5 New Jersey Devils players who will be MUCH better next season

The New Jersey Devils took a few steps to create a different environment for the locker room and on the ice this season. Tom Fitzgerald made multiple moves that focus on grit but also removed some of the question marks going into next season. Most people expected Akira Schmid, Kevin Bahl, Alexander Holtz, and John Marino to play better next season, but it was clear the Devils didn't want to take any chances. They instead traded them away for parts and signed Brett Pesce, Brenden Dillon, and others to signify a chance in expectation.

There are a few players who did just fine last season. Jesper Bratt was fantastic as usual. Timo Meier was incredible in the second half of this season after he recovered from injury. Jack Hughes had his own injury issues, but he looked like a superstar. That's.... about it.

So with such a large pool of possible return to form (or finding a new form), who are the Devils players that are going to have a better season in 2024-25?

Dawson Mercer
2023-24 Points: 33

We'd just like to start by saying that Dawson Mercer is 22 years old. Do we realize that? He is twenty-freaking-two. Only two players from the 2020 NHL Draft have more games played in the NHL than Mercer, and it was clear the Devils knocked it out of the park with the Mercer pick. The calls for him to get traded this offseason were insane.

We're also not going to pretend he had a good season in 2023-24. Yes, he did score 20 goals again, but that was about the only positive. It was a fun narrative to say that Mercer was better than 2020 first-overall pick Alexis Lafrenierre, but that wasn't true last season. Mercer's defense took a step back. His playmaking was basically non-existent. He could not play center with any type of consistency. It was a bad season.

However, this has all the makings of a bounce back. This is likely just a sophomore slump delayed by a season. Mercer is still growing as an NHL player, and he had trouble sticking to one role last year. The line blender hit him especially hard. This season, he looks poised to find a spot with either Jack Hughes or Nico Hischier.

That consistency in the top six will allow him to just eat the assists. If he's with Hughes, who it makes sense right now, he will have opportunities that stack up. He'll also have every chance to showcase why he's a much better player than last season.