Nico Daws is finally getting his shot to prove himself at the NHL level, with a two-year, $1.1 million AAV vote of confidence from the Devils' new GM, Sunny Mehta. The 25-year-old netminder has had his share of NHL call-ups before, typically being thrust into a far greater role than what was fair for a youngster, but now it seems that he is in the NHL for good.
The great news is, given the Devils' other netminders and newly hired staff, he has all the tools he needs to blossom into something more than a third-stringer.
The Devils made two recent goalie staff hirings, bringing on Dan Stewart as the team's new Goaltending Coach and Leo Luongo as the Devils' first Director of Goaltending. Stewart previously worked with the St. Louis Blues organization -- primarily working with their AHL affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds -- where he developed Joel Hofer, Charlie Lindgren, and Colten Ellis into NHL goalies. Hofer has turned into a starting-caliber goalie, Lindgren was a starter and is now playing behind one of the league's best goalies, and Ellis forced his way to playing real time with the Sabres this season.
Luongo (yes, related), meanwhile, spent time with Springfield himself as well as with the Panthers' AHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers. Between the two organizations, he developed Samuel Montembeault, Chris Driedger, Spencer Knight, Alex Lyon, and Joey Daccord into capable NHL goalies. Knight and Daccord are the two best netminders of that group today, though each of the other three turned into capable backups at one point or another.
The Devils build a system for Nico Daws to thrive
The new coaching staff alone will do wonders for Daws' development. However, that isn't where his support system ends -- the two goalies he will be platooning with have a plethora of experience themselves and should be able to teach and refine parts of his game. Jake Allen and David Rittich are 35 and 33, respectively, and have 757 games of combined experience. The likelihood that the Devils are running a three-goalie system should mean that Daws gets plenty of exposure and aid from his counterparts.
Allen himself said in a recent interview that he is excited to mentor Daws:
"I think Daws is a really good goalie, too. He really is. He's so talented, he's big, he can move. Daws is a good kid and he's willing to learn. That's the biggest thing. He's willing to adapt and willing to learn and I think I can really help him out with that a lot."Jake Allen on Daily Faceoff Live
It would be surprising if Rittich didn't feel the same.
Between the impending mentorship of his veteran counterparts, the goalie platoon allowing him to manage his workload accordingly, and the two new members of the Devils' goalie staff having real, tangible experience in developing young netminders into legit NHLers, Daws should be exorbitantly happy with the developmental opportunity in front of him. Perhaps no young goalie in the league has the support system he does, and he will hopefully take advantage.
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