The New Jersey Devils have been out of the playoff mix for a while now, but at the very least, they could sort of fool themselves into thinking they were still alive based on how many games were left in the season. But as Chris discussed in the preview for yesterday’s game, the embarrassing loss to Carolina on Saturday effectively sealed the deal. New Jersey is not yet mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, but it’s only a matter of time now. Even if they win out, it just won’t be enough
points to make it. And they only have themselves to blame for such a monumentally disappointing campaign.
And so, we are left with the depressing, infuriating reality that it’s time to look toward the future. As the Devils play out the string, there are a few things they could do that would, in my opinion, better prepare themselves for 2026-27. This is not an exhaustive list, as that would include franchise-altering decisions like relieving Tom Fitzgerald of his duties among other things. We’ll have plenty of time to discuss the larger things. But for now, here are some things I want to see the Devils do down the stretch.
(Note: All statistics referenced come from prior to Sunday’s game)
Play Dawson Mercer With Jack Hughes
This is something I’ve advocated for in the past, and I’ll advocate for it once more. Taking a look at Mercer’s deployment this season, he’s played very little with Hughes. This is a mistake in my opinion. In 87 minutes of 5-on-5 ice time together, Mercer has pretty great numbers riding shotgun with The Devils’ superstar:
This is nothing new, as Mercer has strong underlying numbers with Hughes going all the way back to 2022-23. Hughes and Mercer just seem to compliment one another well, and while Mercer’s line with Nico Hischier and Timo Meier has still been doing well this season, it might be time to shake things up. Why not give Mercer a shot with Hughes to see if this combination can keep working long term?
If Not Mercer, Then Play Lenni Hameenaho With Jack Hughes
If Mercer won’t be getting any run with Hughes, then my next choice would be Lenni Hameenaho. It’s obviously a very limited sample size of Hughes and Hameenaho sharing the ice (18 5-on-5 minutes together), but it actually hasn’t gone very well. That being said, I’m not too concerned with 18 minutes of ice time in Hameenaho’s rookie season.
To me, Hameenaho is very similar to Mercer: smart wingers who can play up in a lineup, but need a playdriving center to help them reach their full potential. Hameenaho and Mercer also seem to share the ability to find soft spots in the offensive zone, constantly presenting themselves as an option for playmaking centers to create dangerous chances, which is EXACTLY the kind of skillset the Devils have been desperate for since they traded Tyler Toffoli. He wouldn’t just work well with Hughes either, as Hameenaho’s skillset would probably serve as the perfect compliment to Jesper Bratt’s playmaking ability too.
I doubt Hameenaho will ever be the player that Toffoli was at his peak, but I do think he can come reasonably close. And I believe Hughes and Bratt might be the perfect linemates to get him there.
Give Some Comets A Chance
At this point, why not? There is still plenty of dead weight on the roster, so instead of running out the Evgenii Dadonovs and Maxim Tsyplanovs of the world, I’d like to see the AHL players get a shot.
The players I’m mostly thinking of here are Xavier Parent, Brian Halonen, and Angus Crookshank. I would also include Shane Lachance, but he hasn’t played a game since March 14 due to an apparent injury. Parent, Halonen, and Crookshank all have 19 goals on the season, tied for most on the Comets. Parent leads the club with 33 points overall, Halonen is right on his heels with 32, and Crookshank is at 30. These aren’t huge point totals, but they’re enough to make me want to see what they can do at the NHL level.
I would like to see players like Dadonov, Tsyplakov, and Paul Cotter take a seat so we can see what the unproven AHL players can do.
A Luke Hughes-Dougie Hamilton Pair
It might not make stylistic sense, but I’d be interested to see what New Jersey can accomplish when their two biggest offensive threats from the blue line are paired together. Hughes and Hamilton have not played much together (89:30 at 5-on-5 per NST), so it’s a bit of a small sample size. But the numbers are intriguing:
It’s odd to me that the CF%, SCF%, and HDCF% are all sparkling, but all of that has translated to an xGF% below breakeven. Maybe this means that, while they’re winning the quantity battle in these stats, the quality of the chances they allow are collectively better than the quality of chances they generate. Or maybe it’s just a flaw in NST’s model that needs straightening out. It’s worth noting that Moneypuck’s model has the Hughes-Hamilton pair at an xGF% of 54.7%, which is a massive difference. Thus are the quirks of public analytics models.
