The New Jersey Devils' goalie hierarchy is in for a long overdue shakeup, though it is one the organization was perhaps not hoping to see so soon.
On Monday, it was announced that Devils goalie prospect Jakub Malek had been demoted and re-assigned to the ECHL Adirondack Thunder, putting a temporary halt to his time with the AHL Utica Comets after just five games played.
In those five games, Malek struggled badly, and a change of pace was needed to preserve his development. The 2021 fourth-round pick is winless this season, sporting a 0-4-1 record, a 3.86 GAA, and an .861 save percentage.
Roster: Jackson van de Leest, Tag Bertuzzi and Jakub Malek are headed to Adirondack!
— Adirondack Thunder (@ECHLThunder) November 24, 2025
Pres. by Moving Made EZ pic.twitter.com/OywNDouyk1
In fairness to Malek, though, the Comets were shut out in two of Malek's regulation losses, dropping games to the Syracuse Thunder and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins by a combined score of 7-0. The goal support and overall talent on the team simply aren't there, and Malek will therefore go find his confidence again playing on a more middle-of-the-pack Adirondack team.
As for Utica? Well, the Comets have the Devils' de facto No. 3 goalie in Nico Daws, who has played nine games this season. Other than Daws and Malek, the only goalie to have played a game for the Comets this season is Jeremy Brodeur, who made 32 saves on 35 shots in his only AHL appearance of the young 2025-26 campaign.
The Devils could always turn to the young Tyler Brennan, too, but the 22-year-old former fourth-round pick has a .884 save percentage across 48 career ECHL appearances. That is hardly an encouraging solution for the other prospects hoping to win games at the AHL level.
Brodeur is the natural in-house replacement for Malek here and should help ease the workload on Daws, though one would have to think the Devils have other ideas than to sit in a holding pattern and hope Malek turns it around. After all, Mikhail Yegorov is still several seasons away from seeing NHL (and AHL) ice.
Maybe old friend Lindy Ruff and the Buffalo Sabres would be willing to relinquish a player like Devon Levi, given that Alex Lyon and Colten Ellis have stolen the show from the promising youngster.
Regardless, though, Malek's demotion is an objective disappointment that's been coming for a while, as he has played just once for the Comets since Oct. 25. With some time in the ECHL, the Devils prospect has a chance to rebound and rediscover the form that made him a standout with Ilves in Finland's Liiga for the last two seasons.