The Devils are rolling, and the numbers keep piling up. After Sunday night’s 4-0 shutout of the Toronto Maple Leafs, New Jersey has won five straight and sits at 13-5-0, good for second in the Metropolitan Division and third in the Eastern Conference. That surge has come with the kind of mix that gets attention fast: overtime drama, relentless scoring, and goaltending that’s been locked in.
One of the biggest talking points around the team right now is the decision not to start Connor Hellebuyck in Winnipeg on Nov. 10.
The matchup had been circled ever since the blockbuster trade that brought Hellebuyck to New Jersey, and plenty of fans expected him to face his former team. Devils general manager Sunny Mehta shut that idea down on Sunday night after the club’s win over Toronto, saying the organization had weighed the options before deciding sitting Hellebuyck was the right call.
The reaction was immediate, especially because Hellebuyck made it clear he wanted the start. After posting his first shutout of the season against the Leafs, he said, “I’m disappointed, but I understand. Selfishly, I want to play, but you know, when you’re looking at the team and what’s best for the team, I understand where they’re coming from,”
Sheldon Keefe also addressed the choice, pointing to the workload ahead. He said, “We can only deal with what’s in front of us here.
Like I said, it’s his third game in six nights here, that would be four in eight for him to play in Winnipeg. And then we want to play him in both games against Washington when we go back.”
The noise around the decision has been loud on social media, but the logic is straightforward enough: the Devils want Hellebuyck fresh for two key divisional games this week. At Hellebuyck’s request, he will speak to the media after morning skate on Tuesday.
New Jersey also made a roster move on Monday, recalling Riley Tufte from the Utica Comets. That came after Anthony Mantha took a high stick to the throat on Saturday night against the New York Islanders and returned to New Jersey to be evaluated rather than stay with the team for the rest of the road trip.
The Devils did not bring anyone up for Sunday’s game, instead dressing 11 forwards and seven defensemen. Tufte’s recall gives them another option up front if Mantha is unavailable.
New Jersey signed Tufte in July to a one-year, one-way deal after he spent two seasons with the Boston Bruins. He played most of 2025-26 with the Providence Bruins, appearing in four NHL games, and opened 2026-27 with Utica, where he picked up two assists in nine games.
If the Devils don’t go with an extra defenseman, he should slide into the bottom six.
And then there’s Jack Hughes, who keeps stacking up reasons for the Devils’ offense to run through him. His nine-point start to November earned him the NHL’s second star of the week, and it fits the way he’s been driving this team.
He has 25 points in 18 games, is riding a five-game point streak, and has collected 11 points during New Jersey’s current winning run. That stretch includes two goals in two straight games against the Vegas Golden Knights and the Edmonton Oilers.
Hughes was central again in the Islanders game over the weekend. He picked up the assist on Dougie Hamilton’s power-play goal that forced overtime, then finished the job with the game-winner.
His impact isn’t just showing up on the scoresheet, either. Natural Stat Trick data shows Hughes is on the ice for 75.02 shot attempts for per 60 minutes at 5-on-5, compared with 45.05 against, and his on-ice goal differential sits at plus-22, which is 3.6 goals above expected.
The Devils head into Winnipeg looking for a sixth straight win, and Hughes will be right at the center of it.
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The other wrinkle hanging over the week is the return of Connor Hellebuyck to Winnipeg, though the latest update from New Jersey took some of the heat out of that storyline. The Devils said their goaltender will not be in the lineup for Tuesdays game against the Jets, with general manager Sunny Mehta offering an explanation, while the Manitoba Moose head into a road trip still sorting through health and availability questions of their own. [Read more 🡒]