The Devils have already shown both sides of the coin to open 2026-27: a 3-2 overtime win over the Flyers in their home opener, then a rough 6-0 loss to the Islanders on Saturday. The offense has flashed, the chance generation has been there, and the power play still has work to do. With a three-game homestand beginning Tuesday, this week offers a cleaner read on where New Jersey stands.
The schedule is light - just two games from Oct. 4 to Oct. 11 - but the storylines are not. Utah comes to Prudential Center on Tuesday to start the homestand, and Vancouver follows on Saturday afternoon.
The Devils will see former Devil John Marino when they face the Utah Mammoth, then get another shot at the Canucks after beating them 5-4 on Jan. 23.
Injuries remain a major theme. New Jersey opened the season without Nick Bjugstad, who is on injured reserve after surgery to repair a torn pectoral muscle.
His expected recovery window is four to six months, which puts his return in the second half of 2026-27. Johnathan Kovacevic is also sidelined after a minor offseason procedure on his right knee.
His camp workload was limited, he didn’t appear in preseason games, and the encouraging sign is that he was on the ice ahead of practice on Friday.
Seamus Casey’s absence is another blow on the back end. The 22-year-old defenseman underwent knee surgery and is expected to miss eight to ten weeks after getting hurt in the penultimate preseason game against the Rangers.
Connor Brown is also out day-to-day with a lower-body injury after tweaking something in practice earlier this week. Sheldon Keefe said Brown won’t miss much time, and the forward has only sat out the first two games so far.
Amadeus Lombardi is one of the more interesting names to track as the week unfolds. He put together a strong preseason, finishing with one goal, ten shot attempts, and three high-danger scoring chances in three games.
He made his NHL debut against Philadelphia and logged 8:03 of ice time. Against the Islanders, though, the adjustment showed up fast.
Lombardi went to the box for hooking six minutes into the first period, then was called for tripping later in the opening frame. Arseny Gritsyuk took his place on the fourth line.
Lombardi knows the opportunity in front of him. “These guys are willing to give me an opportunity.
I’m going to make sure they look really good for betting on me,” said Lombardi in a recent interview. He’s skating with Cody Glass and Stefan Noesen, and the Devils will want to see that line settle in quickly.
If it doesn’t, Jesper Boqvist is ready to step into the left wing spot.
The biggest question hanging over the team may be in goal. Before the season, GM Sunny Mehta said he felt good about a group that included Jake Allen, Nico Daws, and David Rittich.
Rittich was then assigned to the Utica Comets after clearing waivers, and the Devils claimed Remi Poirier from the Stars. That left Allen and Daws as the main pieces, with Daws getting another NHL look after posting an .868 save percentage and a 2.91 goals-against average in two preseason games.
The early results have been shaky. Daws sits at minus-2.4 goals saved above expected, according to MoneyPuck, and he was beaten five times in 12 high-danger chances against the Islanders. Afterward, he was blunt about the team’s performance: “I don’t think anyone’s going to be overly happy with the way that they played individually…There’s goals out there that I want back, and we have to learn from it and move on.”
For now, the Devils still have time to sort out the rotation. Allen could end up carrying most of the load, and Poirier remains a possible option if the team wants to take another look. How that unfolds is one of the central questions as New Jersey heads into the week.
In Other News...
Keefe Just Sent The Devils An Early Warning They Can't Ignore
The second game of the season already brought a harsh reminder for the Devils, who were blanked 6-0 by the Islanders at UBS Arena and left to sort through a night that unraveled in several areas at once. Sheldon Keefe pointed to breakdowns in defensive coverage and puck management, while Jesper Bratt and goalie Daws each acknowledged how difficult it became once the game tilted against New Jersey.
What stood out most was how little the Devils were able to settle in, especially with the puck and on the power play. For a team still trying to establish early-season rhythm, that kind of performance from the coachs perspective is more than just a bad result, it is the sort of warning sign that can linger if it is not corrected quickly. [Read more 🡒]
Nico Daws Just Revived The Devils Fear Fans Had All Summer
The Devils first look at life after the Jacob Markstrom trade came with an unwelcome reminder of how fragile the goaltending picture can look in a hurry. In a 6-0 loss to the Islanders, New Jersey absorbed its sixth straight defeat in the season series, and Nico Daws was in the crease for all six goals against on 32 shots, a rough night that immediately put the spotlight back on a position group the club had hoped was steadier.
Jake Allen is currently handling the No. 1 job, but the organization does not have much margin behind him, with Remi Poirier and David Rittich as the other internal options. That is what makes Daws outing resonate beyond one lopsided result: it reopened the summer fear that the Devils goaltending depth could become a real issue if the team is forced to lean on it for long. [Read more 🡒]
Devils Got A Harsh Introduction To The Islanders' New Threat
The Devils got a rude wake-up call in their first meeting with the Islanders new-look attack, one that looked nothing like the sluggish group that opened the season with a 2-1 loss to Toronto. In the home opener against New Jersey, the Islanders rolled to a 6-0 win, and rookie Victor Eklund was at the center of it with his first NHL goal and his first multi-point game, all on his 20th birthday.
For New Jersey, the loss offered an early reminder that the Islanders may have found an immediate spark in Eklund. Head coach Peter DeBoer was quick to praise the rookies performance and the way he carried himself on the ice, and the Devils will see plenty more of that threat as they try to regroup from a night that got away from them fast. [Read more 🡒]