The New Jersey Devils are going into this season with a lot on the line. The core really needs a playoff run before things start to hit the fan. This team has too much talent to keep missing the playoffs.
It’s Sunny Mehta’s first year, but he says the goal is to win a Stanley Cup. It’s Sheldon Keefe’s third year, but he has the hottest seat possibly in the league. Jack Hughes is committed to New Jersey, but his brother’s situation in Minnesota is worth watching, and with so many Team USA guys asking for trades, it’s just not worth testing this situation.
Everything is pressure on this season for the Devils, but they made all the right moves. Luke Evangelista was an amazing addition to the roster and a great way to use the assets that came from the Simon Nemec trade. Anthony Mantha was the scorer they were looking for to finish Jack Hughes’s chances. They also added Amadeus Lombardi, who appears to have an insight lane to make the opening night roster.
The Devils have to do their best to be great at every aspect of the game. That includes the power play, where the team has been really good for the past two seasons. Keefe and Jeremy Colliton had the units working, but there were instances where things fell off, and this dried up the scoring for the Devils in general.
It appears the Devils are making the same mistake this season.
And here comes the first look at #NJDevils power play unit thinking:
— Amanda Stein (@amandacstein) September 19, 2026
PP1: Jack, Bratt, Nico, Evangelista and Luke
PP2: Timo, Rodrigues, Mantha, Gritsyuk and Dougie
Mercer looks like he's getting ready to sub in on PP2. But isn't going out with the first run.
From the first iteration of the lines, the Devils look like they'll be over-reliant on Jack Hughes on the power play, especially on that first line. Hughes was expected to run the power play last season after his injury, and teams would just put two players on him with the man advantage. The plan was to have the Devils get the puck to Hughes and have him make a play. He’s superhuman, so sometimes it worked, but it came down to bad strategy.
The power play unit could be more aligned with the talent of the New Jersey Devils
We learned that multiple lines were attempted during the practice, and we hope so. With Ted Donato on the bench and likely running the power play, they should try different things. One thing they shouldn’t consider is putting Nico Hischier at the net front. They should avoid that at all costs.
There are two reasons for this. For one, it puts Hischier at risk. He is already blocking a lot of shots on the penalty kill. He doesn’t need to add to that. The bruises will speak for themselves.
On the other hand, it’s just not the best use of Hischier on the PP. With Jack Hughes, Luke Hughes, Jesper Bratt, and Luke Evangelista on the PP together, everyone’s role is set in stone. Hughes is driving the offense. Luke Hughes is meant to be an outlet. Evangelista is looking to pull attention away from the puck carrier. Bratt plays the bumper, but he does not have a shoot-first mentality. Finally, Hischier cleans up the net front.
Wouldn’t we want Hischier to be a threat and be the one to pull guys from Hughes? He could avoid those double teams that lead to turnovers for Hughes. Hischier can score at a slightly lower clip than his fellow former first-overall pick.
Anthony Mantha would be a much better option for the Devils' top line. He is coming off a 33-goal season with the Penguins, where he had seven power-play goals. He could do even more in this Devils offense.
It’s early, and the power play is going to change a lot. We shouldn’t overreact, but the Devils should avoid this issue for as long as they can.
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