @FlaPanthers will continue their #StanleyCup title defense in the Second Round!

Presented by @NavyFederal pic.twitter.com/9dG2gH4JYL

— NHL (@NHL) May 1, 2025​

CAPS MOVE ON! CAPS MOVE ON!

The @Capitals take Game 5 and secure their spot in the Second Round

Presented by @NavyFederal pic.twitter.com/1iT6OPS3jV

— NHL (@NHL) May 1, 2025​

It appears Mike Sullivan will be the next Rangers coach:

The New York Rangers are in advanced contract talks to name Mike Sullivan head coach, sources told @KevinWeekes & me. It is expected to be one of the richest coaching contracts in NHL history.

— Emily Kaplan (@emilymkaplan) May 1, 2025​

Speaking of Sullivan, a look around the league at the coaching carousel: [Daily Faceoff]

Hart finalists:

Follow your Hart. #NHLAwards

Leon Draisaitl, Connor Hellebuyck, and Nikita Kucherov are finalists for the Hart Memorial Trophy, awarded annually "to the player adjudged to be the most valuable to his team." pic.twitter.com/udt1LXhSQP

— NHL (@NHL) May 1, 2025​

Taylor Hall gets a three-year deal:

"I feel very fortunate to be a Hurricane."

From being traded to the #Canes in January to inking a fresh three-year extension, Taylor Hall has found a home in Carolina.

Read » https://t.co/ibqCbCaDQX pic.twitter.com/NvoPrS2uOQ

— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) May 2, 2025​

Farewell to Marc-Andre Fleury:

Marc-André Fleury’s career is over.

• 3 Stanley Cups (2009/2016/2017)
• Vezina Trophy (2021)
• 575 regular season wins (2nd all-time)
• 92 playoff wins (4th all-time)
• 1,221 GP (reg season + playoffs) (3rd all-time)

He’ll be HOF eligible in 2028.
pic.twitter.com/dulIcxHaKd

— NHL News (@PuckReportNHL) May 2, 2025​

“Keep your eye on it. You play as you practice. Have fun.”

Mission accomplished for Marc-Andre Fleury, who has officially retired from the NHL after 21 seasons. pic.twitter.com/bvBSq8puv2

— NHLPA (@NHLPA) May 2, 2025​

Feel free to discuss these and any other hockey-related stories in the comments below.

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/2025/5/2/24422179/devils-in-the-details-5-2-25-breakup-day-edition

 

[New Jersey Devils]

How Injuries May Impact the New Jersey Devils Next Season

Johnny Kovacevic may be sidelined for a stretch of next season. | Photo by Jonathan Kozub/NHLI via Getty Images

Playoff teams always have some bumps and bruises to show for their work.

With the New Jersey Devils season over, members of the team gathered for exit interviews on Thursday. While it seemed that many were hopeful of things to come, the Devils did begin to divulge the extents of their respective injuries. Most of the injuries being dealt with come from the blueline, which may not be very surprising, considering the defense-first game the team has played over the last season. While most of the team is expected to be ready for training camp in September, there is at least one player who will still be in recovery.

Kovacevic Will Miss Time in 2025-26​

On the whole, Johnny Kovacevic gave Devils fans a lot of reasons to be happy that he signed a five-year deal with the team. Had Kovacevic wished it, he likely would have been one of the more sought-after unrestricted free agents available. He was on the younger side for a UFA, turning just 28 years old in July. As a defenseman who decided to go through the NCAA and AHL, Kovacevic also might not have as much wear and tear on his body than many defenseman his age. Since he departed Merrimack College in 2019, Kovacevic did not play 60 games in a season until the 2021-22 year, as the 2020-21 AHL season was largely cut due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As far as 6’5” right-handed shutdown defensemen who can flatten opposing forwards go, Kovacevic should be pretty fresh. In my opinion, there are not a lot of reasons to think a five-year contract for a player of Kovacevic’s age and ability-level will age poorly, so any complaints about his deal are more about the lack of presently-apparent available cap space than anything else.

During his exit interview, Johnny said that he sustained a knee injury on his first shift of Game Three. As James Nichols reported for New Jersey Hockey Now, Kovacevic will have to wait for his swelling to go down for a few weeks before getting surgery, so he will not be ready for training camp in September. Additionally, Kovacevic pointed to his contract as a way to give himself as much time as possible to recover from his injury. So, Johnny Kovacevic should come back at 100% next year. He knows that, not only is he signed, but the defense is so deep that he can really make sure that his knee does not become a long-term issue.

Brenden Dillon’s Neck Injury​

Brenden Dillon is reportedly going to be ready for the 2025-26 season. As he mentioned in his exit interview, he has been really lucky to avoid neck and head injuries for a guy of his style, but it is always concerning to see a physical player come back from a neck injury. He did note that he consulted with doctors and surgeons to ascertain that he could return for training camp — and he seemed to like the answers he got. But players as intense as Brenden Dillon are not easily kept out of games, and if you watch his exit interview, you can read the disappointment all over his face.

Disappointment is good, in this case. Brenden did not give his injury update and slink off for the summer. He knows he is a leader for the team, and is just as interested in improving the hockey side of things as he is setting himself right medically. This is one tangent which struck me in particular, given how the team played in the 2023-24 season:

I think when you talk about culture, like, you know, there’s good people here, there’s good people in the organization: ownership’s great, management’s great, coaches are great...but ultimately, like the players have to understand, like it’s hard to be, you know, a good team year after year after year. For us to come in next year and think, yeah we had playoffs, it’ll be good, like we’re just gonna make them next year, like that’s....you know that’s just setting yourself up for disaster.

Unlike Kovacevic, Brenden Dillon does not expect to miss time, so he should be a part of making a good first step in the 2025-26 season. Personally, I just hope that Dillon rethinks his style a little bit — at least for the regular season — and put himself in a little less harm’s way. His injury was scary to watch, and the longer he goes without another neck or head injury, the better.

Keeping an Eye on the Shoulders​

Neither Luke nor Jack Hughes spoke with the media on Devils breakup day, and there was no update on Luke Hughes. Many seem to assume that his current situation is related to his left shoulder injury at the end of last offseason, but there has been no confirmation to this point. Luke did not have surgery to repair his shoulder in September, which allowed him to return to the team with Brett Pesce during the season. His older brother, Jack, had shoulder surgery in early March after hurting his right arm, working to ensure that he is ready for training camp.

If Jack gets a bit over six months to recover from shoulder surgery, I would imagine that the team would seek to put Luke on a similar timeline if the shoulder expectation proves true. Jack also got shoulder surgery at the end of the 2023-24 season, which gave him a bit over five months of recovery before training camp. If it turns out that Luke managed and played through the injury all season, the team could easily opt to offer him a longer recovery time. Why not come back in November or December after building more strength? Like Kovacevic, Luke Hughes is not going anywhere, and he can take his time. I would just like to see both brothers come back strong enough that neither deals with a shoulder injury in 2025-26.

Positives: Jonas Siegenthaler Should Be Good to Go​

In his exit interview, Siegenthaler said that he twisted his foot when he suffered that non-contact injury back in February. So, the injury was not knee as previously rumored. Still, Siegenthaler noted that it was a little challenging to play all the playoff minutes he did, and that he is focused on continuing to rehab and build strength in his leg over the summer. Considering how well Siegenthaler played during the first round, though, I am not really worried that he will look any different next season. After all, he came back from lingering issues during the 2023-24 season to have the best season of his career this year.

Positives: A Healthier Brett Pesce​

As he noted in his interview, Brett Pesce said that he was “excited” to have a “normal summer routine” after spending the 2024 offseason recovering from surgery. For Devils fans who just watched him for most of a full season, I think the prevailing thought should be that this is only the beginning for Brett. He was not 100% in the playoffs, but kept helping the team out with his blend of focus, positioning, and desperation. Having a stronger, faster Brett Pesce at the start of next season will do wonders to re-establishing the team’s identity.

