One of the most important questions surrounding the New Jersey Devils heading into the 2025-26 season is whether or not they did enough to add more offense to a lineup that struggled at points last season to put
the puck in the back of the net.
The Devils went from scoring 3.52 goals per game in 2022-23 to 3.22 goals per game in 2023-24. They took another step back offensively in 2024-25 with 2.93 goals per game, good for 20th in the NHL. The fact that the Devils finished the season 3rd in the power play at 28.2%, but finished 20th in goals per game, really hammers home how much offense (and more specifically, finishing) was a struggle at 5v5 in the first year of Sheldon Keefe.
There are several theories as to why the Devils took a step back. Part of it might be attributed to playing a more defensively responsible system under Keefe than the previous coaching staff and taking less risks offensively. Part of it might be attributed to notable players having down years when it comes to shooting the puck. And part of it comes down to outside of the Devils best players, they really didn’t get much from the supporting cast last year. There’s truth to all of those statements, and they all explain the Devils struggles to some extent. But with those struggles come changes and with those changes comes an opportunity to right the wrongs of the past and perform closer to what the Devils had been the previous few seasons.
In this portion of our season preview, we will take a look at the forwards expected to be on the Opening Night roster. I will take a look at the team line-by-line (lines based off of what the team showed prior to the split squad games this past Sunday) as well as each player individually. What do they bring to the table and what do they need to do this year in order to be successful?
Top Line: Evgenii Dadonov – Jack Hughes – Jesper Bratt
Let’s start with Evgenii Dadonov, who may wind up getting the first crack at playing with the two most skilled forwards the Devils have in Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt.
Dadonov had settled into a depth scoring role with the Dallas Stars the last few seasons, which makes it interesting the Devils may start him out on their top line, but I think the fit with Hughes and Bratt makes sense. Even in a diminished role in Dallas where he only played 13:32 a game, Dadonov scored 20 goals and 20 assists in 80 games, which is more than respectable for a player essentially playing third line minutes. Prior to last season, Dadonov has a long track record of being able to finish at the NHL level, shooting around 15% or greater in six of the last eight seasons.
With his hockey IQ and ability to get to the dirty areas of the ice, he’s an interesting candidate to pair with Hughes and Bratt. Theoretically, Hughes and Bratt should be able to find him to shoot the puck and bury some of the goals that died on the stick of Ondrej Palat, Erik Haula, and anyone else who has played on their wing the last few seasons. Of course, time will tell as Dadonov is entering his age 36 season, but I could see a similar effect to when Tyler Toffoli played with Hughes a few years ago. Toffoli didn’t have the greatest boots and wasn’t the greatest defensive winger at that stage of his career, but he knew how to put himself in a position to get his shot off and take those passes. I could see something similar from a wily veteran like Dadonov, even at his age and even though it might look stylistically different. If the Devils can get a 50+ point season out of Dadonov, that would go a long way towards recouping some of the offense they’ve been missing.
Of course, the biggest question with the Devils is going to be the health of Jack Hughes and if he can make it through an 82-game season plus playoffs. While there might be debate whether or not the Devils can win a Stanley Cup with this core, I can confidently say this iteration of the Devils have no shot of winning without him.
If Hughes can stay healthy, he’s talented enough where the sky is the limit. He has a good enough shot where he could have a magical year where everything just goes in and he sets the franchise record for goals. He’s a good enough passer and playmaker where he’s a threat to Jesper Bratt’s record for most assists in a season. There’s a good chance he winds up being the first Devil to post a 100-point season, and he could win a Hart Trophy if he has that type of year. If he can stay healthy, which has become a big if. Fair or unfair, until Hughes shows he can get through a season physically, those questions about his durability will remain. And for the Devils to get where they want to go, they need a healthy Jack Hughes. There’s no other way to frame it.
