The New Jersey Devils are getting exactly what they hoped for from the parts of the roster that used to be a question mark.
At 12-5-0, New Jersey has stormed through the opening stretch of the 2026-27 season, and a big reason why is that the scoring isn’t coming only from the headline names. Since Sunny Mehta took over as general manager, the Devils have added pieces that have clicked fast, and the club has already won eight of its last ten games after Saturday night’s 5-4 overtime win over the New York Islanders.
The biggest swing has been in the middle and lower part of the lineup. Depth scoring and goaltending were the two obvious issues the organization needed to solve, and after reshaping the bottom six and bringing in Connor Hellebuyck, the Devils have found a rhythm. The secondary scoring has been especially important lately, with several forwards giving the team real production beyond the top line.
Connor Brown has been right in the middle of it. After missing the start of the season with a lower-body injury, he returned on Oct. 20 against the Colorado Avalanche and has since put up three goals and five points. His most recent impact came Tuesday night against the Edmonton Oilers, his former team, when he scored and added an assist.
Brown has also become a key piece on special teams. He’s been a disruptive force on the penalty kill and has shown a knack for creating chances while shorthanded, including the goal he scored against the Avalanche after a bounce went his way.
Earlier this week, the Devils moved him onto the top power-play unit in search of more consistency, and he responded immediately against Edmonton. Brown tied the game at one with a power-play goal set up by the Hughes brothers, then picked up an assist on Jack Hughes’s goal late in the second period.
He finished with two points on the man advantage.
The line of Lombardi-Glass-Brown has given the Devils a steady presence in the bottom six, but Brown’s value goes well beyond one line. He’s helping in every situation the Devils need him.
Anthony Mantha has also settled into a role that fits. When New Jersey signed him to a two-year deal in July, the expectation was that he might skate on the top line with Hughes and Jesper Bratt.
That look had its moments, but the fit wasn’t seamless enough for long-term use. Sheldon Keefe eventually shifted Mantha to the third line on the left wing with Evan Rodrigues and Jesper Boqvist, and the move has paid off.
It hasn’t been a step back. It’s been a better fit.
Rodrigues brings the passing, Boqvist brings the speed, and Mantha brings the finishing touch. According to MoneyPuck, that trio is averaging 4.87 goals per 60 minutes and 46.79 shot attempts.
Mantha has also shown he can slide around the lineup when needed. Against the St.
Louis Blues, he had a brief stretch back with Hughes and Bratt and made it count, scoring the goal that pushed the Devils ahead by two. He ended that period with three points, assisting on Boqvist’s goal before scoring again on a breakaway.
He’s found his footing quickly. Mantha has four goals and eight points over his last eight games, and after the win over St.
Louis he said, “It feels great. A game like tonight obviously probably gives us more confidence as a line…If your top guys are playing great and then your bottom six are doing the same thing, then like I said before, we’re going to be really hard to play against.”
The fourth line has been a different kind of win for New Jersey, and Amadeus Lombardi has been a big reason why. He made his NHL debut in the home opener and has appeared in all but two games this season.
Acquired right before the 2026 NHL Draft for a fourth-round pick, he fit the profile Mehta wanted: low risk, high upside. Before arriving in New Jersey, Lombardi spent four seasons with the Grand Rapids Griffins in the AHL, where he posted 69 points in 163 games.
Now he’s carved out a full-time role and taken Stefan Noesen’s old spot. His rookie season has already brought four assists, including two in the Devils’ 7-1 win over the New York Rangers.
He’s still chasing his first NHL goal, but he has reached a career-high of four shots on goal twice. More importantly, he has brought some stability to a line that needed it.
Lombardi’s defensive work, his ability to move the puck out of danger, and his effort have helped turn the fourth line into something dependable. Add in the versatility of Brown and Mantha, and the Devils suddenly have secondary scoring that looks like a strength rather than a problem.
In Other News...
Devils Fans Just Got A Reminder Of What The Hellebuyck Trade Cost
The reminder came in the form of Alexander Command, a 2026 draft pick the Devils sent to Winnipeg as part of the deal for Connor Hellebuyck. For New Jersey, the trade was always about landing a highly regarded goaltender, and that kind of move naturally comes with a price that can linger well beyond the day the deal is made.
Command has already spoken positively about his new team, and there is a sense that he could make the jump to North America soon. For Devils fans, though, his name is still tied to what it took to get Hellebuyck in the fold, a familiar reminder that even the biggest upgrades often come with future pieces headed the other way. [Read more 🡒]
Luke Hughes Just Gave Devils Fans A New Rivalry To Watch
The Devils overtime win over the Islanders had the kind of edge that can linger beyond one night, and Luke Hughes was right in the middle of it. He logged significant minutes in a game that swung hard in New Jerseys favor after the team fell behind 4-2, then watched Jack Hughes finish the comeback with the winner in overtime. For a team trying to build momentum early, it was the sort of game that felt as much about attitude as it did about the final score.
Luke Hughes also found himself in a rare fight with Matthew Schaefer, a moment that seemed to give New Jersey a jolt when it needed one. The Devils responded with more energy after that exchange, turning a rough position into a win that should only sharpen the attention on the next meeting between these teams. For now, it gives Devils fans a little extra reason to keep an eye on the Islanders, because the tone of this matchup changed in a hurry. [Read more 🡒]
Devils Moving On From Ondej Palt Still Looks More Important Than Ever
The Devils decision to move on from Ondej Palt has only aged more favorably as the roster around it has changed. New Jersey brought Palt in on a five-year deal in the 2022 offseason, then later sent him to the Islanders along with draft picks in a move that was as much about reshaping the books as it was about the player himself. In return, the Devils landed Maxim Tsyplakov, who eventually became part of another trade, underscoring how much roster churn has flowed from that original pivot.
From the Devils perspective, the bigger story is what the deal allowed them to do next. Palt has not made much of an impact on Long Island, while New Jersey used the move to open up cap space and create the kind of flexibility that can matter over multiple seasons. Even as the pieces from that transaction have continued to move elsewhere, the Devils willingness to cut bait looks more and more like a front-office decision that helped set up the rest of their roster-building plan. [Read more 🡒]