5 reasons New Jersey Devils are Stanley Cup contenders again

The New Jersey Devils were the most disappointing team in the NHL last season. Talk about the Ottawa Senators, Detroit Red Wings, or Seattle Kraken all you want. The Devils were the only team many had in Stanley Cup contention that failed to make the playoffs entirely. 

Blame it on injuries. Blame it on goaltending. It could be the defense, Lindy Ruff, or even the failure of Timo Meier to get going until the last quarter of the season. There were a laundry list of reasons for the Devils failure last season. Still, it was one season. It will be a blip on the radar if the team can win a Stanley Cup in the near future.

That’s a tall task, but this team is built to make it happen. Comparing this roster to the roster last season, there are so few flaws. And it all starts with the most important position in hockey.

The New Jersey Devils are Stanley Cup contenders. Here's why.

1. They fixed their biggest flaw

Number one on the list is the obvious choice. Goaltending is what most would say sunk the season. Akira Schmid and Vitek Vanecek were not the answer when the Devils failed to get a solution like Connor Hellebuyck. The Devils were hoping the playoff woes for Vanecek were a small problem for an overall solution. It wasn’t. They hoped Akira Schmid could handle the load. He couldn’t.

Then, the Devils tried to trade for literally every available goalie all season. They couldn’t. It sounds like they could have traded for Jacob Markstrom, Jake Allen, and Linus Ullmark at different points in the season. All three fell apart for one reason or another (although Allen was eventually traded to the Devils when it was way too late). 

Now, the Devils have Markstrom and Allen. They are a veteran duo who can both get wins for the Devils every night. Nico Daws is no longer coming off hip surgery, and this team can’t blame the man in net for its woes anymore.

2. A Jack Hughes Masterclass is incoming

Jack Hughes was oh so close to hitting 100 points for the first time in New Jersey Devils history in 2022-23. He broke the New Jersey Devils points record with 99 that season. This season, he will break that record again, finally hitting triple digits as a Devils player. 

Hughes is going to have an interesting season, as the current line combinations don’t seem to favor him. Timo Meier and Jesper Bratt played incredibly well with Nico Hischier. So, that leaves a choice of Dawson Mercer, Erik Haula, Ondrej Palat, Stefan Noesen, and Paul Cotter as choices for linemates. When we predicted the Devils lines, we went with Cotter and Mercer.

This will actually be the catalyst for Hughes’s best season so far. Cotter can be that “protecter” the Devils have been looking for, but he’s not unskilled. He can be in the right place at the right time in the offensive zone, playing in the top six at times with the likes of William Karlsson and Mark Stone while in Vegas.

Dawson Mercer, while still unsigned, is going to be a major contributor to the Devils this season, and if he can stick with Jack Hughes, that will only help both parties. Mercer might have had an awful season in 2023-24, but he had two great ones prior to that. He has the ability to be great, and consistency under Sheldon Keefe and with Jack Hughes will help.

Hughes will get the most out of these two young players, helping them drive offense and relieve defensive pressure from each player.

3. Depth, Depth, and Depth on Defense

The three “Ds” of Devils defense are all depth. It comes down to depth, depth, and depth for the blueline this year. If Dougie Hamilton struggles in his return from a torn pectoral, the Devils have depth. If Jonas Siegenthaler can’t bounce back after his down year, the Devils have depth. If Brett Pesce or Brenden Dillon struggle in new systems, the Devils have depth. If Luke Hughes or Simon Nemec need a night to recalibrate, well, you get the point.

The Devils currently have nine players who should be in the lineup nightly. The obvious top six is Pesce, Dillon, Hamilton, Nemec, Hughes, and Siegenthaler. However, the Devils re-signed Nick DeSimone this offseason after he was really good after he was claimed off waivers from the Flames. It was a great depth move. Too often, the Devils couldn’t rely on their seventh defenseman.

Then, the Devils continued to add depth with the trade for Jonathan Kovacevic. He was playing every night for the Montreal Canadiens, but he won’t be expected to do that for the Devils unless someone gets injured. 

On top of all that, the Devils have Santeri Hatakka. He will likely start the season with the Utica Comets if he makes it there. That gives the Devils more defensive depth than they’ve had in decades. 

4. Sheldon Keefe Revenge Tour

The New Jersey Devils knew when they fired Lindy Ruff that they needed to get it right this offseason. Travis Green was given a chance to prove himself, and as much as the Devils said he had a real chance to win the job, Green took the Ottawa Senators' job for a reason. The Devils were waiting for the perfect candidate, and when David Pastrnak scored in overtime of Game 7 against the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Devils saw their opening.

Sheldon Keefe is legitimately a great hockey coach. That’s not to say he’s a great NHL coach yet, but we’ve seen him have success at every other level of this sport. His systems work. While the heavy hand of Toronto media criticized his lineup moves, he tends to have the right finger on the pulse. 

Keefe hopes to prove that his time in Toronto was a great learning experience, but the team made a mistake in letting him go. If Keefe can make it to the third round this season, Maple Leafs’ fans will be throwing chairs out the window in frustration (unless the matchup is against the Leafs, which would be art). 

It’s a lot of pressure on a first-year head coach. Keefe needs to get to know these players, instill his system, evaluate an entire set of new coaches (most of whom remain from last season), and put together a plan to win the Metropolitan Division, a very different division from the Atlantic. Still, this guy can succeed from the jump.