Dougie Hamilton: The Long Road​

Despite just coming back from an injury in the playoffs, Dougie Hamilton mostly stayed mum about what he went through and what he plans on doing to get ready for next season. I can understand the apparent exhaustion. Hamilton came back from a torn pectoral and surgery to be ready for the start of the 2024-25 season, only to go down with an apparent knee injury 63 games into his season. One thing that felt different from Hamilton this year was his shot, as he seemed to have trouble being as accurate with his slap shot until later on in the season, though his goal-scoring remained more sporadic than it has been since 2022. If the Devils want to maximize their potential next season, they need to make sure Dougie Hamilton is healthy enough to score 20 goals for them again. Hopefully, his lingering injuries are not too serious, and he comes back in a better position in 2025 than he was last year after his pectoral surgery.

How Injuries Affect the Cap Next Season​

With Johnny Kovacevic expected to miss training camp next season, he could very well end up on Injured Reserve or Long-Term Injured Reserve at the start of the year, depending on the moves that Tom Fitzgerald makes over the summer. With the impending Luke Hughes extension and a few needs to be met around the team, there is a very good chance that the Devils are right up against the cap ceiling — or over it, if they expect Kovacevic to be out for awhile. As PuckPedia explains:

If a team cannot be cap compliant on opening day without using LTIR, the LTIR Pool is the amount the team exceeds the Cap. For example, if a team is $3M over the Cap and places a player on LTIR with a $4M Cap Hit for the opening roster submission, the LTIR Pool is the $3M that the team exceeded the cap

To avoid this and maximize potential LTIR space, the Devils will want to be right under the cap ceiling. There are ways to work that out, including sending waiver-ineligible players and Kurtis MacDermid to the AHL, keeping the team at an 18-skater minimum before executing the LTIR moves and any subsequent call-ups. The Devils have the following waiver-ineligible skaters currently on the roster:

• Luke Hughes (just one game away from waiver-eligibility)
• Simon Nemec
• Seamus Casey

Yes, the Devils would be able to send Luke Hughes to the minor leagues on paper — for just a moment — in order to put Johnny Kovacevic on LTIR. Without making other moves, that could introduce things like the possibility of retaining Brian Dumoulin. Otherwise, players who want to return can help the team be as deep as possible by taking less money to stay with the team. As these weeks go on, we at All About the Jersey will begin to discuss those contract decisions more.

Half of the Devils’ best shutdown pairing will be out for what seems like at least a chunk of next season. After testing the patience of fans a little bit too much in 2025, I think Tom Fitzgerald needs to be more aggressive in using the cap exception that may be available to them from the start of the next season. The best teams in the league do it, and the front office can learn as much from others as the players learn from watching the teams still playing in the playoffs. Even with the concern of Kovacevic returning to the team before the turn of the calendar, we still do not know how long his recovery will be — or what ligament he tore — and I always expect more injuries to happen, anyway.

One Last Positive: A Chance for Nemec​

With Kovacevic’s injury, Simon Nemec’s path to a full-time NHL role next season no longer relies on the movement of a defenseman via trade. Going into next season, the Devils should have three pairings in Hughes-Pesce, Dillon-Hamilton, and Siegenthaler-Nemec, which should all work wonderfully in the absence of Kovacevic. I still think the Hughes and Dillon injuries are worth keeping an eye on, as bringing a guy like Brian Dumoulin back would ensure that Nemec continues to have a legitimate NHL defenseman as his partner if any of his left-handed counterparts turn out to miss time next season.

Still, Nemec showed us that his confidence was in there all along during the playoffs. He started making moves through opponents to create offense, he started cutting down plays against the rush, and his decisions were far better than they were from October through March. With another summer of maturing and building strength, Nemec might even be someone who contributes in all situations. Perhaps he continues to play on a two-defenseman power play unit with Dougie Hamilton in a spot for one-timers. Perhaps he takes a defensive role and some penalty killing time. Sheldon Keefe, as a defense-first head coach, is the kind of coach you should expect to get the most out of Nemec, and I am excited to see what he does next season.

Your Thoughts​

Where do you think Kovacevic’s injury places the team next year? How do you think Simon Nemec will respond to the opportunity? Do you think the Devils will encourage Kovacevic and Hughes to take their time in recovery? How might these injuries affect trade discussions and free agent targets? Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and thanks for reading.

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/2...ovacevic-knee-luke-jack-hughes-brenden-dillon

 

[New Jersey Devils]

New Jersey Devils Prospect Update: A look at the Devils Prospect Depth Heading into Draft Season

Yegorov gives the Devils a strong future prospect down the road in net. | Connor Hamilton-Imagn Images

With the Devils defeated in the first round, it’s time to look at some positional needs in the Devils prospect pool ahead of the draft.

If I only had one word to sum up the Devils needs in its prospect pool it would be one word: centers. If I could have a few more words, it would be offensive forwards.

Despite a bit of a depletion due to trades, the Devils pool is still pretty stacked on the back end with Seamus Casey, Simon Nemec, Anton Silayev, and to a lesser extent Topias Vilen, Daniil Orlov, Ethan Edwards and to an even lesser extent some potential developing longer shots in Daniil Karpovich and Chase Cheslock. If there is any criticism in the pool, it’s perhaps the Devils could use another right-handed shot or two with NHL potential. Simon Nemec is likely going to graduate from the pool full time to the NHL next season highlighting that weakness in the pool on the right side sooner rather than later.

Similarly, the Devils have some quality goaltenders in their pool for the first time in a long time. While there was some hype around Akira Schmid and Nico Daws, neither have stuck at the higher levels yet. Both goaltenders put up terrific numbers in the NHL this year in limited starts. Schmid, for the Vegas Golden Knights, finished the season 2-0-1 with a 1.26 GAA and .944 SV% in limited action. Nico Daws, on the other hand, put up very similar numbers with a 3-1-0 record, 1.60 GAA and .939 SV%. Oddly, both goaltenders struggled in the AHL this year for two subpar teams, Schmid for the Henderson Silver Knights and Daws for the Utica Comets.

The Devils no longer have Schmid and Daws will have a one-way contract for the Devils next season. Jakub Malek will likely contend for the backup Devils role with Daws after a season as one of the best goalies in the Liiga. The emergence of Mikhail Yegorov at Boston University gives the Devils system someone to look forward to growing into their net years down the road. After that, Veeti Louhivaara is probably the strongest, albeit very raw prospect in net, putting up respectable, but not overwhelming numbers for JYP’s U20 team in 19 games. Tyler Brennan has one more year left on his contract, but has struggled in the ECHL, platooning with Jeremy Brodeur, who has been the stronger of the two netminders.

There is nothing wrong with additional goalie depth and the position is a fickle one, which is very difficult to project. That said, I would prefer if the Devils grabbed a goalie later in the draft and not used a 2nd round pick on one as they have done many times in recent drafts. This assumes that Joshua Ravensbergen is long gone by the time the Devils make their first selection. If someone like him falls, you take him as best player available.

That brings us to the forwards. Center depth is notorious non-existent the pool. The Utica Comets signed Matyas Melovsky to a one-year-deal. Melovsky exploded in the QMJHL this year with 83 points in 57 games. After Melovsky, there’s Samu Salminen, another forward who also plays center and wing heading into his senior season at the University of Denver. That’s it for players of prospect age. Those two guys.

The scoring winger cupboard is a little bit better with two great prospects in Arseni Gritsyuk and Lenni Hameenaho. Gritsyuk will likely graduate from the pool once he signs his contract with the Devils and Hameenaho may not be much further behind. After that, two players showed great promise in their AHL debuts at the end of the season in Shane LaChance and Cam Squires. There’s a steep drop after that. Kasper Pikkarainen still has a shot to turn into something, but lost a year of development with an injury. Josh Filmon had a dreadful season and is trying to earn his way back to the Comets. Unless the Devils sign him soon, they are likely to lose Cole Brown, who has committed to the University of Notre Dame.

