Is the current core of the New Jersey Devils good enough to win a championship? That’s the biggest question we’ve been asking about this team for years now, with opinions ranging the spectrum from “Absolutely” to “No shot”. And who exactly constitutes this core? Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, and Jesper Bratt seem like locks. Timo Meier is in that core to most Devils fans, but others think he doesn’t belong in the inner circle. Dougie Hamilton might be in the core, but he also might be on the way out of the organization
altogether. And what do you do about young players like Luke Hughes, Simon Nemec, and Anton Silayev? High draft picks who all have varying degrees of star potential might not be in the core right now, but they could be soon.
No matter how you define the core, determining whether they are good enough to lift New Jersey to a title is crucial. And while the opinions and analysis of Devils fans are important considering how knowledgeable they are about this team, getting the opinion of outsiders can provide a good, unbiased look at the state of the franchise.
The Athletic is certainly not the be-all, end-all of hockey analysis (especially when “writing” about Scott Stevens), but they do some good work. And one of my absolute favorite things they do every year is their Player Tiers project. The parameters and shape of the project have changed over the years, but the general idea is exactly what it sounds like: Grouping the best players in the NHL into tiers, with the goal of seeing how the cream of the crop shakes out. What I love most about it is that it blends The Athletic’s own internal analytics model (developed by writer Dom Luszczyszyn) and opinion and analysis from, in their words, “more than 20 people inside the game — general managers, executives, coaches, scouts and data analysts, all in fairly equal amounts”. So there should be a little something for everyone, from those who prefer a more data-driven approach, and those who prefer old-school eye tests. Neither approach is perfect, which is why I appreciate the mix of both.
Last week, The Athletic published their 2025-26 version of their Player Tiers project. This year, they grouped a total of 150 players into five tiers (with sub-tiers within those). Several Devils made the list, as we would all hope. So today, I thought it would be a good exercise to go through this project and see just what the rest of the league thinks of the New Jersey Devils’ core. Let’s find out how this team is viewed across the NHL.
The Overview
Before we go over where each Devils player ranked, here’s a breakdown of the tiers The Athletic used for the project and the brief descriptions that go along with them:
Tier 1 – MVP: “A top 10 player. Someone who is very likely to get serious trophy consideration at season’s end and whom championship-caliber teams are built around. The best player on almost any team in the league.”
Tier 2 – Franchise: “A top 30 player. Someone who is the best player on a contending team or second best on a championship-caliber team. An unquestionably elite player.”
Tier 3 – All-Star: “A top 60 player. Someone who wouldn’t be the best player on a contender, but would be an important part of any contending or championship core. A strong top-line forward, above average No. 1 defenseman, or borderline top five goalie.”
Tier 4 – Star: “A top 100 player. Someone who would be a strong piece within a contending or championship core, but not a go-to option. An average top line forward, below average number one defenseman, or top 10 goalie.”
Tier 5 – Support: “A top 150 player. Someone who would offer strong support to a contending or championship core, but who wouldn’t be an integral piece within it. A below average top-line forward, a strong No. 2 defenseman, or an above average starter.”
The Athletic also breaks each tier into three sub-tiers: A, B, and C. So for example while two players might be in Tier 3 together, a player listed in Tier 3A is considered better than a player in Tier 3B or 3C.
Now that we have that context, let’s find out where the Devils’ best players ranked:
Jack Hughes: Tier 2A
Unsurprisingly, Hughes came in as the highest-ranked Devil in this project. He just barely missed out on the MVP tier, as the writers of The Athletic explain that he started out there, but after discussion amongst themselves and then with the outside panelists, the decision was made to bump him down to the highest non-MVP level. For context, here are the 10 players in the MVP Tier: Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, Aleksander Barkov, Nikita Kucherov, Quinn Hughes, Auston Matthews, Kirill Kaprizov, and David Pastrnak. Meanwhile Hughes shares the 2A level with Sidney Crosby, Rasmus Dahlin, Jack Eichel, Miro Heiskanen, Connor Hellebuyck, and Matthew Tkachuk.
