With the end of may upon National Hockey League fans, the only teams not currently experiencing an offseason are the Florida Panthers and the Edmonton Oilers. They are set to face off in the Stanley Cup Final starting on Wednesday.
The New Jersey Devils are obviously one of those teams that are currently in their offseason. This was not the way things were expected to go — the Devils could have and should have had a better year. Plagued with injuries throughout the year and having a number of things that could've gone better, New Jersey has quite a long offseason to-do list as a result.
Here's my list of five items that should be on the Devils' offseason checklist if they want to have more success in the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2026 than they did in 2025.
5. Sign three new bottom-six players
New Jersey's bottom-six players could use some work. For much of this season, the lack of scoring outside the top two lines were causing the team to lose games.
Erik Haula did not have as good a season as expected. His point-per-game average dropped to the lowest it has been (0.30) since his sophomore year back in 2013-14 when he spent a lot of time on Minnesota’s fourth line as he was getting acclimated to the NHL. He has one year left on his deal at a $3.15MM price tag and is the type of player who could potentially be traded to help match money (but more on that later).
Another player who was hot and cold was Dawson Mercer. After scoring 56 points in his second career year, he has managed just 33 and 36 in the last two seasons. Adding new talent to the mix could both motivate Haula and Mercer to perform better, in addition to giving the roster some much-needed spice.
4. Add another goaltender to the roster
A fun fact absolutely nobody asked for — the first ever hockey game I ever covered that really made me fall in love with the sport was because of a Devils goaltender at the time.
Mackenzie Blackwood was in goal for the Devils on Jan. 19, 2022 against Seattle and quickly captured my attention. This was because — at the time — everyone in the press box was talking about him. He was just coming over a lower body injury and impressed the media with how well he was bouncing back from recovery.
He ended up recording 36 saves en route to a 4-3 loss for New Jersey. Not that it mattered, because Blackwood was traded to theSan Jose Sharkson in June of 2023, for a sixth-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft and signed a two-year, $4.7 million contract.
Flashing back to the present, Devils' goaltender Jacob Markstrom has just one year remaining in his contract before being eligible for unrestricted free agency. Additionally, Jake Allen is set to hit the open market this summer. Goaltender Nico Daws is already under contract at a cap hit that’s less than $40K above the league minimum. While that’s ideal from a cap standpoint, he’s coming off a particularly rough year with AHL Utica that saw him put up a 3.16 GAA and a .893 SV% in 34 games. He did better in the six games he was in the NHL, but he still needs more experience under his belt.
Long story short, having another option in the net what certainly be a positive for the Devils.