Recently, the Devils traded away useful forward prospects in Herman Traff, Zakhar Bardakov and Max Graham and those losses are starting to be felt in the pool. The Colorado Avalanche recently signed Bardakov to his one-year ELC starting next season. Bardakov is exactly the type of two-way, gritty, pesky, identity forward with offensive skills the Devils need in their bottom six. But hey, the Devils got Kurtis MacDermid for him, so there’s that.

All in all, if the draft board lines up, I would like the Devils to focus on refilling the forward cupboard, especially at center, snag a late round right-handed defenseman and throw a dart at a goalie in the fourth or fifth round. If they could find another Bardakov-esque player somewhere that would be swell. As the Devils currently do not have a first round pick, best player available is usually a range of similarly-flawed projects later in the draft, but of course, if someone falls who shouldn’t, you take him.

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/2...vils-prospect-depth-heading-into-draft-season

 

[New Jersey Devils]

DitD & Open Post - 5/5/25: Getting It Done Edition

Dallas Stars right wing Mikko Rantanen (96) controls the puck against the Colorado Avalanche in the third period in game six of the first round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Ball Arena. | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

New Jersey Devils & Related Hockey Links for 5/5/25

Here are your links for today:

Devils Links​

“Nico Hischier’s defensive impacts are not as strong as you’d think – but his overall value is even higher than given credit for.” [Infernal Access ($)]

Johnathan Kovacevic on his injury, which will keep him out of the lineup to start the season: “No, the doctors said for an injury like this, you have to wait a few weeks for the swelling and everything to kind of go down before you can operate. Obviously, I would love to be out there, but they said it’s not stable, and you’re risking kind of hurting other things in your knee if you go back out there. And then that gets to a point where it gets even worse and worse. So I thought I’ve got to trust the doctors. They’re really great.” [New Jersey Hockey Now]

Well isn’t this a fun thought:

A year ago, the Devils made a play for Mike Sullivan but he wasn’t ready to leave Pittsburgh yet. Timing is everything, as the rival Rangers get him a year later. Devils are happy with Sheldon Keefe, don’t get me wrong, but it’s still interesting how it played out.

— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) May 2, 2025​

“On the whole, I do think that there is a general overadjustment from teams around the NHL in attempts to ‘copy’ the Cup-winning teams, but there truly are some valuable lessons to take away from them.” [Devils’ Advocates]

Hockey Links​

The Jets pull out a miracle to win in Game 7 and advance:

THE JETS WIN #GAME7 AND ADVANCE

For the first time since 2021, the @NHLJets are through to the Second Round! #StanleyCup

Presented by @NavyFederal pic.twitter.com/JShbNLHdfd

— NHL (@NHL) May 5, 2025​

An impressive night for Mikko Rantanen as the Stars advance:

1st player in NHL history with a 3rd period, Game 7 hat trick
1st player in NHL history with back-to-back games with 4-point periods
Leads the playoffs with 12 points
Did it all against his former team from where he was traded mid season

Can’t get over Mikko Rantanen ️ pic.twitter.com/CtbgkgvEhV

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) May 4, 2025​

MOVIN' ON

The @DallasStars take #Game7 to advance to the Second Round! #StanleyCup

Presented by @NavyFederal pic.twitter.com/KCkcLHj5kB

— NHL (@NHL) May 4, 2025​

Pete knows how to get it done:

HISTORIC NUMBER NINE

Peter DeBoer now holds the record for most Game 7 wins by a Head Coach or Manager in the history of North American major sports leagues (NHL, NBA, MLB).

He’s also done it undefeated at 9-0. pic.twitter.com/3QXxQZIX2A

— NHL Coaches’ Association (@NHLCoachesAssoc) May 4, 2025​

A rough run for the Avs in Game 7s:

The Avalanche are the first team in MLB/NBA/NHL history to lose 7 consecutive Game 7s.

— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) May 4, 2025​

Rangers have their coach:

TO THE CONCRETE JUNGLE ️

The @NYRangers have hired Mike Sullivan as their head coach. pic.twitter.com/U9tJX97GZZ

— NHL (@NHL) May 2, 2025​

Selke finalists:

Presenting to you, the Frank J. Selke Trophy finalists! #NHLAwards

The Frank J. Selke Trophy is given annually "to the forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game." pic.twitter.com/IEbO8UJ1tP

— NHL (@NHL) May 2, 2025​

The draft lottery will take place today:

Getting you set for the 2025 #NHLDraft Lottery!

We've got everything you need to know before tomorrow’s live in-studio drawing— including the full list of all 1,000 four-digit combos assigned to each participating team https://t.co/bvCZRC6t8z

Watch the 2025 #NHLDraft… pic.twitter.com/P3Lu03Rn50

— NHL (@NHL) May 4, 2025​

Matt Coronato gets a seven-year deal:

THE IS SIGNED!

Matt Coronato has inked a seven-year extension with an AAV of $6.5 million!#Flames | @original16beer pic.twitter.com/5iOFEZ0fjj

— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) May 3, 2025​

Feel free to discuss these and any other hockey-related stories in the comments below.

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/2...in-the-details-5-5-25-getting-it-done-edition

 

[New Jersey Devils]

What I Would Like To Hear From Tom Fitzgerald and Sheldon Keefe

Sheldon Keefe and Tom Fitzgerald addressing the media last year | Photo by Rich Graessle/NHLI via Getty Images

Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald and head coach Sheldon Keefe will have their end-of-season availability later this week. This is what I’d like to hear from them.

The 2024-25 season for the New Jersey Devils is in the books, and while they made some progress as an organization in terms of returning to the postseason, it is apparent that they still have plenty of hard work to do in terms of taking that next step.

The players had their say during breakup day last Friday, as they addressed the media for the final time this season. And we learned a lot of things about the team heading into the offseason, from Brett Pesce dealing with a shoulder injury during the playoffs to Jacob Markstrom being open to a contract extension to Johnathan Kovacevic potentially missing the start of next season due to knee surgery, just to name a few.

What we haven’t gotten yet are the final thoughts from GM Tom Fitzgerald or head coach Sheldon Keefe as they look back on the season. I was hoping they would have spoken by now so I could’ve used my platform this week to react to what they had to say and whether or not I agreed with it. Unfortunately, they’re not scheduled to speak until Thursday at 11am.

#NJDevils GM Tom Fitzgerald and HC Sheldon Keefe will meet with the media on Thursday at 11:00am for their end of season availability.

— Kristy Flannery (@InStilettos_NHL) May 6, 2025​

Instead of reacting to what they have to say, I’m going to talk about what I would ask the team after this past season and how the Devils plan to go about addressing the holes on the roster that we’ve acknowledged time and time again. We know from Fitzgerald’s history that he’ll be aggressive in the summertime to build the roster. Last year’s flurry of moves to get bigger and tougher to play against after declaring “I know exactly what this team needs” is an example of that. That’s all well and good. But saying one thing and then executing it is another.

Here are the questions that I would hope are asked of Fitzgerald, Keefe, or both when they do talk to the media.

How Will the Devils Add More Offense To The Lineup?​

The Devils have gone from 4th in the league in goals per game (3.52) in 2022-23 to 12th in 2023-24 (3.22) to 20th this past season (2.93). They were also 16th out of 16 playoff teams in goals per game (2.20), with the power play going 0-fer for the Carolina series, which is a big part of the reason why they’re no longer playing hockey this season.

The results are what they are, so what gives? Is it a talent issue? Is it a system issue? Is it bad luck because of injuries to key players? Is it a combination of all of the above?

Consider these 5v5 numbers from this past season for a moment.

Source: NHL.com & Natural Stat Trick

That would suggest to me something that I mentioned a few weeks ago when I was talking about Dougie Hamilton. That the Devils simply aren’t hitting the net enough with their shot selection, and they’re certainly not finishing the chances that they are getting. Part of the problem might be the team overpassing, “getting too cute” or trying to set up the “perfect shot”, only for someone along that sequence of events to be inaccurate with the pass, the receiver to fumble the puck or partially fan on the shot. But I think a bigger part of the problem is simply not firing enough. Not playing for redirections, tips, or rebounds is part of it, as are defensemen who are getting in the way and blocking shots. The Devils are middle of the pack in HDCF (18th) and HDCF% (13th), which suggests to me they could also stand to get to the front of the net more than they actually are. And of course, you can’t shoot the puck if you don’t possess it, and the Devils bottom six in particular spent far too much time chasing the puck around.

