The New Jersey Devils’ path to a better 2026-2027 season starts on the back end.
That’s the core of the projection here: not a flashy scoring leap, not a dramatic goalie overhaul, but a defense that cuts down the damage enough to change the shape of the season. Using Nico Daws in net for the projection model, the Devils’ blue line is expected to do a lot of the heavy lifting in what would be the first-ever 84-game NHL season.
At the center of that vision are Anton Silayev and Luke Hughes. Silayev is framed as the franchise’s shutdown anchor, while Hughes is projected as the elite transition piece who can help push the pace. If both players develop into what the projection suggests, the Devils could end up with a top four that looks far more dangerous and far more balanced than the one they’ve had in recent seasons.
There’s real weight behind the veterans, too. A rebound year from Brett Pesce and a strong season from Dougie Hamilton would give New Jersey a much sturdier top pair.
Jonas Siegenthaler remains the defensive steady hand, and Seamus Casey adds another layer of talent to the mix. The idea is simple: if the Devils can get the right version of that group, they have enough quality to build something meaningful.
The numbers in the projection point in that direction. New Jersey is forecast to allow between 220 and 228 goals, down from 253.
Goals against per game would drop from 3.09 to 2.68. High-danger chances against are projected to fall from 659 to 600, while expected goals against would dip from 182.7 to 171.
The penalty kill is also expected to rise from 79.3% to 83.2%.
There’s more. Odd-man rushes against are projected to fall from a baseline of 100 to 90, and defensive zone exit efficiency is expected to improve from 100 to 108.
That kind of work doesn’t always show up in the loudest moments, but it changes the entire feel of a team. Fewer breakdowns.
Cleaner exits. Less time spent scrambling.
The projection also makes a point that’s easy to miss: the Devils’ biggest offseason gain may not show up on the scoresheet at all. It may be in the 30-plus goals they don’t give away. Silayev’s length and shutdown ability, Pesce’s stability, and Hughes’ continued growth are all part of a structure designed to lower the quality of chances, not just the number of them.
That matters because the model sees the Devils moving from 253 goals against to a range of 220-228, with save percentage sitting between .907 and .911 now that Jacob Markstrom is in Florida. If the defense plays like it did during the eight-game win streak last season under Head Coach Sheldon Keefe, the projection says New Jersey could jump from a lottery team to a top 8 seed in the Eastern Conference.
The organizational work goes beyond the NHL roster, too. Sunny Mehta has moved quickly to reshape the franchise, and one of his stated goals is to make Utica a more reliable AHL team that plays with the same structure as the Devils.
The point is to make the path from the minors to the NHL lineup much smoother. Over time, more players are expected to be added to fit the new identity, and one clear need is balancing the pipeline by moving some left-handed defenders to even things out with the right-handed side.
The Simon Nemec situation was part of that larger picture. After seeing what he was looking for through AFP Analytics and coming off a year that was good but not great, the compensation asked for was simply too high.
Sunny Mehta made what the article describes as a poker player’s move, turning a 10 into a pair of Jacks and Kings in the trade he eventually completed. From there, the work continues to build out the pipeline and keep adding players who fit the new direction.
The broader message is clear: the Devils’ next step may come from defense first. If the structure tightens, the goaltending gets a better runway, and the blue line delivers the kind of season this projection expects, New Jersey’s ceiling rises fast.
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The Devils spent the 2023 NHL Draft circling a fix for the problem that has haunted them for years, and Connor Hellebuyck was the name at the center of it. New Jersey had real interest in the goaltender, but the move never came together, leaving the club to keep searching for the kind of stability in net that can change the shape of a season.
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The goaltending side is where the pressure could really start to build, with Jakub Malek sitting behind a crowded group and positioned as the first recall option if the depth chart shifts. Matyas Melovsky is another name to watch after a strong recent stretch, and while none of these projections are guarantees, the Devils have enough moving parts that a few prospects could force some uncomfortable decisions before the year is out. [Read more 🡒]
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Kovacevic ended up appearing in 34 games during the 2025-26 season, and he has described the recovery as a challenging but valuable learning experience. The bigger question now is not just how he got back, but how the confidence he rediscovered late in the season can carry over once the games start to matter again. [Read more 🡒]