James Nichols
The 2025-26 season is approaching, and fast. As is, the New Jersey Devils will enter with a plethora of questions.
Everyone’s looking at a few obvious ones. Will the Devils trade for a top-six winger? A third-line center? Can Jack Hughes stay healthy?
These are all questions that certainly can make or break their chances at becoming contenders. However, the questions don’t stop there.
Let’s dive into a few others that are certainly burning, but perhaps not in the spotlight.
Who will emerge as the X-Factor?
The Devils are going to need someone to breakout in the upcoming season to help push them from playoff to championship contender.
For a while, we’ve been waiting for that player to be Dawson Mercer. It could still be him, but now there are others in the mix. Newcomers such as Connor Brown or Evgeni Dadonov could certainly fit the role, depending on their deployment. Brown is a skilled, all-around forward, and Dadonov is a goalscorer. In the right scenario, perhaps they surpass expectations. Ideally, they’re the depth scoring they were reeled in to be, but it would be a welcomed development.
Yet, we can’t talk about X-Factors without mentioning Arseni Gritsyuk. Expectations should be tempered with the 24-year-old Russian forward. Simply put, the KHL-to-NHL translation is rarely lateral or linear. However, could the smaller ice benefit the 6-foot, 194-lb forward?
And how about Paul Cotter? With the skill we saw him display, can he find a new level to chip in more on offense?
Will Luke Hughes miss time in training camp?
Ticktock, ticktock.
It’s been nearly seven weeks since Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald proclaimed Luke Hughes his No.1 priority, and radio silence since.
It’s fair to wonder if the youngest Hughes brother could miss the start of training camp. It’s not like that sort of thing hasn’t happened before. In fact, it happened last season with Mercer, albeit, he showed up one day after on-ice activities began.
Regardless, even Fitzgerald admitted perhaps Mercer was a bit behind the eight-ball as a result of not being up to speed with the rest of the team, even though he only missed a fraction of time.
That’s certainly not how anyone wants Hughes to start the season. Especially one where the expectations for him continue to grow. Plus, Hughes is on track to be a star, if he isn’t already. His absence would be a much bigger distraction, and that’s not something the Devils—who are looking to take a step forward—can afford.
Will a defenseman take total control of No.1 duties?
The thing about the Devils’ blueline is that it’s good, not great. There’s a surplus of quality defensemen, but at this point, can they claim to have a true No.1?
It was Dougie Hamilton earlier in his Devils tenure. Yet, he’s slowed in the last few seasons and hasn’t been as much of a threat. Couldn’t regain his form? Or perhaps Luke Hughes usurps the role.
Heck, can Simon Nemec breakout and shock us all? That confidence he gained at the end of last season, and a healthy summer of training, could do wonders for the Slovakian blueliner.
There’s no doubt the blueline is stronger than it’s been in a long time. However, they lack that star presence right now, but have candidates that can emerge internally.
Will Jacob Markstrom extend?
The Devils’ No.1 goaltender is heading into 2025-26 with one year left on his contract. The Swedish netminder is on the wrong side of 30. However, he proved last season he has the elite arsenal to continue to provide upper echelon goaltending.
It seems like it would be the obvious thing to do. The Devils just extended fellow 35-year-old Jake Allen to a five-year contract, and the tandem worked together quite well last season. And with talent like Mikhail Yegorov and Jakub Malek in the pipeline, letting them marinate at the lower levels makes sense.
Markstrom already admitted that if Fitzgerald’s calling, he’s answering.
Ball’s in your court, Tom.
Can Sheldon Keefe finally eclipse the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs?
This is a narrative that will not go away until he does something about it himself.
At all levels of hockey, Sheldon Keefe is a championship coach. Except in the NHL.
Keefe has made it past the first round of the playoffs just once in his career, and bowed out in the second round the one year he made it through with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
There’s certainly no question that Keefe knows how to coach a winning roster. However, there’s question about his approach, that even had folks at the national level wondering if his style was a culture shock to the Devils locker room, and not everyone took all that well to it.
We’ll see what year two brings, but if the Devils want to take another step forward, it starts with Keefe.
Can Timo Meier put it all together consistently?
Timo Meier is a stud. There’s a reason the Devils paid as much as they did to get him. However, despite the stints of brilliance he’s shown, he also tends to go missing, pointing to a lack of consistency.
That’s what Meier’s sole focus should be in 2025-26. He’s healthy and rested. The excuses are running out on why he’s not the consistent, dominant force he once was in San Jose.
A 40-goal campaign from the Swiss power forward shouldn’t surprise anyone.
It’s just a matter of putting his game together consistently, perhaps finally gelling with Jack Hughes, and finding his way to the first unit power play.
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