It’s important to note that, aside from McDavid, the players are not ranked within their tiers and sub-tiers, they are simply listed alphabetically (they understandably made an exception for McDavid). So it’s unclear where the panel views Hughes within the 2A tier, but at the very least, he’s roughly on the same level as Crosby and Eichel as far as centers go, which is pretty good company to keep.
What bothers me about Hughes’ writeup is that most of it is spent on the negatives. When talking about his injuries over the past few seasons, one executive said “A 100-percent available Jack is a special player…but he’s only had one of those seasons in six”. Which is pretty unfair and objectively untrue considering this executive appears to be counting the first two seasons of his career, and the only reason Hughes didn’t get to 82 games played (or close to it) was because of the Covid-19 pandemic, not any injuries. One coach also brought up his performance at the recent Four Nations tournament, saying “When the game rose to that level, where you’re playing so many great players, he just wasn’t quite strong enough and his game wasn’t quite mature enough”. I for one think it’s pretty silly to use a handful of games from a random in-season tournament to make serious evaluations about a player, but what do I know, I’m just a blogger.
In any case, Hughes might not be in the top tier, but he’s knocking on the door. I think if he manages to put together a full season in 2025-26 and continues to play up to the standards he’s set since 2022-23, Hughes will be in the MVP tier this time next year. For now, he’ll have to settle for being right on the cusp.
Nico Hischier: Tier 2C
New Jersey’s other #1 overall pick is also in Tier 2, though he’s down at the C-level of the tier. 2C also features Sebastian Aho, Evan Bouchard, Adam Fox, Josh Morrissey, William Nylander, Artemi Panarin, Sam Reinhart, Jaccob Slavin, and Andrei Vasilevskiy. That should give you context for how highly regarded Hischier is around the league, as those are some truly elite players.
We also see another case of The Athletic writers having a Devil ranked higher (“a tick higher” is the exact quote) before consulting with their panelists, who convinced them to bump Hischier down to 2C. The writeup lauds Hischier for taking on brutal matchups night in and night out while still managing to produce at a high level. The one quote they included for Hischier was from a coach: ““He does everything right…He’s a stud.”
Yes. Yes he is.
The concerns they mention are the fact that he’s not even the best center on his own team (the best second-best center in the league aside from Draisaitl according to this project), and his relatively unproven track record in the playoffs. Still, Hischier is viewed as a top-30 player in the league, a Franchise level talent. You could do much, much worse as your second-best player.
Jesper Bratt: Tier 3B
He might not actually be The Best Player In The NHL, but Bratt is viewed as an All-Star caliber talent and an overall top-60 player in the league. Quite an accomplishment for a 6th round pick.
Bratt is joined in Tier 3B by Macklin Celebrini, Kyle Connor, Gustav Forsling, Clayton Keller, Dylan Larkin, Charlie McAvoy, Elias Pettersson, Moritz Seider, Ilya Sorokin, and Tage Thompson. That’s a healthy mix of star forwards and stud defensemen.
“It’s hard to separate Bratt from Jack Hughes, but by our stuff, he always rates out as one of the best wingers in the league,” was the analysis offered by an executive. I’m assuming that by “our stuff”, he means his organization’s internal analytics model. “I think he’s been underrated for a long time,” offered another analyst. He might never be The Man in New Jersey, but he’s viewed around the league as an integral part of a team with championship aspirations.
Dougie Hamilton: Tier 5A
Once again, The Athletic staff had a Devil initially ranked higher, but was talked out of it once they received outside council. The writers say that Hamilton started off in Tier 4B, but upon further review, ended up here at the top of the Support Tier.
I don’t know if I have much passion to argue about Hamilton’s placement here. On the one hand I do think he’s a bit underrated being viewed merely as “Support”. But on the other hand, injuries and some defensive warts have become a bit of a problem for Hamilton in recent seasons. There’s also the fact that the description for this tier explicitly mentions that defensemen on this level are viewed as “a strong No. 2 defenseman”, which is still a very valuable piece of any contending team. The problem comes when that defenseman is the best you have, which Hamilton is for the Devils according to this project.
