The New Jersey Devils are trying to pull off the kind of roster retool the Washington Capitals have turned into an art form. It’s the same basic challenge: stay competitive, reshuffle the pieces, and do it without blowing up the core. That’s the blueprint the Devils are chasing, and Saturday afternoon’s matchup with Washington is another chance to see how far along they are.
The setting makes this one worth watching. The Capitals are coming in after scoring five goals in their last game, and the Devils arrive off two straight outings in which they piled up 12 goals combined.
That should set the stage for a lively one. But for New Jersey, it’s about more than offense.
Like their game against the Rangers the other night, this is a test that can reveal where they really sit in the Metropolitan Division. At 4-3, the Devils look like a team sitting in the middle of the pack.
Beating the Capitals would say something meaningful about whether they can handle the division’s better teams.
Washington is the model Mehta’s group is studying. Over time, the Capitals have shown how to keep turning over the roster without abandoning the core that gives the team its identity.
In the 2022 offseason, they took a shot on Dylan Strome, believing a player who had been solid in Chicago still had another gear. Two years later, they went after Pierre-Luc Dubois and Jakob Chychrun, betting on upside and fit.
Those moves worked. Strome was a point-per-game player in 2024-25, and Chychrun turned into the kind of scoring defenseman who can lift an offense.
Then came another summer swing. The Capitals added Alex Tuch, Boone Jenner, and Jordan Kyrou, and each move has, to different degrees, pushed them toward Cup-contender territory. That’s the kind of evolution the Devils want to copy after the first offseason of general manager Sunny Mehta’s tenure.
Mehta made similar bets. Luke Evangelista fits the same general mold as Strome did when Washington grabbed him.
Declan Chisholm landed in New Jersey after multiple teams had moved on, much like Dubois before him. The Devils are hoping those kinds of additions become real pieces for them this season.
It’s still early, though, and there’s no way to know yet whether the gambles will pay off. The encouraging part is that the new faces have started to mesh with the core. There’s even a chance a player like Evangelista becomes more than just a useful add-on, while Amadeus Lombardi has already flashed as a depth forward.
The bigger separation between these two teams right now is down the lineup. New Jersey may have a core that stacks up with Washington’s, especially with Alexander Ovechkin now in the twilight of his career, but the difference has been the production coming from the bottom six and the second or third pair. That’s where the Capitals have made themselves stronger, piece by piece.
Washington didn’t build that depth all at once. Matt Roy may not be a household name, but he has become a key part of the defense.
A few prospects first filled holes and then gradually climbed higher in the lineup. That slow buildup matters, and it’s part of why the Capitals have been able to turn their roster over without losing their edge.
The Devils are looking for that same kind of depth to stick. Lately, there have been signs it’s starting to happen, with Anthony Mantha and Evan Rodrigues helping lead the third pair and Johnathan Kovacevic and Brenden Dillon rounding out the defense.
New Jersey has won three of its past four and is beginning to look like a more complete team. The challenge now is making that version of itself show up consistently.
Development matters too, and Washington has shown how much a strong pipeline can help a turnaround. The Capitals’ farm system, built around the Hershey Bears, has helped shape that culture for years. The Bears are independently owned and put winning first, and that environment has fed the NHL club with players who are ready when called.
That process helped the Capitals’ turnaround take root. First came depth players such as Ethan Frank and Ivan Miroshnichenko. Now there are higher-end prospects on the way, including Ilya Protas, a middle-six center, and Andrew Cristall, an exciting winger still developing with the Bears.
New Jersey’s setup is different. Mehta probably isn’t looking for the same thing with the Utica Comets, whose main focus is winning. But he does want a similar kind of developmental environment, the sort the Florida Panthers had with the Charlotte Checkers: a place where winning and growth work together.
That makes the Comets’ hot start a useful sign. It suggests the right culture may be taking hold, and that should help prospects keep moving forward.
Anton Silaev is one of the names to watch on defense, while 22-year-old Lenni Hämeenaho has already put up a team-leading five points in three games. For the Devils, that’s the kind of early progress they’re hoping turns into reinforcements before long.
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Mike Sullivan and the Rangers leadership group have stressed the need to stay focused and lean on the teams identity, but the margin for error is thinner now. For a club trying to hold its place in the race, the question is no longer just how they respond to losing their No. 1 goalie, but whether the rest of the roster can steady things long enough to survive the disruption. [Read more 🡒]