Despite a 4-2 setback against a good Winnipeg Jets team on Tuesday night, there’s still a lot of good that has come from the New Jersey Devils in 2026-27. Through 19 contests, the team has amassed 26 of a possible 38 points, good for a .684 points percentage, and putting them on pace for roughly 115 points if they continue to play at this pace for the rest of the way. Now whether or not the Devils can continue to do that is up for debate, but there are some other numbers that I think also could be fun
to discuss, even at this early juncture. Some of them stand out for good reasons, some for not so good and others are just plain odd. This isn’t all encompassing, but rather stat that came from Natural Stat Trick that my eyes were drawn to. Today just feels like a good day to celebrate some early season successes and to have some fun digging into some data:
Faceoffs
To no one’s surprise, Nico Hischier leads the way with a 58.89 win percentage; of his 265 draws, he’s won 156 and lost 109. Hischier is doing exactly what he needs to do, and he’s getting the puck moving in the right direction right away about 3/5 of the time he’s in the circle. Now, where this stat gets weird is that Evan Rodrigues has lost almost the exact same number of faceoffs (108) and Jack Hughes has lost EXACTLY the same number as Nico. The problem? Those two have won nowhere near as many draws; Rodrigues’ 94 wins (46.5%) aren’t awful, but Jack has only won 64 draws for an awful 36.99%. Faceoffs aren’t everything, but maybe there’s some merit to the idea that Jack needs someone to take draws for him.
Hits
I’ve been critical of Timo Meier for his lack of goals this season, and I will continue to be as that’s primarily what he gets paid for, but I’ll also give credit where it is due. Meier is trying to separate players from pucks and help the team win; 34 hits across 19 games is pretty good. The surprise here? Probably Jesper Bratt’s 20 hits; for a player who catches flack from some fans (not all, but some) for a perceived lack of grittiness, being tied for sixth on the team (and fourth among all forwards) honestly isn’t bad at all. Also, in the “odd stats” realm, somehow Jack Hughes has not been credited with a hit this season; not piling on him after the faceoff category, and because his game is finesse over physicality, but I feel like he had to have hit someone at some point.
Penalties Drawn
The Devils need to do a better job of cashing on on their power plays, but in terms of earning them, quite a few players are pitching in. Jack and Timo both get to fall into the positive category here, as they lead the team with eight penalties drawn each. Evan Rodrigues follows with six, followed by Nico with five. Rounding out the top five? Surprisingly, Brenden Dillon, also with five. Not bad for a guy who hasn’t been an every night player this season! The odd stat here? Somehow, with how much he’s contributed in his new Top Six role, Arseny Gritsyuk has yet to be credited for drawing a penalty this season. I’m sure he’s going to get at least one, and again, surprising he doesn’t have on yet, but with how much else he’s doing right, no one is complaining about this zero on the stat sheet.
Rebounds Created
I’ll be honest, I didn’t even remember that NST tracked these numbers until I started browsing the Devils numbers so far this season. If anyone expected Jack Hughes to lead the way here, well you’d actually be wrong. Jack is second on the team with 16, but the player who is creating a rebound per game right now is in fact Timo Meier. Timo is shooting the puck and hitting the goalie, which is better than missing the net, but it would be nice if he would miss the goalie a bit more and get the puck past them into the net. Give Dougie Hamilton some credit here too, as he also has 13 rebounds created, but also, once again, maybe a couple fewer rebounds created and a couple more pucks in net here. Connor Brown receives the odd stat honorable mention this time as somehow being the only Devils to have had zero rebounds created.
Takeaways
Sure, we could focus on giveaways here as well, but takeaways is a more positive stat; Luke Hughes gets his flowers here as he is the only Devil in double figures. Rodrigues makes another appearance in the “doing things right” side of the ledger with seven takeaways, and Jack Hughes has six to his credit. Two others with six? Brett Pesce and Amadeus Lombardi. Lombardi might still be searching for his first NHL goal, but he’s definitely been noticeable in the right way in many contests, and it’s contributions like this that may go unnoticed yet demonstrate the other positive pieces of his game.
That’s Not All…
…but that is where we are going to cut for today, as I don’t want this to be a complete deep dive. Rather, this was just a fun way to look at some things that some Devils are doing well, as well as some things that stand out as being strange for one reason or another. If you feel the need to be critical, well… I’m sure you can see some of the names that wound up not appearing on that list, and you can make of that what you will. However, The Devils are playing well and we should enjoy, celebrate and focus on that as they hopefully get back into the win column tonight at home against Washington.
What are your thoughts on some of the stats accrued by the Devils so far this season? Were any of them surprising to you? Do any have you feeling differently on how anyone is playing this season? Is there any stat not discussed that you feel helps paint the picture of the early 2026-27 Devils? Leave any comments below and thanks as always for reading!