This brings us to Bratt, who has not only been the most consistent forward for the Devils the last few seasons but has steadily increased his point output year after year. Over the last four seasons, Bratt has either set or matched a career high in points, and as I already mentioned, he now holds the record for most assists by a player in Devils history with 67. Bratt also entered the Top 10 in Devils franchise history in assists (297) and points (447), and he has a shot to be Top 5 in both categories by the end of the season. The fact Bratt has been continuing to improve as he enters his late 20s is a testament to the hard work he has put in year after year.
My one critique of Bratt (and the Devils in general) is that I’d like to see him be a little more selfish sometimes and shoot more. Bratt’s shot numbers were down this past season, and I think Bratt has a little more to give there. We’ve seen him score 32 goals as recently as two seasons ago, so we know he’s capable of putting the puck in the back of the net. But the Devils also have a tendency to make that one extra pass to set up the perfect shot only for said pass to be fumbled or steered away or off the mark, passing up a scoring chance. Bratt is far from the only player guilty of this, and the overpassing is something that I’d like to see less of in general.
Second Line: Timo Meier – Nico Hischier – Dawson Mercer
The pairing of Timo Meier, Nico Hischier, and Dawson Mercer is an interesting one, as there is some familiarity baked in with that trio from previous seasons.
Last year in 264 minutes at 5v5, the trio posted a 51.08 CF% and xGF% of 50.90 according to NaturalStatTrick. It’s an improvement over what they showed together in 53:49 the previous season, with a CF% of 43.22 and an xGF% of 42.69. In theory, its a line that should work hard, battle, and compete. Meier brings some size and physicality to the table, Mercer is a player that I am told has that dawg in him, and I don’t think there’s anyone on the Devils roster who is going to outwork Hischier.
Starting with Meier, I’d like to see him too be a little more selfish and shoot at a clip closer to what we saw from him his final season and a half in San Jose, when he scored 35 and 40 goals in back-to-back seasons. Meier had the wrong combination of career-worst shooting, seeing less time on the PP than he’s used to, and streakiness in general where he only had 15 goals in 59 games prior to the month of March last season. Timo managed to heat up after March 1st to make his numbers look respectable, but for what the Devils are paying Meier, Timo Time has to start earlier in the season. Not on March 1st.
As for Mercer, the big question mark with him (aside from whether or not he’s a center and/or how much center he might actually play) is whether or not his development has plateaued and whether or not he has more to give offensively. Mercer has settled in to the point where you can rely on him for 20 goals, but his assist numbers the last two years leaves a lot to be desired. Part of that has to do with Mercer playing a lot of bottom six minutes last year in a bottom six that wasn’t all that good, but the Devils need him to be closer to the player we saw in 2022-23. Mercer is at the age and level of NHL experience where he needs to show there’s another level to his development. If there isn’t and this is what he is ultimately going to be, it’s fair to question his long-term future in New Jersey.
Make no mistake though, the straw the stirs the proverbial drink on this line is the captain, Nico Hischier. It’s tough to believe that Hischier is entering his NINTH NHL season, but such is life.
Hischier is the jack-of-all-trades, do it all player for the Devils. Play on the top power play unit? Check. Play on the penalty kill? Check. Take critical faceoffs? Check. He’s often matched up against the opposition’s best players, playing the toughest minutes of all the forwards, and thrives doing so. He’s coming off another Top 5 Selke finish (and might have a lane to potentially winning one with the news of Sasha Barkov’s injury). Oh, and he led the team with 35 goals last season. Hischier was probably a little lucky last season, shooting 18.7%, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he took a step back in that regard. But aside from maybe Jack Hughes, Hischier is likely to play more minutes than any forward on the Devils roster. He’s going to continue to do everything for a Devils team that needs him to do everything. Hischier doesn’t have as lengthy an injury history as Hughes does, although it certainly seems like Nico is always playing through something. Regardless, the Devils need another campaign from their captain where he plays 75+ games.
Third Line: Ondrej Palat – Luke Glendening – Connor Brown
This is about the part of this preview where I should mention two things. First, none of these lines are set in stone, as Sheldon Keefe is already tinkering with different combinations to see what works and what doesn’t. And secondly, Luke Glendening technically has not made the Devils roster yet as he is under a PTO.
