The New Jersey Devils failed to persevere through injury troubles en route to the team's first-round exit at the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes, but if GM Tom Fitzgerald and head coach Sheldon Keefe can resolve some of the most pressing issues, the Devils are poised to be one of the stronger teams in the Metropolitan Division for the 2025-26 NHL season.
Who is the best option for a top line winger?
Keefe has tested out numerous options to skate alongside star forwards Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt, some with more success than others. Some of those options have included Ondrej Palat and Timo Meier, and they've even tried frontloading the team by running Nico Hischier at center on some rare occasions.
Palat has been slotted in that position more frequently than any other skater, but it's time to consider other possibilities. He wound up with just 28 points in 72 games played, despite having the chance to skate with the team's two most elite offensive producers. Looking at the advanced numbers, when Palat is on the ice, the Devils were outshot by 86 SOG, outscored 42-38, and controlled the puck less than 50% of the time with a Corsi-for percentage of 48.9%.
Meanwhile, when Hughes and Bratt skate with any forward other than Palat, the duo put up a 56.7 CF% and produced 38 more scoring chances than the opponents. Granted, it's a smaller sample size, but the pair is significantly more effective with other players on the left wing.
It depend on who is up to the challenge of playing top-line minutes. Meier is better suited to a second line role, and the Devils are better off running Hughes at center as opposed to shifting him to the wing to run Hischier down the middle. Either Palat needs to improve his offensive output, or Keefe needs to test another forward in that position.
Who is going to be the third line center?
With the lineup that's expected to take the ice on opening night, it's unclear at this point who will be skating at center on the Devils' third line.
One option is Dawson Mercer, who has struggled to find his identity over the last two seasons. The promising young forward can play at center or wing, and has bounced back and forth but skates majority on the right side as of late. However, when given the chance to make a difference as a top six skater, Mercer has not been able to take advantage of the opportunity recently, managing 36 points in 82 games while skating around 18 minutes per night.
That brings his role into question: will he get another shot alongside top forwards like Meier on the second line, or is he destined to center the third line? That would be a bit underwhelming, as Mercer was expected to take on a bigger role by this point after tallying 27 goals and 56 points in 2022-23. At age 23, he's still developing and has certainly shown promise, but alternating between a checking line lower in the lineup and a more offensive top-six position has not served him nor the team well thus far.
Cody Glass could also reasonably slot in on the third line, should Mercer get a promotion to the top six. Glass alternated on the third and fourth lines after being acquired at the trade deadline in March, and he did so with success, recording 7 points in 14 regular season games. But so far, he's proven to be more of a fourth-line skater and has only topped 30 points once in his career. That's the type of performance the Devils would need out of him to feel confident enough to give him the third-line center role on a full-time basis.
Are the young defensemen ready to step up?
New Jersey has reason to be optimistic with the current defensive core, which features an effective blend of offensive-minded skaters like Dougie Hamilton and Luke Hughes, two-way blueliners like Brett Pesce, and tougher stalwarts in Brendon Dillon and Johnathan Kovacevic.
Some of the brightest spots for the team are the younger defenders, who could be ready to take on more responsibility. At age 21, Hughes has risen to the occasion, as long as his contract situation gets resolved sooner than later. But Simon Nemec and Seamus Casey are still vying for full-time roles in the lineup, and it's uncertain whether they're ready for that level.
Both skaters spent the majority of the recent season in the AHL. Nemec skated in 22 games with the big club, averaging 15 minutes per matchup and recording four points in that time. But he played considerably well in four playoff games, including a game-winner in double overtime against the Hurricanes. His efficient skating and offensive vision have proven to be his best assets, but he's still growing when it comes to play in the defensive zone.
Casey was a standout in his 14 games played, tallying eight points and 10 hits in that time. He has remarkable puck-handling skills, but has the same issue as Nemec which is sloppy play in his own zone. It was a nice trial run, but Casey has a long way to go in his defensive development, proven by his 16 giveaways and biting off more than he can chew at times.
Nevertheless, with the injury to Kovacevic looming, there is a spot open and either one of these young defenders could challenge for it. It's a matter of whether they can handle more responsibility.
Despite the uncertainty, New Jersey can still prove to be a difficult team to beat with some fine-tuning of the roster if the club can find optimistic answers to these questions.