You’ve all seen it a million times by now: The New Jersey Devils’ own Jack Hughes scoring the golden goal in yesterday’s Gold Medal Game against Canada. Our superstar delivered the USA its first mens hockey gold medal since the Miracle On Ice team of 1980, one of hockey’s mythological teams, not just in the United States but around the world. The fact that Hughes elevated his own Olympic squad to those heights is a special, special thing.
And it’s not like Hughes just randomly got lucky on an otherwise
off night either. Aside from his unfortunate penalty late in the third period, he was quite good in the Gold Medal Game overall. In fact, despite frustratingly limited playing time, Hughes managed to put together one heck of a tournament. He scored twice in the semifinals against Slovakia, he set up chance after chance, and he racked up the points as the USA went for gold.
Meanwhile, as Hughes was stealing the show, his Devils teammates mostly had terrific Olympics themselves. There was Simon Nemec playing a key role in Slovakia’s surprising run to the semifinals. There were Nico Hischier and Timo Meier registering strong numbers for Switzerland. There was Jacob Markstrom posting a stellar .936 save percentage in his outings. Really the only Devils that didn’t stand out were Jonas Siegenthaler and Jesper Bratt, and in Bratt’s case, much of the hockey world seemed to agree that he absolutely did not deserve the shocking lack of ice time that he got. In the very limited minutes he did receive, especially against the United States in the knockout stage, he performed admirably. And it wasn’t just raw point total either, as several Devils were producing tons of offensive chances all tournament long. In all, the Devils represented their club quite well at the Olympics.
With this being the case, the question I’ve been asking myself is this: Is it a good thing that New Jersey players largely crushed it at the Olympics, or is it a bad thing? And additionally, how much does it matter?
I’m not going to bury the lede here, my answer is that it is, indeed, a good thing. And at the risk of getting hyperbolic, I do think it matters a great deal.
First, allow me to answer the question of why I think it’s a good thing. As we prepare to welcome the New Jersey Devils back to game action, we are set to be reminded of just how shockingly disappointing this season has been. For the second time in three years, the Devils are going to miss the playoffs when the expectation was that they should make the postseason with ease, and perhaps even have the potential to get out of the Eastern Conference. Yes, I am aware that they are very far away from being officially eliminated. But look at how many games are left, look at how many points back they are, and look at how many other teams stand in their way. It’s just not happening. This team missing the playoffs is a catastrophic failure in every way.
So if it’s that bad, the most important thing to then decide is who is to blame, and what needs to be fixed. More specifically, is it a management and coaching problem, or is it a player problem? Every organization that goes through something like this always hopes it’s the former, because changing a front office and a coaching staff are way, way, WAY easier than tearing down and building up a brand new roster of players.
In 2025-26, by far the biggest problem the Devils have had is generating offense. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that they are the worst offense in the league, or at the very least, they are bottom-five. Looking at the talent on the roster and particularly among the core players, and how they’ve performed in years past, it seemed highly unlikely to me that they all just became really bad collectively overnight. It felt like a coaching and management issue that was holding them back. But with each passing game, and with each passing embarrassing performance from the offense, doubt started creeping into my head. Maybe they really are this bad now, despite their track record and their obvious talent.
But then the Olympics rolled around, and I feel more reassured about this roster.
It’s not that the various Devils players performing well is the only thing I’m basing my faith in the core of this team on. If they had stunk for a long time, then all played really well for a couple of weeks in Italy, I would not magically have hope in this core again. No, it’s the fact that they’ve had tons of success in the past, and once they all escaped Sheldon Keefe’s offense-free system, they had lots of success again. It reaffirms my faith that, under a front offense and a coaching staff that isn’t terrified of taking even the tiniest risk, and that realizes it’s not the Dead Puck Era anymore, this core can thrive once again.
I’ve already written about how I think Sheldon Keefe was the wrong man for this job. And while I haven’t written about the inexcusable failures of Tom Fitzgerald, plenty of others on this site have, and I agree with them that Fitzgerald has proven to be a failure and needs to go. I know it’s just a random foreign tournament that only lasted a couple of weeks, but it really does make me feel as though this team can become on offensive juggernaut once again under management and coaching that actually knows how to use them.
Which brings me to why I think it’s a big deal that Devils players had overall good Olympic performances. If I’m working under the assumption that the problem with this organization is not the core, but rather the coaching and management, then as mentioned before, that is much easier to fix that rebuilding a whole roster. Sure this team still could use more offensive talent, mostly among their defensemen. But with the right front office in place (see Tim’s article for a great rundown of exciting candidates) and with the right coaching staff who can actually tailor a system to the players’ strengths, I feel confident this team can return to the heights they experienced in 2022-23.
To be fair, there are still questions surrounding the most important players on this team. Can Jack Hughes stay healthy in the future? Can Timo Meier find consistency in his offensive production? Can Jacob Markstrom find his form again? Can Simon Nemec actually reach his potential? And of course, there are plenty of other questions about various Devils players who didn’t play at the Olympics. I’m not saying the core is perfect, and I’m not saying the roster as a whole doesn’t need to get stronger. But I am saying that, with the right systems and strategies in place and with just a few more reinforcements, this is a core you can win with.
So in the end, I do think it’s a very good thing to see a lot of Devils thrive at the Olympics. I suppose I can understand the other side of the argument: That it’s actually a bad thing because it shows the players have given up on the Devils’ season and/or they can only play well when it’s against a lot of non-NHL players. But I would disagree with those counterpoints. This Devils core showed me that they still have the juice, and all they need to get back to the height of their powers is leadership that knows what they’re doing. And that’s a big deal because – say it with me – replacing a front office and coaching staff is significantly easier that rebuilding an entire roster. I still believe in this core, and the Olympics only reaffirmed that belief.
Your Take
Do you agree with this assessment, or are you more skeptical of the Devils’ performances at the Olympics? Do you also think it’s a big deal, or do you think I’m exaggerating the point? What is your overall level of belief in this core? As always, thanks for reading!