In any case, there’s enough here to make me want to see what Hughes and Hamilton can do together. Perhaps it would be a waste of time anyway since I think it’s strong possibility that Hamilton finally gets traded this offseason, but even if that happens, I still think it would have been worth it to see if Hughes meshes well with a partner like Hamilton.
If Not Hughes-Hamilton, Then A Luke Hughes-Simon Nemec Pair
Much like wanting to give Jack Hughes options, I wish the same for the younger Hughes. If Hamilton is not the partner for Luke down the stretch, I’d like to see Nemec get the call. Nemec was drafted in 2022 presumably because the Devils braintrust had visions of a Hughes-Nemec pairing wreaking havoc on opposing teams for a solid decade. That might not happen for a multitude of reasons at this point, but I still would like to see what the young guns can do together.
This isn’t even about the numbers. According to both Natural Stat Trick and Moneypuck, the Hughes-Nemec pairing is well underwater in all the playdriving metrics, so it’s not like I want to see them together because they’ve shown promise. And while playing a handful of meaningless games down the stretch might not prove anything one way or the other, it would at least give Hughes and Nemec some more time together to hopefully build more chemistry for the seasons ahead.
That, of course, assumes that Nemec is still on the team next year. There has been smoke around him for a while now regarding a trade, and that intensified once he switched player agencies recently. So much like Hamilton, this might all be moot. But even in that case, I would still pair him with Luke and try and put him in the best position to succeed in an effort to bolster his trade value.
Either way, pairing Hughes with Nemec would be interesting to watch as the season winds down.
Play Simon Nemec 20+ Minutes Per Game
Speaking of Nemec, for whatever reason he seems to do better when he’s given more responsibility. I’m not quite sure how to explain it, but it’s something lots of analysts and Devils fans have observed about him. Whether the plan is sticking with him going into next season, or trading him over the summer, giving him major minutes would be fun and potentially rewarding for the team as a whole.
I would love to see Nemec get as much ice time as possible. Play guys like Johnny Kovacevic, Jonas Siegenthaler, and Brenden Dillon 17ish minutes a night if you have to. I don’t care. Let me see Nemec a lot down the stretch.
Win The Last Four Games Of The Season
This might seem like an odd request, but hear me out.
While any win at this point jeopardizes New Jersey’s chances at a premium draft pick, they are in a position where only a complete collapse where they only win one or two of their remaining games would truly give them a good shot at the top of the draft. I don’t see it happening. Besides, from what I understand this draft class isn’t exactly loaded outside of the top pick.
So with that being the case, I’d love to see them end the year on at least a four-game winning streak. Why four? Take a look at the schedule:
All four of these teams are in a dogfight to make the playoffs. The Penguins and Bruins (the Penguins especially) are in pretty good position, but they don’t have anything locked up yet. There’s a very good chance that these teams are still fighting for their lives once they have to play the Devils, so I would love to see New Jersey treat these like the quasi-playoff games that the other teams will treat them as.
I do understand that by this point, these teams might have things wrapped up. But I’ll work under the assumption that they’ll still need wins. And if they do, I’d love to see New Jersey show some pride and rise to the occasion in a postseason-like atmosphere.
Final Thoughts And Your Take
As mentioned, this is not a complete list of things I’d like to see from this franchise the rest of the season. These aren’t even the biggest things I’d want to see, but again, we’ll save the big picture stuff for another day. These are just a few things that I think should be easy enough to do as New Jersey plays out the final games of their season. Each suggestion might only make a small difference, but perhaps those small differences can add up to something much larger that can get this organization pointed back in the right direction.
What do you think of this little wishlist? What are some things you’d like to see the Devils do in the homestretch? How much faith do you put in the current roster to get things turned around next year? As always, thanks for reading!