With that said, I talked last week about how the Palat-Brown combo makes some sense as I think they have skillsets that compliment each other. I do want to be careful not to overrate something we saw in one (1) preseason game against players who might never be NHL players, but acknowledging that….I think having players in the bottom six that can play with Palat lessens the supposed need of having him in the top six to get any contributions out of him. I also talked last week about how I thought Glendening had the upper hand over his presumed competition for a roster spot in Kevin Rooney and Juho Lammikko. Scoring goals in the preseason isn’t a guaranteed way to make the roster….one can ask Kevin Labanc all about that after his preseason last year. But I don’t think Glendening hurt his case either with a goal last Friday in Elmont.
Palat has struggled to live up to the $6M AAV, five-year deal he signed as a free agent back in 2022 after a very successful run as a complimentary piece with the Tampa Bay Lightning. He did manage to score 15 goals last season despite playing his fewest ice time since his first full NHL season way back in 2013-14, but entering his age 34 season, it would appear his years of being a consistent 40-50 point winger are done. There’s a reason why people like myself and other Devils fans were hoping the team might move on from him this summer, but with two years to go on that deal, he’s still here. So how can the Devils make the most of this situation?
Well, they could start by improving the bottom six, and I think that’s where someone like Connor Brown comes in. Brown’s offensive production doesn’t jump off the paper and wow you, but when one remembers how much the Devils needed more offense at 5v5, the additions of Brown and Dadonov make sense. Brown is a good skater who has some offensive ability and was a contributor during two deep playoff runs the last two seasons with Edmonton. He’ll likely be a fixture on the penalty kill. The big question with him will be how quickly he can get acclimated to his new team, and whether or not the immediate chemistry he showed with Palat has staying power.
This brings us to Glendening, and let’s be clear. If he makes the team, Glendening is likely best suited to be the 4th line center. Glendening reaching double digit points is probably a good year for him at this stage of his career. That said, he does bring some things to the table, as he’s been an excellent faceoff specialist for most of his career, he is willing to engage physically, and he can play on the penalty kill. He’s also another good skater, rating in the 80th percentile of top skating speed and 79th percentile of speed bursts over 32 kph according to NHL Edge. This despite being 36 years old and having nearly 900 NHL regular season games under his belt.
Admittedly, I’m firmly in the camp of “faceoffs really don’t matter all that much outside of situationally”. But I have to acknowledge that this team, for the most part, struggled in the dot when Hischier wasn’t taking the draws. While I don’t think that had a huge impact on wins and losses at the end of the day, another reason why I would lean towards Glendening making the roster is that between him and Cody Glass (who we will talk about momentarily), I do think there’s value in taking some of that workload off of Hischier’s plate so he’s literally not taking every important faceoff for the team.
Fourth Line: Paul Cotter – Cody Glass – Arseni Gritsyuk
This proposed line features two holdovers from last year’s bottom six and perhaps the biggest wild card on the Devils roster in quite some time.
Let’s start with Paul Cotter, who made a good first impression last season with the Devils after coming over as part of the Alexander Holtz trade. Cotter skates hard and plays hard. Perhaps a little too hard sometimes as he’s drawn the ire of the Department of Player Safety.
Cotter is the type of player who will play a long time in this league because hes tough to play against. I don’t want to see him walking on eggshells when it comes to physical play, especially after that suspension last season, and to be clear, I don’t think he will. But the bigger surprise with Cotter last year was that he had some goal scoring ability. He can use his speed to get breakaway opportunities. He is more than capable of beating a goaltender thanks to his soft hands around the net, and as far as I’m concerned, he should be one of the Devils top 3 options on the shootout until further notice. The one area where I’d like to see Cotter improve is his defensive game overall, and he’s right around the age (entering his age 26 season) and experience level (217 NHL games) where he might have room for growth in that area.
