After a rocky start to the 2026-27 season, things have improved greatly for the New Jersey Devils over the last couple of weeks.
The team’s five game win streak just came to an end last night after a tired group on the end of a back to back fell to an Avalanche team that hasn’t played since Sunday. Their past 10 games? Really good as well with a 7-3-0 record, taking 14 of a possible 20 points. That equates to roughly a 118 point pace over a full 84 game season; while that pace might not be entirely
sustainable, if these recent Devils games and trends continue through the season, we could finally be seeing the version of this team that fans and pundits thought had arrived a few seasons ago.
The recent Connor Hellebuyck addition should aid the group in keeping the results positive, and his first game in black and red was more than solid. That said the whole team will continue to need to be more than solid if they want to make the playoffs this season. The Eastern Conference is still a bit crowded this early in the season. The Western Conference has five teams sitting below .500 (even with all the loser points in the league) while the East only has two. Additionally, the only team that arguably has any sort of safety cushion with points is the defending champion Carolina Hurricanes. If the Devils want to stay afloat, they’ll need to keep tilting the ice in their favor and keeping other teams on their heels as they did during the win streak.
Adding another win streak or two early wouldn’t hurt; maybe tomorrow’s game against Vegas can kick start that. There are definitely some other factors that can help the team keep up their play as well. Nico Hischier continuing to score at the pace he’s at would be great; seeing the captain hit 40 goals this year would be a great feat for sure. Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt have both continued to pile up points, and the goal for them has to be to keep doing that while hopefully lighting the lamp a few more times each as well. Also, shout out to Jesper Boqvist, who has had an excellent start to the season; maybe he doesn’t stay a half point per game player, but his entering the lineup and providing support scoring has been part of why the Devils have succeeded. Luke Evangelista and Arseny Gristyuk have provided a spark in the Top 6 as well, and the Devils are more dangerous for it.
A few others could use to step up as well if the Devils want to continue to be successful. Timo Meier still has just one goal in 13 contests; ditto for Dougie Hamilton, whose main role is to be an offensive defenseman. I’d like to see Anthony Mantha go on a tear as well, although three goals for a guy who is receiving mainly third line minutes isn’t awful. Additionally, the Devils need to figure out the situation with their bottom D pair; there’s no cap room for a call-up now (unless someone gets waived) so between Declan Chisholm, Johnny Kovacevic and Brenden Dillon, the staff needs to figure out which combination works best.
If the Devils can get the best versions (or I guess at least a good version) of each of their players, then this could be a very successful season. At the same time, it’s still an uphill climb in a currently competitive Eastern Conference. Being in a three way tie for sixth best win percentage in the conference is a good way to begin this campaign, but it needs to be sustained across more than 13 games. There are a few hungry teams below them currently, including a few that were playoff teams last season. Starting strong is a huge plus for this team; they need to ensure, however, that they can sustain it.
What are your thoughts on the Devils current standing in the Eastern Conference; do you believe they can maintain their recent level of play? Are you happy with how the core players are performing? Do you agree with the names mentioned that could provide more? Would another win streak starting tomorrow go a long way for this team? Leave any and all comments below and thanks as always for reading!