I’m sure of the issues here that are personnel based, the fix for that will be inserting better players into the lineup. Assuming the newly-signed Arseni Gritsyuk lives up to the billing, he’ll be an upgrade over some of the NPCs that cosplayed as Devils bottom six forwards this year. But they need more than that and it starts with upgrading at 3C.

I will say that I don’t think the problem is necessarily system-based. Keefe’s Maple Leafs teams were consistently in the Top 10 in terms of goals per game and xGF% while he was there. And while one could say the Maple Leafs elite players (Matthews, Marner, Nylander) are better than New Jersey’s (Hischier, Hughes, Bratt) when it comes to putting the puck in the net, those Leafs teams also had other issues that ultimately did them in, such as goaltending, defensive play, and star players not showing up at inopportune times. I don’t think these Devils have those issues.

That said, I do think Keefe inherited several players who probably aren’t ideal fits, at least in the bottom six. Curtis Lazar looked lost for most of the season and that was before he got injured. Same thing with Erik Haula. Nathan Bastian has never really been a great source of offense and is what he is at this stage of his career. Those are all players Keefe inherited and there’s a reasonable argument to be made that the Devils are better suited moving on from all of them as they reshape the bottom six.

Speaking of....

What Is The Identity of the Bottom Six? What Do They Want It To Be?​

I alluded to this last week but it bears repeating....what is the identity of the Devils bottom six?

The answer is simply this....there is none. Or at least there wasn’t one this past season.

The Devils don’t have a Crash Line. They don’t have defensive stalwarts like Jay Pandolfo or John Madden on their fourth line. Heck, they don’t even have the CBGB line, at least when they were at their peak anyways. The current fourth line might somewhat resemble what the CBGB line looked like in 2014 well past their expiration date, which wasn’t good.

What are these lines supposed to be? What are you trying to do?

Ideally, the third line is one that can chip in enough offensively to the point where the Devils aren’t asking their top players to do everything. They’d be a line that can use their speed, get after it, and force the opposition to chase them around.

They don’t necessarily need to be that though. Maybe its a glorified checking line with a shutdown defensive center and wingers who get in on the forecheck. Or maybe we’re talking about a fourth line that might not be all that talented, but at least they’re physical and will punish you in the corners and be miserable to play against.

The Devils bottom six didn’t do any of this consistently. And when you compare it to Carolina, who clearly has an identity throughout their lineup, not just in the bottom six...its not even a fair comparison.

They have some guys who do some things well. Paul Cotter is a good skater and has a good shot, but he does nothing defensively and isn’t much of a passer. Bastian has size and will mix it up in the corners but he also has cement boots for skates. Tomas Tatar is ok defensively but probably doesn’t have much left to offer offensively at his age. Same goes for Haula.

But like I said last week, its an assortment of parts that simply don’t fit together. There’s a reason why they never could find a combination of players to form a coherent line.

I can somewhat give Sheldon Keefe a pass. This is the roster he was given to work with and we’ve talked enough about how Tom Fitzgerald didn’t do enough at the deadline to help the Devils match up better against Carolina. He can’t squeeze blood from a stone. But with that said, I’ll be curious to see what type of players they’ll be looking at this summer who might fit Keefe’s system better than what he inherited. I’m not saying “just bring in guys from Toronto that he knows”, but I do think they may look at some players who have passed through there the last few years that Keefe trusts.

So....What Happened After Christmas?​

Before Christmas, the Devils were third in xGF% at 55.91% and 6th in CF% at 52.85%. They were 7th in the league in goals per game at 3.35, 6th in shots per game at 30.4, and they played some of the best defensive hockey we’ve seen from this team in years. They also racked up impressive wins against some of the top teams in the league like Florida (twice), Washington (twice), Carolina (once, the second win was after Christmas), Los Angeles, and St. Louis.

After Christmas, those numbers regressed to what I mentioned earlier, but more alarmingly, the team looked nothing like the team we saw jump out to a 23-11-3 start at the holiday break. They got swept on the California road trip, got annihilated when they faced Winnipeg, Colorado, and Vegas, and dropped plenty of games to bottom feeders along the way as they played out the stretch.

So, what happened there? Where not only were the results not there, but for the most part, neither was the process?

You can’t blame injuries, as Jack Hughes and Dougie Hamilton didn’t go down until early March and Jake Allen and Nico Daws played brilliantly when Jacob Markstrom got hurt. They might’ve had some minor injuries with guys like Haula and Lazar but the Devils should’ve been deep enough to overcome losses like that. So why did the Devils drop so many games to also-rans? Why was this team as exhausting to watch as they were?

Was this something where the league figured them out and adjusted to what they were doing once they got more tape on them? Was this something where the players got lazy after they built up a cushion and decided to only ramp up when necessary? Is it bad luck that things like puck over the glass, giving up late goals, and getting goalie’d by Mackenzie Blackwood kept happening?

At least last year when I couldn’t figure out why Jonas Siegenthaler and John Marino regressed as much as they had, there was a somewhat plausible explanation in there with injuries.

Here, I’m at a loss for words. I still don’t get it almost four months later. So I hope now that Keefe has had time to reflect on this season, there’s a reasonable explanation for why the Devils looked like one of the best teams in hockey pre-Christmas and a team that barely resembled a playoff team post-Christmas.

Are You Satisfied With How the Players Approached This Season?​

Tom Fitzgerald had some ‘interesting’ comments this time last year, suggesting that the players weren’t working hard enough in the gym and rambling about the dress code, among other things.

Obviously, we’re not in the room so we don’t know who or what this exactly is in reference to (or if said players are even still on the roster), but when things like work ethic are being called into question, alarm bells are going off as far as I’m concerned. And now that we’re a year removed from those comments, I think it merits a follow up.

I believe the players had the right approach coming into camp, had the right level of buy in, and the proof was in the results early on. Obviously, the team got away from what made them successful earlier in the season, which raises the questions as to why as I already alluded to. But I do believe the players put in the requisite work over the summer to be successful this year. I do think they took the assignment seriously to put the 2023-24 campaign behind them. And I do think that matters as this team continues to learn from their failures and see how hard this actually is if you want to be successful.

What Will Luke Hughes’s Next Contract Look Like And How Close Is He To Signing?​

I’ll dive into this more in the coming weeks when we start doing our RFA profiles, but to keep my thoughts on the matter brief.

• I believe Tom Fitzgerald should be looking to max out term on Luke Hughes, which likely means an 8-year deal somewhere in the vicinity of what Brock Faber received from the Wild ($8.5M AAV).
• Is a multi-year bridge deal something that is being considered to keep costs down short-term in exchange for long-term pain? Think something along the lines of 3 years, $5.75M AAV where the Devils continue to hold his rights at the end of said pact.
• Is a one-year deal an option? Note: This should NOT be an option unless you want to roll out the red carpet for Vancouver to try to offer sheet Luke next summer.
• What sort of deal will Luke be pushing for, and is it an indicator of how serious the Hughes brothers might be in terms of trying to play on the same team someday? And if so, is that team New Jersey?

I don’t expect Fitzgerald to negotiate through the media or give specific details. But I do think he knows how important Luke is to the future of the blueline. I also know since Luke can’t receive an offer sheet this summer, there’s no rush for his deal to get done at this point. The rest of the Devils moves this summer will likely tip their hand to how much they think Luke is worth by how much cap space they leave available. So we’ll just have to wait and see how that plays out.

Due To Their Cap Situation, Will The Devils Need To Cut Corners In Certain Places?​

We’ve talked before about the Devils needs, and we’ve talked about what they might need to do to create more flexibility. But what we haven’t talked enough about is how willing they might be to take some risks when it comes to roster construction.

