The stars will align for this Devils forward group, but the core needs to put some pucks in the net before the team starts losing real ground in the standings. Capping off the home opener with an OT-winner stick-toss celly was nothing short of what the kids call “fire,” but the ashes have long since settled.
That’s not to say the core forwards haven’t contributed anything else through the first three games. Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt each have two points, Timo Meier has an assist, and Nico Hischier is 52.4% at the faceoff dot with a GF% of 66.7. But if the team is going to make it back to the playoffs, these guys need to start labeling some corners.
Let’s see some line changes
Point-per-game Luke Evangelista has been exciting, if not mesmerizing, through the early games. The dynamic forward was inches away from a hat trick on Tuesday, but he wasn’t brought in to handle the scoring himself.
Evangelista’s versatility suggests he could activate the Hughes-Bratt duo in a way Anthony Mantha has failed to (so far, anyway). Vange, as he is often called, has shown himself to be quite the Swiss Army knife alongside his current linemates in Hischier and Meier, and his two-way play and offensive awareness may round out the finesse line nicely. When the PB&J boys are on their game, their whole line lives in the goal column.
Moving Mantha to the Hischier-Meier line could be mutually beneficial for the newcomer and the established pairing. This would give the 6'5" Mantha a couple of bullish power forwards to work with, while Nico and Timo get a proven finisher coming off a 33-goal season with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Mantha has only managed three shots on goal in his first three games as a Devil, but his size and shot could be powerful additions to an already physical, north-game unit.
Other potential top-six swap-ins to get the core guys going: Arseny Gritsyuk, Dawson Mercer, and Evan Rodrigues.
How about some power play goals?
The Devils’ stars shine when the special teams are at their best, and right now, well…
Something would have to go horribly wrong for New Jersey’s struggling power play to maintain its abysmal 7.1% conversion rate, which, it’s worth noting, would be an NHL-record low. But after capitalizing on just one of their first 14 chances, both units need to get it together in a hurry if they’re going to turn their current Achilles’ heel back into one of their biggest weapons.
Evangelista, who scored the team’s lone power-play goal, brings a consistent net-front deflection element that hasn’t been abundant in recent years. While it’s nice to have that option, the Devils’ power play thrives on puck movement and pulling penalty killers out of position — and, of course, the rush game. Coach Sheldon Keefe will need to figure out how to get results from all of these systems in order to maximize power play output.
It bears reiterating: the Devils' current power-play conversion rate is unsustainably low. With a line tweak or two and some time to develop the man-advantage units around that gained chemistry, the goals should start coming in bunches. Growing pains are to be expected when fresh faces enter the mix, and finding chemistry during five-on-five play is key to connecting on the power play with regularity.
The Devils’ 2026-27 leadership group is as focused and capable as it’s been since the 2012 run to the Stanley Cup Finals. If the club is going to make it back there again, its top guys are going to have to show everyone how it’s done.
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