The other players in Tier 5A are Pavel Buchnevich, Thatcher Demko, Lukas Dostal, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Aaron Ekblad, Kevin Fiala, Nazem Kadri, Brad Marchand, Sean Monahan, Sam Montembeault, Travis Sanheim, Anthony Stolarz, and Dylan Strome. I suppose if we look at the other defensemen on this level, saying Hamilton is on par with folks like Ekblad and Sanheim isn’t terrible company to keep. Still, Hamilton (who has always been a polarizing player around the league) is not thought of as a top defenseman anymore.
Timo Meier: Tier 5A
Ok, when I rattled off the other players in Tier 5A in the Hamilton section, there was one player I left out: fellow Devil Timo Meier. While I didn’t have too much of an argument with Hamilton’s placement in this tier, I do have an issue with Meier being this low.
Look, I get it. Meier was brought in to score a bunch of goals, and thus far in his Devils career he’s disappointed in that regard. It’s not like he completely fell off a cliff, as he’s scored 28 and 26 goals in his first two full seasons in the Garden State. But for $8.8m per year on a long-term deal, a team needs more than that. But even with that relatively light production, Meier’s underlying numbers have largely been phenomenal since coming to New Jersey. He looked amazing playing with Hischier this past season, and while you could make the case that Hischier elevated Meier, I would argue that they elevated each other. And keep in mind, Hischier goes up against brutal competition every game. Which means Meier, by proxy of being on Hischier’s line, has to absorb elite competition on a nightly basis as well. And he still put up 26 goals and sparkling play-driving numbers.
The only quote they included here was from an executive, and whoever it was clearly doesn’t think much of Meier: “His profile got raised through empty-calorie scoring on bad teams, and then he goes to Jersey, gets a big contract, and he kind of blends in…You never see him dominate a game.”
Again, I get that Meier has disappointed as far as his production goes. But as someone who watches every Devils game, I very much disagree with the notion that we never see him dominate a game. I might argue that Meier was the best Devil in their first round series against Carolina back in April. He put up numbers, he played that in-your-face power forward game that we all want to see (the man registered 21 hits in five games!), and he clearly got very deep under the Hurricanes’ skin. Believe me I do want more out of Meier as well, but it’s just flatly not true that he never dominates. Heck, I would even argue that he dominated in the first round against the Rangers in 2023, and the only reason he didn’t post the numbers he deserved was because Igor Shesterkin played out of his mind.
After his big 2022-23 season, The Athletic had Meier in Tier 3B. To be fair, I don’t know if I would bump him all the way up there with Bratt, but I think a placement in Tier 3C or 4A would be fair. This is the one ranking in this project I take the most issue with, but if Meier can finally put together a big regular season for New Jersey, we should see him shoot up this list a year from now.
Jacob Markstrom: Tier 5C
Markstrom had an interesting first season in New Jersey. He started a tad slow, but then really turned it on and played at a high level until his injury in January. Upon returning in March, he played terribly, but eventually found his game again, and put together an overall terrific first round series against Carolina (second period meltdown in game five notwithstanding). He comes in at the very bottom of this project, in Tier 5C.
Markstrom is joined on this level by Mikey Anderson, Philip Broberg, Leo Carlsson, Vince Dunn, Adam Fantilli, Conor Garland, Dylan Holloway, Erik Karlsson, Jackson LaCombe, Artturi Lehkonen, Aliaksei Protas, Bryan Rust, Dylan Samberg, Chris Tanev, Logan Thompson, and Vincent Trocheck. Thompson is the only other goalie on this level if you want a point of reference, although the other goalies in Tier 5 as a whole are Demko, Dostal, Montembeault, Stolarz (all 5A), and Mackenzie Blackwood (5B), so those are all close comparisons as well.
I might have Markstrom as high as 4C, but I don’t think this is a totally unfair placement. The Athletic describes goalies in Tier 5 as “An above average starter”, which I think accurately describes Markstrom.
As mentioned, he did have his ups and downs in 2024-25. But when he was on his game, we saw just how dominant he can still be. If Markstrom can avoid injury and/or falling off a cliff with his performance this season, New Jersey should be in relatively good hands in the crease.