AFP Analytics put out their list of contract projections for 2025-26, and while its not a be-all, end-all projection of what future contracts will look like, a few of those numbers caught my attention.

One example of which is Jake Allen, who they’re projecting at 2 years and roughly $3.5M.

I don’t really know what Allen is looking for at this stage of his career. If he’s comfortable with this being the Semyon Varlamov or Marc-Andre Fleury or Ryan Miller stage of his career where he’s a career backup in his final years of his career, that’s fine. But I think $3.5M for Allen is a non-starter, and Allen is good enough where he’s willing to go somewhere to start on a good team that could use a goalie (such as Edmonton, or perhaps even a Montreal reunion).

The one positive is that the Devils have Nico Daws under contract for next season at $812,500 to be the backup. The drawback is you run the risk of Daws turning into a pumpkin again if Jacob Markstrom, who turns 36 in January, goes down. The Devils are beyond the point where they can allow bad goaltending to sink yet another season.

Is that a risk Tom Fitzgerald is willing to take given how difficult a time he’s had finding quality goaltenders in the first place?

Then you have the middle six/bottom six forwards, and one popular solution I’ve seen is penciling in some combination of Arseni Gritsyuk, Lenni Hameenaho, and/or Shane Lachance for roster spots.

I get it. I’m as excited about Gritsyuk as the next guy. And yeah, I suppose its a possibility that Hameenaho impresses enough in training camp to win a roster spot and never look back, just as Jesper Bratt or Dawson Mercer did years ago. I don’t really know how much developing Lachance needs at the AHL level to be a big fourth line body after he played two years at BU and impressed enough to earn the captain’s “C”.

They’re also cheap options for a team that will need several players either on ELC contracts or making league minimum to fill out the bottom of the roster. And I hope the Devils aren’t rushing guys into the lineup because they’re cheap and before they’re ready.

But forget all that for a second. Let’s hypothetically pencil in those three (or some combination of three veterans making league minimum), plus Daws for NHL roster spots.

Your 2025-26 Devils roster will look something like this.

Credit: PuckPedia PuckGM Mode

That lineup would cover 21/23 NHL roster spots and leave them $10,219,167 in cap space to fill them. And obviously, Luke Hughes would eat up a big chunk of that. That does not leave enough room for a 3C upgrade, or another middle six scoring option, or heck, a backup goaltender more reliable than a relatively unproven Daws. And counting on three rookie forwards comes with its own set of challenges. I think its unlikely the Devils go that route.

Regardless, its all the more reason to cut the dead weight if you want to actually improve this roster, which brings me to my last question.

Is Tom Fitzgerald Willing To Be The Bad Guy?​

If there’s one general overarching theme that would describe the type of culture the Devils have been building the last few years, it’s that they’re one big happy family.

That’s nice, but in this league, you have to be willing to be cutthroat at times.

Does Fitzgerald have that in him?

Chris Drury had that in him when he used waivers to get around Barclay Goodrow’s no trade clause and threatened waivers to get their own captain to accept a trade to Anaheim. And while we can debate whether or not that makes a destination like the Rangers less attractive, the answer to that is probably not. The rest of the team whining about the GM didn’t stop JT Miller from waiving his no-trade to go there. It didn’t stop Igor Shesterkin or Alexis Lafreniere from taking the money to stay there. And it didn’t stop a big name coach in Mike Sullivan, who has Rangers ties, from agreeing to be a part of that circus.

Vegas has a reputation for going big-game hunting. But they also have a reputation for kicking players to the curb in somewhat controversial manners. Just ask Marc-Andre Fleury or Logan Thompson or Nate Schmidt.

There’s other examples, but you get the point. Other teams have had unsavory contracts clogging up their books. But they almost always find a way out it. Its a big part of the reason I always say the salary cap is indeed fake. Any contract is movable if you try hard enough. Look no further than Pierre-Luc Dubois or Seth Jones this past calendar year. Those contracts were unmovable....until they weren’t and they got moved.

I think the Devils need to move on from Ondrej Palat and Erik Haula so they can use that money elsewhere. While I’m not necessarily endorsing it, I think given the Devils defensive depth that an argument could be made for moving on from Dougie Hamilton as well. Worse contracts than those have gotten moved in the past. I’m not saying it will be easy to move those deals....Palat and Hamilton both have NMCs and 10-team trade lists kicking in on July 1. But that’s why Fitzgerald sits in the big chair. He gets paid to make the tough decisions.

Fitzgerald showed he can play good cop when he sold Hamilton and Palat on signing in New Jersey as UFAs (and Haula on an extension). He gave the pitch on how New Jersey is an unknown gem and how they have the best travel in the league and everything else he said to get them to put pen to paper.

But can Fitzgerald play the bad cop now that Palat and Haula are arguably holding the team back and that money really needs to be reinvested in a 3C upgrade and/or a scoring winger? For that matter, does Fitz even see either of them as part of the problem? We shall see.

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/2...to-hear-from-tom-fitzgerald-and-sheldon-keefe

 

[New Jersey Devils]

DitD & Open Post - 5/7/25: Signed Edition

Russian Olympic Committee’s Arseniy Gritsyuk and Finland’s Sami Vatanen vie during the men’s gold medal match of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games ice hockey competition between Finland and Russia’s Olympic Committee, at the National Indoor Stadium in Beijing on February 20, 2022. | Photo by WANG ZHAO/AFP via Getty Images

New Jersey Devils & Related Hockey Links for 5/7/25

Here are your links for today:

Devils Links​

Arseniy Gritsyuk has signed a one-year, entry-level contract:

Grits are now a New Jersey delicacy. We don’t make the rules.

: https://t.co/GC5AMmirz9 pic.twitter.com/x6tVaXNuLM

— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) May 6, 2025​

The #NJDevils signed 24 y/o F '19 5th Round Pick Arseny Gritsyuk to 1 year ELC for next season

Salary 832.5K
Signing Bonus 92.5K
Minors 70K

"A" Perf Bonus $500K

Cap Hit 925K, AAV $1.425M

Rep'd by @BabayevShumi

17G 44P in 49 KHL GPhttps://t.co/fgPLkehxaZ

— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) May 6, 2025​

There were over 250 U24 skaters in the KHL this past season.
Gritsyuk led them all in points per game.#NJDevils https://t.co/mL4HbOFTCJ pic.twitter.com/CYcixxMI2i

— Daniel Amoia (@daniel_amoia) May 6, 2025​

Shoulder surgery is so hot right now:

#NEWS: Luke Hughes, Jesper Bratt undergo shoulder surgeries; both expected to make full recoveries and be available for training camp.https://t.co/Z97p2kLU3d

— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) May 5, 2025​

“In a recent Slovak interview with Denník Šport, defenseman Šimon Nemec mentioned that he never fully recovered from a shoulder injury he suffered at the Olympic Qualifiers in August. ‘I’m especially bothered by my shoulder, it has been dragging on since (August),’ said Nemec, translated to English. ‘I didn’t have time to strengthen it enough. I especially want to use the summer for (fixing this). We decided that it would be better this way, and I will skip the World Championship this time.’” [The Hockey Writers]

What should the Devils do with Ondrej Palat? Is this a question for this offseason? [r/Devils]

Hockey Links​

Sam Bennett once again in the middle of The Discourse:

Stolarz was pulled after this collision with Bennett https://t.co/Xns4P1VzVd pic.twitter.com/CxWuBJlFW6

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) May 6, 2025​

Sam Bennett is not expected to face any supplemental discipline for his hit on Anthony Stolarz during last night's game, per sources.

— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) May 6, 2025​

Calder finalists:

Your 2025 Calder Trophy nominees

Macklin Celebrini
Lane Hutson
Dustin Wolf pic.twitter.com/QEbbAZMXme

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) May 5, 2025​

The Islanders will pick at No. 1:

The NHL draft lottery results are HERE

Did your team land in a good spot? pic.twitter.com/ug2L3moU6q

— ESPN (@espn) May 5, 2025​

Kirill Kaprizov will remain with the Minnesota Wild, general manager Bill Guerin all but guaranteed on Tuesday. ‘My expectations are to get him signed. That’s it,’ Guerin said. ‘I’d like to get it done as soon as I can. Obviously, everybody knows how important Kirill is to the team and to the organization and to the market. He’s a star player. So, yeah, that’s priority No. 1.’” [NHL.com]

Feel free to discuss these and any other hockey-related stories in the comments below.

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/2025/5/7/24425304/devils-in-the-details-5-7-25-signed-edition

 

[New Jersey Devils]

Maybe Tom Fitzgerald Shouldn’t Be Given a Chance to Improve the New Jersey Devils for 2025-26

Photo by Dave Sandford/NHLI via Getty Images

With the New Jersey Devils still not making the progress as a team that most have desired, should there be a new voice making decisions to improve the team this summer?

In January of 2020, Tom Fitzgerald took over as Interim General Manager of the New Jersey Devils, a title that would see the interim tag removed from it roughly six months later. At that same time, he was also promoted to President of Hockey Operations, giving him the ability to shape the team how he saw fit. Since then, the team has returned to the playoffs twice in 2023 and 2025. Both times, they were eliminated by the Carolina Hurricanes, in the second and first round respectively.

After the 2023 elimination and a missed 204 postseason, Fitzgerald changed course moving the team away from an almost completely speed/skill focused squad to add some more toughness and grit. While it paid dividends early in 2024-25, the slowdown of the group was apparent in 2025 and ultimately seen as the reason why the Devils couldn’t keep up with certain teams, including the Canes.

So with another offseason upon us, the team needs adjustments again in hopes of making it further in the playoffs, with the eventual goal of another Stanley Cup. But should Tom Fitzgerald be the one allowed to make those changes? While ownership has shown no indication that they’re willing to move on from hi, I think there’s too many strikes against Fitz to allow him to try and improve this team once again.

Strike One: Personnel Decisions​

While he’s made a lot of great moves to help this team, Fitzgerald has also made some baffling personnel decisions that led to the dearth of the depth in the Bottom 6. We’ve beaten the Kurtis MacDermid signing to death, but it’s still relevant here. Fitz got Paul Cotter and brought Tomas Tatar back, but aside from early season Cotter, neither guy was all that impactful. He also didn’t bother to upgrade upon guys like Curtis Lazar (who fell off a cliff this year), Erik Haula (also off a cliff) and Nate Bastian, who may be an okay defender, but is an absolute offensive black hole.

Add in the lack of trade deadline acquisitions along with the mistake acquisitions of Dennis Cholowski and Daniel Sprong, and it seems like maybe Fitz has lost some of his improving touch. Maybe it’s not recognizing the types of players that Sheldon Keefe needs. I would speculate about it coming from management, but I don’t think the guys Tom went out and got are moving the needle for them either. Keefe was left without a lot of (any?) depth when the injuries piled up, and I’m not sure I trust Fitzgerald to fix it without blowing through future assets in a way that will come back to bite the franchise. Speaking of which...

Strike Two: Subpar Asset Management​

After the trade deadline, there was concern over the attitude of Fitzgerald regarding the lack of improvement to the Devils. John even wrote about it and how good GMs find ways to improve their teams. Overall, or at least prior to last offseason, I think Fitz was actually doing a really good job with his trades. However, it does seem that for more than a few of them, he’s given up at least one piece that he shouldn’t have needed to. And after this season, I’m viewing him in the light of one of those GMs who gets taken advantage of in trades by other GMs around the league into giving up more than he should or needs to.

While a contending team should be willing to part with assets to “win now” the Devils are parting with more assets than they should be. There still has to be prospects coming through the pipeline, and the Devils don’t have a strong enough pipeline right now that they can be frivolously moving assets. Case in point number one is the Brian Dumoulin trade. This move was so bad, it was voted the Worst In-Season Move by the Devils in our end of season awards. While he may have played better in the postseason than in the regular season, I still don’t think he performed well enough for anyone to want him back next year. Yet Fitzgerald gave up both a second round pick and a recent prospect.

I’m also going to make a (possibly controversial) statement and say he also gave up too much in the trade for Jacob Markstrom. Regardless of how you feel about the need for Markstrom or whether he was the guy you wanted or not, Fitz still gave up too much. I know first round picks are rolls of he dice, and 18th overall selections don’t always pan out, but why give up that and Kevin Bahl for a guy that Calgary was ready to move on from? Not because of his play, but the team had arguably one of the most NHL ready goaltending prospects in Dustin Wolf ready to go. Factoring in cap hits and age, Calgary was ready to go with a Wolf/Dan Vladar pairing.

Can we know this for sure? No, fans evaluate things differently than NHL executives, and even though Calgary and general NHL fans felt Wolf was ready, again, the people in charge may have felt differently. However, based on the fact that the Flames went in that direction after moving Markstrom means there was probably some indicator out there that they were heading in this direction anyhow.

Do I need to mention giving up an asset for a player he could have had for free (Sprong) on waivers again? Didn’t think so. The fact that this man could be the one to move Simon Nemec or Seamus Casey for help in other areas has me scared for how underwhelming the return could be if he goes through with it.

Strike Three? (Overall Decision Making)​

Maybe there isn’t a solid third strike against Fitzgerald yet, but there has to be concern about his decision making overall. I’m not sure Tom has a clear vision for what the New Jersey Devils are trying to be on the ice. One season or poor goaltending led to an overcorrection, moving away from speed and skill to more grit and toughness. The Devils can’t afford to overcorrect again, as I wrote about a couple of weeks ago, as that will just lead them further in the wrong direction.

I’m not sure that Fitz is about to be let go; regardless of if I want to see it happen or not (at this point, I feel like I do), I think there’s some heat under his seat. If the Devils continue to underperform their expectations, that loses the team revenue. If revenue continues to decline, management personnel get changed to move the team in a different direction. Tom Fitzgerald is probably looking at his last summer and last chance to get marked improvement out of the New Jersey Devils.

Even though I think that with his track record, maybe he shouldn’t be given that chance.

Your Take​

Now I’d like to hear from you regarding Tim Fitzgerald attempting to improve the Devils this summer. Should he be allowed to remain in position to do it? Would you be worried about him frivolously giving away extra assets that could be used to improve other aspects of the team again? Is he even on the hot seat for you, or are you still happy with the job he’s doing? Leave any and all comments below and thanks as always for reading!

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/2...-to-improve-the-new-jersey-devils-for-2025-26

 

[New Jersey Devils]

A Low Key New Jersey Devils Season Ending Press Conference by GM Tom Fitzgerald and HC Sheldon Keefe

It was like this, only it took place in 2025, the backdrop had different logos, both guys wore different suits, and Tom Fitzgerald sat on the left with Sheldon Keefe on the right. | Photo by Rich Graessle/NHLI via Getty Images

On Thursday, the New Jersey Devils 2024-25 season was fully closed with a press conference with General Manager Tom Fitzgerald and head coach Sheldon Keefe. This post summarized what was said in what was a low key “OK” press conference.

Just as Memorial Day Weekend is the unofficial start to the Summer for New Jersey, Thursday’s press conference by New Jersey Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald and head coach Sheldon Keefe was the unofficial start to the 2025 offseason for the Devils. Granted, the offseason for the Devils started earlier but the larger point is the same. From here on to the 2025 NHL Draft, business will likely be kept to re-signing restricted free agents and prospects. Something the Devils have done with Arseni Gritsyuk, and, as revealed during yesterday’s press conference, Lenni Hämeenaho. (Not to mention a new NHL contract for Utica forward Nathan Légaré.)

For those who missed the press conference, you can watch a recording of the stream on the Devils’ YouTube channel here. A partial transcript of the presser is up at this page on the team’s official website. This post is going to focus on the highlights from the press conference.

