The Devils are heading into this season with an unusual setup in goal, and Nico Daws sits at the center of it.
New Jersey moved Jacob Markstrom to the Florida Panthers this summer, a deal that opened the door to a very different look in the crease. The trade was a smart one, and getting rid of Markstrom, especially for the pieces in return, was one of the good first moves Sunny Mehta made. But it also left the Devils without a clear No. 1, which is how this three-goalie idea came into focus with Jake Allen, David Rittich and Daws.
The veteran pair gives the Devils a workable floor. Allen and Rittich together is a solid, if unspectacular, tandem, and if the team plays well enough in front of them, they can absolutely keep the club afloat.
The bigger question is whether that group can hold up over four rounds of playoff hockey. That’s where Daws comes in.
At 25, Daws has been hovering on the edge of an NHL breakthrough for a while now. With Markstrom gone, this is the chance for him to prove he’s the real deal. If he can seize the job, the Devils can keep Allen and Rittich around as insurance and use them when Daws needs a breather or a reset.
The idea of carrying three goalies may sound odd, but it’s not as far-fetched as it once was. It resembles the way baseball teams shifted from four-man rotations to five-man rotations in the late 70s, a change that drew plenty of outrage at the time. The logic behind the goalie version is simple: teams can’t lean on one netminder the way they used to.
The old workload expectations are gone. Starting goalies used to be pushed toward 70 games a season, with backups sometimes getting as many as 20 appearances. Now the true No. 1s are usually around 50 games, leaving roughly 35 for the rest of the crease to cover.
That’s why this setup can make sense. If Daws can deliver 50 solid starts, the Devils should be in decent shape. Then Allen and Rittich can handle the rest without the team being forced into a full-time platoon.
In the ideal version of this plan, Daws grabs the job and never looks back, Allen settles in as the backup, and Rittich ends up on waivers. That’s the cleanest outcome for New Jersey. But for now, the Devils are at least making the case that three goalies might not be a mess at all.
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Luke Evangelista has emerged as one plausible answer on Hughes side, while Anthony Mantha could be the kind of complementary piece who settles in alongside Hischier. Connor Brown is still in the mix for the top line, and names like Evan Rodrigues, Dawson Mercer and Arseny Gritsyuk give New Jersey enough flexibility to imagine several different versions of the top six, with the final shape likely determined by which combinations click best once the games start counting. [Read more 🡒]
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Nemec has backed up that mindset with a demanding training routine, including cycling work inspired by fellow Slovak Zdeno Chara as part of a push to build durability for the long haul. He wants to become a dependable defenseman in Calgary, and he has the benefit of Slovak teammates around him as he settles in. The early signs are of a player treating the trade as a reset, even if the full meaning of his Devils exit will take time to sort out. [Read more 🡒]