The New Jersey Devils’ 2026-27 season is barely underway, and the warning signs are already flashing hard.
At 2-3, the Devils look like a team that can’t get out of its own way. They’ve been stuck chasing games, they’re not getting enough offense, and the discipline has been a mess. Monday night’s 4-1 loss to the Senators put all of that on display.
The penalties piled up quickly. New Jersey took five on the night and finished with 13 penalty minutes, a number that tells part of the story.
Anthony Mantha accounted for five of those minutes with a major after boarding Nikolas Matinpalo, who left the game injured. Mantha’s start in New Jersey has not gone the way he wanted, and even though the Devils killed off the major, it didn’t turn into the kind of spark teams usually expect from that kind of moment.
Instead, things slid the other direction. Amadeus Lombardi was whistled for slashing early in the second period, and that penalty opened the door for Stephen Halliday’s power-play goal.
Luke Hughes and Luke Evangelista also ended up in the box for interference and hooking, adding to a growing problem. Brendan Dillion leads the club with 11 penalty minutes so far, Mantha is right behind him with seven, and Lombardi’s six minutes have him creeping into the same conversation if his game doesn’t tighten up.
Still, the biggest issue isn’t just the whistles. It’s the scoring.
Through five games, the Devils have only 11 goals, and for a team with this much talent, that simply isn’t good enough. Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt each have four points.
Nico Hischier has three. Timo Meier has one point, and Dawson Mercer has none.
That drop-off from Meier and Mercer is especially frustrating because both have now been in the organization together for almost 2 1/2 years, and neither has given the team the kind of steady production it needs. The Devils have shown some compete, but when the chances need to be finished, they’re not cashing in. Without secondary scoring, the pressure keeps building on the top names to carry too much.
There are other issues, too. The defense has struggled to protect the middle of the ice, leaving opponents space to skate into dangerous areas and create clean looks. Goaltending was a problem in that 6-0 loss to the Islanders on October 3rd, but it wasn’t the issue against Ottawa.
That’s what makes this start feel so familiar for New Jersey. The same problems keep showing up: shaky defense, too little scoring, and not enough help in net when things go sideways.
Most of this roster is still made up of players Tom Fitzgerald signed, so there’s no reason to pin the blame on Sunny for not having his own group yet. Sheldon Keefe, though, is already under pressure.
It’s early, but the frustration is real. The Devils came into the season with expectations, and if this keeps going into late November and early December, Keefe could be the coach left paying for it. Five games in is a tiny sample, but the problems are already loud, and New Jersey has to clean them up fast.
In Other News...
Devils Escape Needed Win But Keefe Still Has A Problem To Solve
The Devils got the result they needed against Detroit, but it came with a familiar hint of frustration. New Jersey controlled the shot count for long stretches and still had to sweat out a one-goal game into overtime before Jack Hughes finally finished it off, lifting the club to a 3-3 record and giving the room a much-needed boost after a shaky start.
Sheldon Keefe can at least point to the positives, from the pressure the Devils generated to the way several players contributed in key moments. But the lineup picture is still not settled, and the coaching staff had to adjust on the fly with Luke Evangelista out because of an illness, which only adds another layer to the decisions ahead as the schedule moves on. [Read more 🡒]
Devils Still Have A 5 On 5 Problem They Didn't Expect
Through six games, the Devils have settled into a 3-3 start, but the bigger concern has been what is happening at five-on-five. The puck movement and overall chances have been there, and the underlying numbers point to a team creating more than it is giving up, yet the goals have not followed at the rate New Jersey expected.
That mismatch has left the coaching staff looking for small fixes rather than sweeping changes. One possibility is a modest line tweak to give the offense a different look and, perhaps, a little more finishing touch at even strength, which is the kind of adjustment a team usually tries before the frustration starts to linger. [Read more 🡒]
Devils Fans Get An Early Rivalry Test Against The Rangers
The Hudson River Rivalry gets an early-season stage Thursday night at Prudential Center, with the Devils and Rangers meeting at 7 p.m. in a matchup that always seems to bring a little more edge, a little more noise and a little more attention than the calendar might suggest. For New Jersey, it is the kind of game that can help set a tone at home, especially with captain Nico Hischier, Jack Hughes, Connor Brown and Brett Pesce all weighing in on what makes this rivalry feel different from a typical divisional date.
The Devils know these games carry their own rhythm, and they will get more than one crack at the Rangers over the course of the year as the two teams split their meetings between both arenas. Still, the first one at Prudential Center has a way of mattering on its own, because every shift can feel a little sharper when these two are on the ice together. For a team trying to build momentum and establish its identity early, this is the kind of test that tells you something right away. [Read more 🡒]