As a whole, it was Fine. It was OK. There was nothing Earth-shattering as a surprise or as news. There a few smaller surprises and one area where I think GM Tom Fitzgerald would have wished he re-phrased some things. There was nothing objectionable or outrageous stated. No shame was brought to the People Who Matter from the press conference. Unfortunately, a different NHL team did so on Thursday. I will not elaborate as that was not this organization - which is the focus of this whole blog.

I will also point out that the press conference did not move any proverbial needles. If you were not a fan of Soft Tom and/or Keefe, then nothing stated would have likely changed your mind. Likewise if you are a fan of Fitzgerald and/or Keefe. I do think they made some statements that would provide common ground for the majority of the People Who Matter. Let me break down the good, the bad, the somewhat odd, and points on various players.

The Good: The Season Wasn’t Good Enough Message.​

This is what the team’s social accounts and other league-covering accounts are running with. And it’s a fair statement. Both Keefe and Fitzgerald came out with that message in response to the first question. They reinforced that in response to others. They even acknowledged that the first half of the season went very well. Keefe, in his own initial answer, stated he will look into what happened beyond “surface level things that come to mind.” Keefe did point out that sustaining their game was an issue and that is a difficult thing to do in this league. Fitzgerald was more soft about it, stating that the season was good in that they made the playoffs but it was not great and being eliminated in five games was a disappointment. Fitzgerald also spoke to a standard being set.

I can respect this messaging. This is a results-oriented business. The results after those 40 games were not good. Getting bounced by the same team in 2023 (Carolina) in the same number of games (5) should be treated as a shortcoming and not a point of celebration. Yes, the Devils succeeded in making the playoffs after missing it last season. Job done. But hearing from the people directly in charge that it was not good enough is heartening in that they are not going to rest on their laurels.

Fitzgerald was more pointed about that last part. In response to a question about what moves he would make to get the team “over the hump,” Fitzgerald opened by stating he liked his group and then, two sentences later, stating “We won’t be coming back with the same group, I could tell you that, ‘cause it wasn’t good enough.” I know Jared’s hopes for this presser did not come true but I would like to think he would agree with the “wasn’t good enough” part. Fitzgerald elaborated about the deadline about how he made “quality offers,” which I did not feel he needed to really defend. The initial response was more than enough.

I will add, on my own, that any look into the fall off the team had in 2024-25 really should have been done within the season. I can understand and appreciate Keefe and the front office wanting to do their own analysis. However, I cannot help but think if a similar even shorter assessment could have led to some more meaningful changes than whatever Fitzgerald did by March 7. Meaningful enough to have the team possibly perform better than he did. The best time to do it was arguably during the 4 Nations Face-Off break. The second best time to do it is now.

Still, I can appreciate that the GM and the head coach were open that they were not pleased about how the season went. Their tone and body language reflected that in the video. Their answers were clear about that. They have higher expectations. The large underlying question remains: Can Fitzgerald fix a roster that he put together? He admitted that it was a problem and acknowledged it was not good enough. Can he correctly identify what that was and take the actions to address it? Talk is one thing, but actions speak more loudly. We will find out what they say by early July.

The Not So Good: The Responses to Depth Scoring ​

In my opinion, the low point of the presser was this exchange, pulled from the transcript:

Q: It seemed like the primary focus was keeping the puck out of the net. Defense and goaltending. You said you weren’t worried about offense. So just, in hindsight, looking back on the season, how—what was your assessment of how your offense performed this year?

FITZGERALD: Oh, I think players underachieved, for sure. I think players who have scored enough goals in this league to give assurance that we have depth scoring, didn’t.

I said it just moments ago, scoring goals is extremely tough to do in this league. I bang my head against the wall every day, wondering, really, what is depth scoring?

Taken on its own, it looks bad. In context of the full answer Fitzgerald game, it is not as bad. He was speaking more as a whole about asking his team, his analytics department what does depth scoring look like. He does not think it is 12 20-goal scorers. I think he could aim for that but that’s me.

Fitzgerald continued this answer by re-iterating that scoring was “the last thing on my to-do list” and ended his answer by stating that “ugly goals are worth as much as tic-tac-toe goals.” The last part is true, but I feel like the reality of the 2024-25 Devils does not quite match up with Fitzgerald’s lament about depth scoring.

First, while the season certainly nose-dived since January 1, 2025, the Devils finished around league median in high-danger scoring chance attempts per 60 minutes in 5-on-5 play with 10.66 per Natural Stat Trick. The 5-on-5 play of the season would include the “depth scoring” players as well as the top scoring players. While the attempt count does not go into how they were created, the Devils were by no means allergic to the front of the net. If you look at individual 5-on-5 stats, out of 708 NHL players who have played 200+ 5-on-5 minutes last season, Timo Meier and Nico Hischier finished in the top 100 of all NHL players in individual HDCF/60 rates (meaning the player took the HDCF); Erik Haula, Stefan Noesen, The Big Deal, and Ondrej Palat finished within the top 200; and Dawson Mercer, Jesper Bratt, and Cody Glass finished within the top 300. That is nine players getting attempts better than most of the league in the “dirty areas.”

Second, this is a point Todd Cordell made and I will echo it, who exactly underachieved for scoring in 2024-25 among the depth forwards? Dawson Mercer may have not taken a step forward as you and I may have liked, but he provided 19 goals in 2024-25 after a season where he put up 20. Ondrej Palat has been a consistent scorer in the 15-goal range and he put up 15 goals in this past season. Erik Haula went down from 16 goals to 11, but he also had more time missing due to injury on top of being terrible after returning from injury. The likes of Tomas Tatar, Justin Dowling, Curtis Lazar, and Nathan Bastian were surely not expected to score double-digit goals and they did not. And even if you think they could have done better, two Devils arguably overperformed their production. Stefan Noesen set a career high in goals with 22 after a previous career high of 14. Hit machine Paul Cotter put up 16 goals after just 7 in the past season. I am unmoved by the idea that they performed below an expectation considering their careers up until this past season. If anything, Fitzgerald and his staff should have seen this coming.

I want to believe that Fitzgerald meant they underachieved in the second half of the season and/or the playoffs. Which they certainly did. The bottom six was ghost-like on the scoresheet against Carolina. Even Noesen fell off of the primary power play unit in March, and half of Cotter’s 16 goals took place after January 1, 2025. The production was certainly not consistent and that could be something else Fitzgerald may have meant. Yet, he did not say this. Fitzgerald was very quick to call it underachieving. I can agree that it was actually not good enough. After all, the Devils’ scoring trailed off big-time without Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt on the ice in 2024-25. But it was not due to a lack of high danger attempts or guys performing below expectations. That makes his response to this question the low point.

I will point out that I wish the initial question was about the performance of the depth players instead of just scoring. Scoring is indeed important and a harsh lesson from this past playoff loss is that a team can never have too much of it. But a big issue with the bottom six in the playoffs and even in the final few months of the regular season was how opponents could pick on those players in the run of play. Tilting the ice against the Devils is bad enough. It also put more pressure on the higher-end players on the squad to perform. Knowing the third and fourth lines were not likely to provide enough on the ice to even give them a chance to take a breath. Carolina focused on that and it led to them controlling much of the five-game series. Cody Glass provided some relief for this in the regular season but it did not come to fruition in the postseason. And Daniel Sprong did not end up playing regularly in the postseason, which tells you what you needed to know about what he brought to the table.

I will credit Fitzgerald in that this aspect of the squad was indeed not good enough. When he stated “We won’t be returning with the same group,” it was this end of the lineup I think he was alluding to since most of them are out of contract. However, his answer to the depth scoring even with the context was not encouraging as it could have been. It came off as clunky as best and the facts do not line up with his reasoning. It came across like he knows it is an issue but he struggles to define how much of it is. A struggle to define a problem makes it that much harder to solve it. And it is something Fitzgerald would need to solve. It would have been nice if Keefe offered any insight to this question too. But it is what it is.

