The New Jersey Devils are betting on Nico Daws to be more than a placeholder, and that choice could reshape the way the team handles the crease this season and beyond.
After a rough 2026-27 campaign, the Devils moved quickly to address the biggest problem in goal. Jacob Markstrom was traded to Florida, and Sunny Mehta followed that up by making his next move clear: Daws was getting a real chance. The club signed him to a new contract and signaled that the expectation is for him to remain on the NHL roster.
That doesn’t mean the Devils are handing him the net blind. Jake Allen and David Rittich are in place as safety nets, giving New Jersey the kind of support that lets Daws grow into the job instead of being forced to carry it alone. Through his first 55 games played, Daws has posted a 2.93 goals-against average and a .899 save percentage.
The idea behind the move is bigger than one goalie. It also affects how the Devils view the rest of their pipeline, including Mikhail Yegorov. The Devils’ goalie prospect was on a very bad USHL team in his draft year, but now he’s at Boston University on a stronger team, and the results have improved along with the environment.
Mehta’s stance on Daws comes with a specific message: the Devils do not need him to become the next Carey Price or Martin Brodeur to make this work. Even a 35-game workload could be enough to reveal real value if the new goalie coach and defensive partners help lift his numbers.
There’s some evidence already that the upside is there. Over nine games across the last two seasons, Daws has gone 5-2-0 with a .925 save percentage and a 2.02 GAA. That’s part of why Mehta believes both the eye test and the analytics point to a goalie whose ceiling may still be underappreciated.
Mehta also didn’t close the door on starting the season with an Allen-Daws tandem.
“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.”
In a league where workload management matters, the Devils appear willing to let the rotation work in their favor. The source material points to a setup where Daws can catch fire in stretches, Allen can stabilize the group with a few wins, and Rittich can chip in when needed. It’s a practical way to handle an 84-game season while keeping Daws from being overextended.
There’s also a larger roster angle here. The article suggests the Devils should stay alert for a goalie like Joel Hofer if they want a more immediate boost to their timeline, especially as they sort through contracts that may not fit once the team starts pushing back toward playoff success.
That bigger-picture approach is part of what makes the Devils’ current direction in net notable. The franchise has been trying to solve a long-running problem in goal ever since Martin Brodeur retired and Cory Schneider’s time in New Jersey was derailed by lower-body injuries. Now Mehta is trying to build something younger and more sustainable, with Dan Stewart as goalie coach and Leo Luongo as Director of Goaltending helping guide that process.
If Daws absorbs that coaching and the system around him holds, the ceiling discussed in the source is a 40-game season with a 2.70 GAA and a .908 save percentage. That kind of outcome would also reflect well on Mehta’s broader approach, one shaped by his time in Florida under Bill Zito, where he saw how important it is to build a contender through more than just the flashy headline move.
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