So…Is The Core Good Enough?
That’s the million dollar question, isn’t it? After going through this project, according to the league at least, it seems to me that the current New Jersey Devils core is viewed as right on the edge of being good enough to win a championship, but not quite there yet. So while it might be disappointing to think they’re viewed as not good enough at the moment, even a small improvement can push them over the top.
In my eyes, there is one thing that absolutely NEEDS to happen in order for New Jersey to reach that no-doubt championship caliber status: They need one of their young defensemen to develop into a star.
I think the Devils have the forward talent to compete for a title. A fully healthy Jack Hughes is a Tier 1 player, Nico Hischier is an incredible second-best player, Jesper Bratt is an All-Star, and Timo Meier is an underrated star to me. That’s a forward core you can win with.
But New Jersey’s best defenseman coming in at Tier 5A simply isn’t good enough. Even if The Athletic did place Dougie Hamilton in Tier 4B like they originally wanted to, that’s still not enough for a team that wants to win a title. Go back and look at every recent Cup winner and you will see an unquestioned stud blueliner leading them. Victor Hedman, Cale Makar, Alex Pietrangelo (or Shea Theodore, take your pick), Gustav Forsling…all minute-munching, all-situations horses. Hamilton was once that player in his prime, but I don’t know if he has that in him anymore.
That’s why it’s so important for the Devils that one of Luke Hughes, Simon Nemec, or Anton Silayev reaches that level or close to it. Hughes is probably the one that has the best shot of the trio, but he’s not there yet. You will notice that Hughes did not receive placement on this list, which some of you may be surprised at. As much as we think Hughes is going to explode soon, the reality is he hasn’t proven that he can actually be a star defender yet, despite all the potential. The good news is that those around the league still think it will happen. In addition to this Player Tiers project, The Athletic has also started doing this same exercise for young players/prospects. In this separate piece, in which the younger players of the league are tiered out based on potential, Hughes was slotted into Tier 3A. Even that might be disappointing, but at least he’s in the All-Star tier. Meanwhile, Nemec was placed in Tier 4A while Silayev came in at Tier 4C.
In my opinion, that’s not quite enough. To become a championship contender, I feel as though Hughes needs to reach at least Tier 2C, and one of Nemec or Silayev needs to get to somewhere in Tier 3. It’s not an impossible ask, but it does require improvement over where these players are viewed right now.
So while I think the forward core is in good shape to compete for a title, the blueline needs to develop a stud. Even in a couple seasons when Hamilton is presumably gone, the Devils’ defense corps should still have strong support players in Jonas Siegenthaler, Brett Pesce, and Johnny Kovacevic. Mix Hughes, Nemec, and Silayev in, and assuming they can develop well, that should be good enough.
Or New Jersey can just, you know, acquire the Tier 1B Quinn Hughes. In which case, the Devils instantly become championship contenders.
Final Thoughts And Your Take
As I mentioned earlier, it’s obviously important to listen to what Devils fans say about this team. Given how closely they follow the organization, they’re usually going to be the most knowledgeable about the state of the Devils. But listening to those outside the organization can provide a good perspective too, and based on The Athletic’s Player Tiers project, the outside view seems to be that New Jersey is very close to being a true Cup contender. Heck, they might already be one depending on how you interpret this project.
If my view is correct that the Devils are one stud blueliner away from no-doubt contender status, then all of a sudden the young blueliners really have become the most important players in this organization. To that end, I think Tom Fitzgerald’s hiring of Brad Shaw has the potential to be his single best offseason acquisition. Shaw comes with a sterling reputation for developing defensemen and implementing a strong defensive system. If he can stick around for a few seasons and help Hughes, Nemec, or Silayev blossom into a star, we may very well be planning a parade or two in the years to come.
Now that you’ve seen what The Athletic and their panel had to say about the Devils’ best players, what do you make of all this? Do you agree with the placements of each of these players? If not, how would you rank them differently? Are there other Devils that you think deserved to be on this list? Do you agree with my assessment that the biggest thing New Jersey needs to do to reach contender status is develop a true star defenseman? As always, thanks for reading!
