The New Jersey Devils very well could have lost goalie Nico Daws on waivers ahead of the start of the regular season, and to avoid that, they could have traded the blossoming goalie prospect for another asset.
Instead, the Devils stood their ground, placed Daws on waivers, and watched as the 24-year-old cleared and remained with the organization on the heels of an impressive but small sample size in 2024-25.
That sample size only came about due to a Jacob Markstrom injury last season, and, as we know, it just happened again. That's why it was crucial to keep Daws, and the Devils' gamble has paid off massively.
Daws, now quietly a veteran of 53 NHL regular-season games, made his 2025-26 debut against the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday night, continuing his impressive run of form from last season.
The German-born goalie stopped 30 of 31 shots (.968) as the Devils cruised to a crushing 4-1 win over the Wild in front of the Prudential Center faithful. According to Moneypuck, Daws stopped exactly 2.0 goals above expected in the contest, which currently ranks 23rd in the entire NHL despite his appearing in only one game.
For the sake of comparison, fellow goalie Jake Allen has racked up 2.8 goals above expected in his four appearances this season, and he hasn't put a wrong foot in any of those four games.
Daws will still need to prove himself as a full-time NHL goalie, but his last two seasons of games might be enough to give the Devils some pause when it comes to Markstrom and those contract extension talks.
As mentioned above, Daws has to pass through waivers to return to the AHL Utica Comets, and if he continues to impress while he's in New Jersey with the Devils, the chances he does so again will be considerably lower, especially now that roster cutdowns have long concluded.