New contract signals Nico Daws is still the future of New Jersey Devils goaltending

Jacob Markstrom, as critical as he is to the New Jersey Devils present, is not the Devils’ goaltender of the future. At 34 years old, he could be exactly what the Devils need as they look to win a Stanley Cup in the two remaining seasons he is under contract. He will certainly be the 1A for the next two years. But he is not likely to be the 1A for the entire remainder of the Devils Cup window, deep into the tail end of this decade.

By signing Nico Daws to a deal that provides unique flexibility to the team, the Devils signaled that they believe Daws will be the heir apparent to Markstrom. He is now in the pole position to take the starting job from Markstrom in the 2026-27 season, regardless of if Markstrom resigns with the team. 

On Tuesday morning, the Devils announced they had signed Daws to a two-year contract, with the 2024-25 being a two-way contract and the 2025-26 season being a one-way contract. That means he will get the same salary in 2025-26, whether he is in the NHL or the AHL. It’s a clear signal that they believe Daws will be on the NHL roster to stay after this coming season.

The Devils' offseason plan has demonstrated that they are balancing the present of their goaltending position with the future. The players were demoralized by their team’s inability to get competent goaltending all last season. Fitzgerald wanted to give the team a chance to play in front of reliable veteran goalies this coming year, so a Markstrom/Jake Allen tandem makes sense for this team right now. 

But it will also be the league’s oldest goaltending tandem by average age. The team simply had to find a backup plan if Father Time comes for their goalies. 

They used the second-round draft pick they acquired from Utah for John Marino to select Omaha Lancers goalie Mikhail Yegorov, who they hope will also be a piece of the puzzle for them in the future. They also took a late-round flyer on Veeti Louhivaara from Finland. But it could be years before either goalie is ready to step in. The team likes Jakub Malek, and Isaac Poulter is a dark horse. But the future of the goalie position at the end of the season likely came down to either Nico Daws or Akira Schmid.

Daws and Schmid were basically indistinguishable from a statistics perspective last season, with Daws putting up a 3.15 GAA and an .894 SV%, while Schmid put up a 3.15 GAA and a .895 SV%. But the Devils chose Daws over Schmid, surprisingly sending Schmid to Vegas with Alex Holtz for Paul Cotter.

Daws' numbers perhaps underrate his true ability. He was coming off a severe hip surgery coming into last season, and he was forceably overworked in February due to the lack of cromulent options for Lindy Ruff as he tried to salvage his job. Simply put, there was absolutely no reason for a 23-year-old goalie coming off hip surgery to have started seven consecutive games for the team, including both games of a home and away back-to-back against Seattle and Nashville.

But, overworked or not, Daws will have to show he can shoulder a starter's workload. He will get that chance in Utica this season. He is unlikely to play significant games for the Devils this season unless they suffer an injury to Markstrom or Allen. Critically, Daws will not require waivers until he appears in 14 more NHL games. The Devils hope will be that they can keep Markstrom and Allen healthy enough to have Markstrom play 42+ games and Allen play the remainder. The Allen trade had a condition that the third-round pick became a 2025 2nd if Allen plays more than 40 games this coming season. The Devils will certainly hope that is not the case because it means something has gone horribly wrong for Markstrom. 

As the team currently has 12 forwards and 8 D under contract on one-way contracts, and just Dawson Mercer and Nolan Foote still to sign as RFAs, we can predict the Devils are planning to enter the season with 13 forwards and eight defenders. The thirteenth forward spot will likely come down to a battle between Nathan Bastian and Nolan Foote in the bottom 6. That would leave just two roster spots for the goalies, which will be taken by Markstrom and Allen. So Daws will be Utica-bound this coming season.

Daws' contract being a one-way deal is a clear signal that the Devils believe Daws will be ready to spend the 2025-26 season with the NHL club, stepping in as the 1B behind Markstrom when Allen’s deal expires after next season. Best-laid plans often go awry (and there’s a chance that Allen plays so well that he becomes a candidate to be extended), but the Devils hope that in addition to their goalie of the present, they have found their goalie of the future.