The Somewhat Odd: Shoulder Injuries

Several questions at the press conference were about injuries. I can appreciate Keefe stating that it would have been nice to have a 100% roster but that’s rare in hockey and you have to “grind and find ways to win.” I especially appreciated his reference to Dallas, who continues to march through the postseason without Jason Robertson (who returned recently) and Miro Heiskanen. I also appreciate Fitzgerald’s forthright answer to a question about whether there were issues with the medical staff. In my opinion, Fitzgerald was correct in pointing out how injuries happen in a contact sport and most of them are not really preventable. You may disagree but it is possible to just have awful luck with contact. Conditioning and strength are not necessarily going to prevent a shoulder from going awry after an awkward collistion or a neck injury coming off a hit.

Fitzgerald did answer that with one of the stranger parts of the press conference:

Fitzgerald says players are blown away with the medical care they receive in New Jersey.

Mentioned he’s had agents of former players call and explain how good they had it before said player(s) left the #NJDevils

— James Nichols (@JamesNicholsNHL) May 8, 2025​

Fitzgerald was excited in pointing this out in the press conference video. It sounded to me like he was trying to sell someone on the Devils organization on top of covering for the medical staff. I can agree that a medical staff is not going to make a difference when the injury takes place on the ice. What they should be judged for is how they handle the players with respect to what is in their best interest and not just let the player go as they wish - which is usually back on the ice as soon as they are breathing. Still, Fitzgerald could have made the same point without coming across like he was making a pitch to someone about it. I also do not know if the People Who Matter really bought this message.

I can understand the questions about injuries, I respect how Fitzgerald answered most of them, and I think it was fair for one to question the medical staff as something for Fitzgerald to evaluate. I think Fitzgerald could have been less enthusiastic in defending/promoting his staff. Especially after giving a more sobering answer about injuries in the first place.

Points on Various Players Mentioned in the Conference.​

Throughout the press conference, several specific names were brought up. Some were the subject of questions. Others were mentioned as part of other answers. It was interesting as it could give a little insight in terms of how the team views a player. In no particular order:

Jack Hughes: Jack Hughes did not take questions from the media at the locker room cleanout day. He was also not at this press conference. While some have groused about it, I do not think anything was missed. He was injured, he successfully had surgery, he is in recovery. Simple as. One media member did ask if Fitzgerald was concerned about his long-term health with these should injuries. Fitzgerald would not agree in calling it a concern. He stated that “I’d like to think Jack’s shoulder injuries are behind him now.” He noted that he has work to do with his body but JAck Hughes knows that. Fitzgerald’s answer ended with “Probably easier to say I don’t worry about it than worry about it, meaning, ‘cause it’s happened.” Given the tone, I do not think he is being evasive. I genuinely think he is not worried about it. Your mileage may vary.

Jesper Bratt: The most surprising tidbit out of this press conference was Fitzgerald stating that Jesper Bratt has had his shoulder issue for multiple years. This seems off to me. Why commit a large amount of money and term and let him play with a shoulder issue? Evidently, some injuries are played through. Fitzgerald stated that it has been monitored and it was similar to what Timo Meier went through years ago. Bratt elected for surgery this offseason after a MRI revealed that a joint was getting worse and the Devils supported that decision. Good to fix it now, but I still struggle with “multiyear should injury.” I will add that if Bratt put up back-to-back 80+ point seasons with a less than 100% shoulder, then we should be really excited for a 100% healthy Bratt in 2025-26.

Jonathan Kovacevic: Amanda Stein asked for an update on Kovacevic. Fitzgerald was quick with his response: he had surgery on Thursday, it was successful, and he will not be ready for training camp. He did not say the season, just camp.

Brenden Dillon: Stein also asked about Dillon. Fitzgerald pointed out that Dillon is still evaluating options for his neck injury. He even stated he is probably “overloaded with information.” But he thinks the recovery period will be shorter and he should be ready for camp when Dillon makes a decision.

Luke Hughes: A question was asked about Luke Hughes’ shoulder injury, specifically whether it was closer to Bratt’s injury or Jack’s injury. Fitzgerald answered that it is closed to Bratt’s injury - which I take to mean that it is not as serious.

Nico Hischier: A question was asked about Nico Hischier’s leadership. Keefe fielded this one and had nothing but praise for the team’s captain.

Jake Allen: Jake Allen was brought up by Fitzgerald as someone they could bring back. He was impressed with his professionalism as the backup and his performance. He said he will speaking with his agent.

Daniel Sprong: A question was asked of Keefe about Sprong claiming he is the best coach he ever played for and whether he would want him back as a potential everyday player. Keefe spoke well of Sprong’s shot and skillset and he did specifically note issues off the puck. He was coy in his answer. I did not get a sense that the Devils were big on bringing him back, but we shall see.

Cody Glass: Glass was only mentioned in passing from the deadline deals as adding depth along with Sprong when Fitzgerald talked about deals to bring the team over the hump. That may not bode well for Glass sticking around, but no one also asked anything specific about him either.

Simon Nemec: A question was asked about Simon Nemec’s situation and his confidence as a player. Keefe fielded this one as well and noted that it was important for him to have it, but stressed that he did not play like it earlier and it showed in his game. Keefe noted he earned his confidence as the season went on, now it is on him to meet the standard regularly.

Arseni Gritsyuk: A question was asked about whether Arseni Gritsyuk will come in and play a prominent role early. I actually liked Fitzgerald’s answer that both noted how talented he performed but that transitioning to the NHL is very hard and a job has to be earned and not given. In a perfect world, he probably replaces one of the outgoing UFAs. But without seeing him perform, the right call is to see what Gritsyuk earns in camp.

Lenni Hameenaho: Lenni Hameenaho was asked about as a future signing. Fitzgerald spilled the beans a bit early stating that they plan to sign him very soon. His ELC was announced after the press conference on Thursday. Fitzgerald namechecked him and Shane Lachance as young players who could be coming up through the organization. Do not be shocked if Lachance gets an ELC soon.

Brian Dumoulin: A question was asked about Brian Dumoulin’s future, knowing that if he is signed that it may block someone like Nemec. Fitzgerald agreed and said that it was a good problem to have. Fitzgerald was very happy with Dumoulin’s performance. He stated that he showed he has a playoff game. But when it came to bringing him back, he said “never say never.” I can understand that Fitzgerald does not want to commit in public before a negotiation. But it seemed to me that he may be accepting that Dumoulin will not be able to come back.

Final Thoughts & Your Take​

Overall, the press conference was Fine. Nothing crazy was revealed short of the knowledge of Bratt playing multiple seasons with a shoulder injury. And given how he has played and that he is now addressing the injury, it is hard to call it a problem. I do wish some of the questions Jared wanted to have asked were asked, but we are not in the pool so it is what it is. And that presumes that we would get a direct answer either way. We got updates on several players. Hints that some may be retained (Allen). Signs that others may not (Dumoulin, the bottom six forwards out of contract) were clearer given the more direct answer that the same roster is not returning. I do not think that is a big shock given how 2024-25 happened.

I do wish Fitzgerald gave a more encouraging answer for the depth scoring as well as instill more confidence that he can fix the roster that he created. That is, again, the underlying main issue: Can Fitzgerald address the problems he created by how he handled the roster last year? It will take some serious ego swallowing and bolder moves than what he did by the 2024-25 NHL Trade Deadline. We shall find out by early July whether he has done so. I think there is merit to the idea that Fitzgerald does perform better in the offseason. Let us hope it is true for 2025’s Summer.

One last thing: a good question was brought up about offer sheets given how St. Louis used them to great success last year. Fitzgerald does think there will be more of them this year. My suggestion to the GM: Lock up Luke Hughes ASAP.

Now that you know what I thought of the press conference and highlighted what I thought were the most important aspects, I want to know what you think. Did you think it was fine? Did any of it move the needle for you in terms more or less confident in the front office and head coach? What would you have asked if you were attending the press conference? What did you learn from it, if anything? Please leave your answers and other thoughts about it in the comments. Thank you for reading.

Source: https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/2...e-from-gm-tom-fitzgerald-and-hc-sheldon-keefe