Glass came over at the trade deadline last season and made a good first impression as well, with a goal in his Devils debut and a pair of assists in his second game. He hasn’t quite lived up to his draft status as the former 6th overall pick and has bounced around the league with stops in Vegas, Nashville, and Pittsburgh, but it would appear he’ll be a Devil for the next two seasons. Glass is solid in the dot (51.2% last year), he’s a solid two-way, 200 foot center who will play a responsible game, has good size, and he’s a good, but not great, skater. Also entering his age 26 season and with roughly 250 NHL games under his belt, my question with Glass would be whether or not he has more to gain offensively. I do think he plays a solid complimentary game where he can hang with more talented wingers like when he played with Bratt last season, but I don’t know if he’s ever going to be anything more than a 35-ish point 3C type at best.
Enter Arseny (Arseni) Gritsyuk, who has turned heads this preseason with his offensive prowess, the quick release on his shot, his adorable running blog chronicling his first NHL training camp, and his skating ability. I’m still not entirely sure where he’ll ultimately fit on the Devils when its all said and done, but its an intriguing skillset that can’t be ignored or dismissed.
The Devils have started slow with Gritsyuk this preseason by having him on the 4th line as he learns how to play on North American ice (particularly, his play off the puck), but its easy to see why I referred to him as the “wild card”. He looks like he could be the player that Alex Holtz never developed into, or perhaps a better skating and just as wholesome version of Yegor Sharangovich with more theoretical upside. Its tough to say after just a handful of preseason contests, but with Keefe elevating Gritsyuk to the Hughes and Hischier lines over the weekend to see how that line looked, its the type of look that I think most Devils fans would like to see in the long-term, and would soften the blow of not landing a Top Six winger this past offseason knowing they might’ve had one here the whole time. Assuming he can stick there. I suspect Gritsyuk will wind up moving up and down the lineup as necessary.
Extras and/or Injured Reserve
Lastly, let’s cover the forwards who will likely either be extras, on PTO, or are injured. I won’t be covering forwards who I would consider to be a longshot to break camp on the Devils roster, so I won’t be talking about Shane LaChance or Lenni Hämeenaho here. I also won’t be talking about Thomas Bordeleau, who has mostly skated with extras and AHL players in camp to this point.
First up is Stefan Noesen, who had a productive first season back in New Jersey setting career bests in goals, points, hits, and power play goals. Noesen’s season was a tale of two halves, as he tallied 16 goals and 11 assists over his first 40 games and 6 goals and 8 assists over the final 41.
It would stand to reason that the reason for that dropoff might have to do with the groin injury he suffered at some point last season. Noesen played through it, but there was the notable dip in production that I just laid out. He opted to rehab it over the summer, as is his prerogative, but re-injured it sometime late this summer, underwent surgery to fix it, and will miss the start of the regular season. It’s unclear how much time Noesen will actually miss, and its not ideal that he’s missing time, but hopefully now that he underwent surgery, he’ll look closer to the player he was in the early portion of last season once he gets back up to speed.
Next up is Kurtis MacDermid, who is what he is at this stage of his career. He’s an enforcer. The players clearly appreciate having a guy like him around. Tom Fitzgerald clearly sees value in keeping MacDermid around. He’s a player who you don’t necessarily mind having sit on the bench for weeks on end not getting into games because he is what he is as a player at this point, and you’d rather sit someone like MacDermid for weeks on end than a younger player who is still developing and needs the playing time.
I said in the Lachance/Hämeenaho piece a few weeks ago that I’m going to be of the mindset that MacDermid will be on the team until he isn’t. Maybe that changes if someone else shows they’re capable of filling that role, or the Devils simply need the salary cap space and the difference between MacDermid’s salary versus that of a player making league minimum. But I think the Devils clearly value having him as a deterrent when they go up against Matt Rempe and the Rangers. Or Nic Deslauriers and the Flyers. Or pretty much anyone on the Panthers who take liberties. Whether or not he’s actually a deterrent is up for interpretation, but I would expect MacDermid to be on the 23-man roster.
