For a long time, the Devils lived with the same problem: their best players had to do too much, and the rest of the lineup too often couldn’t keep up. That was the story when Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt and Timo Meier were asked to drive everything.
One injury could knock the whole group off balance. The bottom six rarely brought enough punch.
A replacement might fill a spot, but not the job.
That excuse is gone now.
New general manager Sunny Mehta spent the offseason building the deepest roster this core has had around it, and the Devils will open the 2026-27 season Thursday night against the Philadelphia Flyers with a lineup that finally looks equipped to support its stars. The question is no longer whether the Devils have enough help. It’s how far that help can carry them.
The top six already offers a different shape than last season’s group.
Anthony Mantha is set to skate with Hughes and Bratt, and the fit may take time. That isn’t a surprise.
Hughes and Bratt have been together for years, and they play at a pace that can take a new winger a while to catch up to. But Mantha brings a dimension that line didn’t have before: size, finishing ability and a 6-foot-5 frame that gives Hughes and Bratt a bigger target near the net.
The Devils should give that trio time before deciding anything.
The second line has come together quicker. Meier, Hischier and Luke Evangelista have shown immediate chemistry, and Evangelista may end up being the most important addition of the offseason.
His creativity and skill fit cleanly with the more direct games Hischier and Meier prefer. He also adds a right-handed shot to the top power-play unit, the kind of piece that can change how opponents defend.
The real difference, though, might show up deeper in the lineup.
Arseny Gritsyuk, Evan Rodrigues and Dawson Mercer are expected to handle the third line, and that group has the look of a unit that can create problems for opponents instead of just surviving shifts. All three can chip in offensively, which gives the Devils a different kind of pressure down the roster.
The fourth line will need a quick adjustment because Connor Brown’s injury will keep him out at least the first two games. That opens the door for Stefan Noesen to join Cody Glass and Amadeus Lombardi.
In past seasons, an absence like that could have forced the Devils to reach for a player not quite ready for the spot. This time, they can lean on Noesen, with Jesper Boqvist also available as another option.
Lombardi is set for his NHL debut after earning the job in camp.
“It’s a full-circle moment,” Lombardi said. “It’s crazy. I don’t think I’m going to sleep tonight.”
His family and friends are expected to be there, including his parents, siblings and grandparents.
Sheldon Keefe thinks that kind of moment matters for the whole room.
“It creates energy,” Keefe said. “Someone to root for.
It’s just the camaraderie piece of it. You get a younger guy playing his first NHL game, his first time in the league, you’ve got someone that the guys can have a little fun with.”
The blue line should look familiar, with Jonas Siegenthaler and Dougie Hamilton together, Luke Hughes paired with Brett Pesce, and Brenden Dillon alongside Declan Chisholm. Johnathan Kovacevic is still out after a knee procedure.
Luke Hughes is another player who could take a major step. He should keep growing into one of the league’s most dangerous offensive defensemen and play a big role on the power play.
Goal remains the biggest swing piece. The Devils are counting on some mix of Jake Allen, Nico Daws and newly claimed Rémi Poirier to give them league-average work, while David Rittich gives the organization another veteran option in the AHL.
It’s a gamble, but not one that has to be solved perfectly. The Devils don’t need the goalies to carry the team.
What they do need is for their stars to keep pushing, and for the depth around them to actually hold.
That’s why Hughes feels like the centerpiece of the season’s outlook. After returning from the Olympics last year, he caught fire and produced 41 points in 25 games after Milan, a 1.64 points-per-game pace. The expectation here is that he keeps rolling and becomes the first 100-point player in franchise history.
Prediction: 42 goals, 71 assists and 113 points.
The revamped bottom six should also deliver far more offense than Devils fans have been used to. Those minutes shouldn’t feel like damage control anymore. They should help extend leads, and maybe even swing a few games.
Carolina still stands as the team to beat in the Metropolitan Division. The Hurricanes have earned that spot and are coming off a Stanley Cup championship. The Devils, though, look positioned to finish second with a 50-31-3 record and 106 points.
If that kind of jump happens, Keefe should get Jack Adams consideration and Mehta could enter the General Manager of the Year conversation.
Even then, this season has to mean more than just a better regular season. For the Devils to truly call it a success, they need to win more than one playoff round.
They haven’t reached a conference final since 2012. Now, at last, they have the depth to make a real run.
In Other News...
Dawson Mercer Enters A Critical Devils Season For One Big Reason
The Devils spent the offseason reshaping their forward group, and the ripple effects have landed squarely on Dawson Mercer. With additions such as Anthony Mantha and Luke Evangelista changing the depth chart, Mercer is no longer being viewed through the lens of the breakout 2022-23 season that raised expectations around him. Instead, he enters this year in the bottom six, a different kind of assignment for a player whose value once seemed to be trending steadily upward.
That shift gives Mercer a chance to prove he can still matter even without the same offensive runway. He is expected to skate with Arseny Gritsyuk and Evan Rodrigues, a lineup spot that could help stabilize his game and show the Devils he can contribute in a lesser role. If the production does not rebound, though, the questions around his long-term fit in New Jersey are only going to get louder. [Read more 🡒]
Devils Face A Costly Long Term Test As Cap Space Climbs
Rising NHL salary caps are changing the math for clubs everywhere, and the Devils are no exception. With more room across the league, New Jersey is staring at a roster picture where pending unrestricted and restricted free agents could all see their next deals climb, especially as the team weighs younger pieces against veterans who have already carved out roles in the lineup.
Cody Glass, Declan Chisholm, Jonas Seigenthaler, Anthony Mantha, Dawson Mercer and Amadeus Lombardi all fit somewhere in that conversation, whether as current contributors or players who could matter more down the road. Sunny Mehta and the front office now have to balance those rising contract expectations against the need to keep the cap flexible, which makes the next stretch of negotiations a potentially expensive test of how the Devils want this roster to look long term. [Read more 🡒]
Devils May Have One Early Problem With This Revamped Lineup
The Devils are heading into the season with a noticeably different look after a busy offseason that brought in Anthony Mantha, Luke Evangelista, Evan Rodrigues, Amadeus Lombardi, Jesper Boqvist and defenseman Declan Chisholm, while Simon Nemec and Jacob Markstrom are gone. Even with all that turnover, the bigger short-term challenge may not be talent so much as timing, because this roster is being built to sort itself out on the fly.
New Jersey also plans to use a three-goalie rotation, and every one of its four forward lines is expected to feature at least one new face. That kind of overhaul can work, but it rarely clicks instantly, and the Devils may need several weeks before the chemistry settles in and the best version of the lineup comes into focus. [Read more 🡒]