The New Jersey Devils came into this season with an interesting strategy with their goalies. They traded a decent haul to get Jacob Markstrom from the Calgary Flames, and he was the clear starter. They traded a few picks last year to get Jake Allen. After years of injuries, retirements, and overall inconsistency, they felt they had their duo of the present for the first time in a while.
Behind Allen and Markstrom there was a hope and a prayer. In the AHL, the Devils went back to their duo of Nico Daws and Isaac Poulter. They are young and inconsistent in their results. Daws actually has NHL experience, so there's that (more on that in a moment), but there wasn't a true depth option.
So, when Jacob Markstrom suffered a knee sprain that would keep him out of the lineup for a month, the Devils had a decision to make. Jake Allen would get the majority of the starts, but the backup still needed to be in the NHL. Isaac Poulter was given the first opportunity, but he was sent back down and the Devils called up Nico Daws.
This wasn't expected to be an opportunity for Daws. It was a nice pay bump for a few weeks. However, he was expected to sit on the bench and watch Jake Allen do his thing.
Then, Allen had a pretty poor outing against the Buffalo Sabres, and Daws was forced to take the reigns in the third period with the Devils down 4-1. He watched as the Devils furiously tried to make a comeback despite a major penalty, but the team fell short and lost 4-3 in regulation. Despite the unpleasant ending, Daws kept the Devils in the game. He didn't face any high-danger shots, so it wasn't necessarily a hard effort, but Daws stopped every shot he faced.
With the Devils looking for a spark, they gave the 24-year-old Daws a shot. What was supposed to be the backup quarterback stint of hockey had turned into a start for Daws, who went on to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins. Not only did Daws win the game, but he did it with an amazing shootout performance. It was the Devils' first shootout win in almost two years.
Now that Daws has proven he can play well enough to win and sometimes even save the Devils when they make mistakes (six high-danger saves according to Natural Stat Trick), so he's probably earned another start in the interim while the Devils wait for Markstrom to return. Honestly, this could help the Devils slow play a Markstrom return.
What can Nico Daws prove to the Devils while Jacob Markstrom is injured?
Daws has a lot on the line with this stint. The Devils gave him a two-year contract this offseason that has an interesting detail. He has a two-way contract this season, meaning he makes a different salary in the AHL than he does in the NHL. Next year, that becomes a one-way contract, which means he makes his NHL salary no matter where he plays.
That shows the Devils are willing to bet on Daws being the backup next season. Markstrom is signed for two seasons and Allen is signed for one, so it's a logical conclusion. However, Daws has been wildly inconsistent this season, causing many fans to lose faith in his future. He struggled in Utica, including that awful run where the Comets lost their first 13 games of the season.
Then, he got injured, which has been a huge issue for him in the past. He returned from injury and struggled, which is again, a narrative we've seen before. As of today, Daws has an .888 save percentage. Nobody is excited seeing a number like that. This is after he had an .890 save percentage in Utica last season. He is not playing well in the minors.
Yet, Daws is here with a ridiculous .941 save percentage in two NHL games. He rose his NHL save percentage to .895. He’s playing behind the best defense he’s ever seen, and his impacts were felt all night on Tuesday.
Daws doesn’t appear to be the future in net for the Devils, but he can prove himself to be a competent backup. Mikhail Yegorov is on a trajectory to be an NHL starter. The 2024 second-round pick looked amazing in the USHL before going to Boston University and thriving there.
Even if that's true (which it's far from settled), Daws is still fighting to prove his NHL future. That's what he's playing for today. He is playing for his NHL future. And it doesn't take much to give us hope. If he gets on more game and puts another good performance in a win, the Devils might just give him that shot to get a regular NHL paycheck next season.