This brings us to Juho Lammikko, who the Devils signed prior to free agency opening as he played the last three seasons with ZSC Lions of the National League. Lammikko has some NHL experience with 159 NHL games between Florida and Vancouver.
Like Glendening, Lammikko has gotten some run with both Cotter and Gritsyuk this preseason. Like Glendening, he’s a good skater, he’s good in the dot, and will likely play on the penalty kill if he makes the team. He might not be as good as Glendening in some of these areas, but he is younger. It should also be noted that Lammikko is under contract for this season on a one-year, one-way contract. Why does that matter? Lammikko makes $800,000 whether he’s in the NHL or AHL. More importantly, he is already under contract. Glendening and Kevin Rooney are not. So theoretically, that is a hurdle that the PTO players need to clear to win that spot over Lammikko.
This brings us to Rooney, who previously played for the Devils from 2016-2020 and is on a PTO. Rooney has carved out a career for himself as a fourth line center who battles, kills penalties, and plays a solid two-way game. I would guess that Rooney will get more opportunities to show he is worthy of an NHL roster spot over the final week of the preseason, but I lump him in with Lammikko and Glendening in that I think they’re all competing for one spot so its a matter of what the coaching staff prefers. Glendening has the most experience, is the best at faceoffs, is right handed, and is the best skater of the three, but he’s the oldest and smallest of the three. Rooney (left handed) has good size and a good amount of experience, but might be the worst skater of the three. Lammikko (left handed) has good size and is a bit of an unknown in that he’s spent the last three years out of the NHL but he’s signed unlike the other two, he’s a good skater, and might check enough boxes for the specific role he would be asked to play.
Lastly, I want to acknowledge a couple of forwards who I think have had a strong camp and preseason thus far, even though I think they face an uphill battle to make the roster. Let’s talk about Brian Halonen and Nathan Legare.
Halonen has been impressive as he’s shown a willingness to go to the tough areas of the ice and make things happen in front of the net. He has a good shot and he has done a good job of playing hard and getting the attention of everybody watching. I’m still skeptical that he’ll carve out an NHL career, but he could be positioning himself to be on the short list of guys who might get called up in a pinch if the team is in a bind with injuries. As for Legare, who came over in a trade from the Habs for Arnaud Durandeau in 2024, he’s gotten noticed for finding the back of the net vs. the Islanders as well as being willing to drop the mitts. I don’t think he’ll make the team either but it went noticed that he got the opportunity to skate with a couple players likely to be on the NHL roster in Paul Cotter and Cody Glass.
Final Thoughts
After spending last offseason getting bigger, meaner, and tougher to play against, Tom Fitzgerald opted to try to steer the Devils back to what made them successful in 2022-23. He improved the bottom six with the addition of Connor Brown. Evgeni Dadonov can play up and down the lineup. And it might just be a matter of time before Arseny Gritsyuk shows that he can hang in a top six role.
The Devils added players who are better skaters than the players they’re replacing in the lineup. They’ve built a deeper forward group that has shown that they can indeed score at 5v5, which was a weakness of the team last season. For a team that wants to play in transition and wants to push the pace, they’re better equipped to do so now than they were previously.
The Devils still have plenty to prove though. Timo Meier has to show up before March 1st and be more consistent. Dawson Mercer really needs to show there’s another step or two for him to take in his development. The players competing for spots at the back end of the roster have to show they’re up to the task. The Devils probably need a better bottom six center than Glendening or Lammikko or whoever wins that job. With Noesen out for however long he’s out, the power play needs to show that they remain an elite unit. Taking steps back on the power play and simultaneously negating any gains at 5v5 isn’t helping matters, and Noesen’s netfront presence was a big part of that.
But at the end of the day, your best players need to be your best players. Nico Hischier needs to have another big year. Jesper Bratt needs to have another big year. And Jack Hughes needs to show that he can make it through the season healthy. If the Devils can do this, they should be able to bounce back, score a bunch of goals, and comfortably be a playoff team. But we need to see it.
