The New Jersey Devils begin a new season looking to improve on a rough 2026-27 season. Last year, Jacob Markstrom was not good enough, and with a two-year extension already signed, he was one of Sunny Mehta’s biggest issues. He quickly fixed it by trading Markstrom to Florida, and he had an interesting philosophy in net.
Mehta committed to Nico Daws in net, signing him to a new contract and making it clear the expectation is for him to stay on the NHL roster. With Jake Allen and David Rittich as his safety nets, the German-Canadian netminder can build off of his first 55 games played. He has averaged 2.93 GAA with a 0.899 Save Percentage.
This philosophy not only impacts Daws, but it also impacts the future goalies in the prospect pool. Devils' goalie prospect Mikhail Yegorov was playing on a very bad USHL team in his draft year. Now, he’s playing for a better Boston University team, and the results have been better as well.
The case study for Nico Daws is that he doesn't need to be the next Carey Price or Martin Brodeur in net. If you look at a 35-game-played scenario for Daws, his numbers under the new goalie coach and defensive partners could help him improve.
If you look back at his 5-2-0 record, .925 sv%, and 2.02 GAA over nine games over the last two seasons, it shows how GM Sunny Mehta believes the eye test and the analytics indicate the undervalued portion of his upside to become a full-time starter. With the eventual debut of Mikhail Yegorov coming in by the 2028-29 season.
Devils GM Sunny Mehta didn't rule out entering the season with an Allen-Daws tandem.
— Peter Baugh (@Peter_Baugh) July 2, 2026
"We know what Jake (Allen) can bring. ... I'm pretty excited about the opportunity in front of Nico (Daws) because he hasn't really been given that sort of runway and that path." pic.twitter.com/1C4F3kdl5d
In today's NHL, a player can be a Nico Daws-type goalie and get really amazing for a nice 4-5 wins, then take a few games off and get back on a heater after Jake Allen wins 2 games, and David Rittich gets 1 or 2 at a time in a rotation. If we look at how you manage a young goalie and two older goalies, it is really about maximizing that workload. For an 84-game season, it is important that the Devils monitor the progress but not be afraid to go after a Joel Hofer, who can bring more immediate boost to the Devils' timeline and move on from other contracts who won't fit when the Devils start to progress towards being a playoff success again.
Great reflexes from Nico Daws. 💪 pic.twitter.com/9gpYI6jSjC
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 2, 2025
Nico Daws can be the starter the New Jersey Devils need
Having this kind of flexibility in net is something general managers throughout the NHL will consider when assessing the quality and depth of the goalie pipeline. Sunny is improving an area where the Devils have been flawed since the retirement of Martin Brodeur and the injury-shortened tenure of Cory Schneider, who was looking great until lower-body issues became the crux of his time in New Jersey.
If we look at how the Devils are getting to be younger and more experienced in the next few seasons in net and potentially moving on from Jake Allen or David Rittich, it will show how Dan Stewart as goalie coach and Leo Luongo as Director of Goaltending will improve the time and skill development of the goalies here in New Jersey.
If Daws follows the philosophies, strategies, and techniques brought in by Dan Stewart and Leo Luongo, we could see 40 Games Played with a 2.70 GAA and a .908 Save Percentage. It will show how big the successful hirings by Sunny Mehta as a young GM are, just as big as drafting, signing prospects, and trading to bring in key players. It is not all about the big-name flashy moves, but Sunny has learned a lot from being in Florida under Bill Zito and helping make big executive decisions that helped the Panthers eventually bring in what was Sergei Bobrovsky.
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