The New Jersey Devils completed their seventh game of the 2025-26 season last night, picking up a 4-1 win over Minnesota to improve themselves to 6-1-0 on the young season. They currently sit atop the Metropolitan Division and find themselves on the team’s first six game win streak in a long while. The odds of them winning the next 75 in a row are low, but right now there’s a lot going right for this Devils team. Today, we look at what’s been good through the first seven games, what could be better, and then finish it up with an optimistic outlook based on how the team has done so far.
The Good
The Big Names are Delivering
Jesper Bratt is leading the way with 11 points after adding an empty net goal last night. Jack Hughes has nine points, Timo Meier has seven, and Nico Hischier has six. Perhaps most surprising is that Dawson Mercer (who may or may not be a big name depending upon your definition) is well ahead of last season’s pace as he also has seven points right now as well. Maybe they all do not keep up their current pace, but seeing the leaders lead right out of the gate has been the start that the Devils have needed.
Meier and Mercer are especially encouraging. Timo has always been a streaky player, so to see him start a season healthy and have a strong streak right out of the gate is a good sign for a Devils team that needs its premier players to be putting pucks in the net. Ditto for Mercer who has drawn the ire of lot of fans for not really showing any growth after his sophomore season. If he stays relatively consistent with his pace going forward, we could be looking at 50-60 point Mercer again, rather than 30-35 point Mercer that we’ve seen for the past couple of seasons.
As per the big three, Hischier might have the fewest points so far of any player mentioned, but he’s still playing strong, creating a lot of chances and denying opposing players. Basically, Nico is being Nico, and if he were to score at his current pace across 82 games, he’d still finish with 70 points. Bratt and Jack meanwhile are on pace for 129 and 105 points respectively. Likely? Probably not, but let’s hope both stay hot and we get to see the first and maybe second 100 point season(s) in Devils history.
Jake Allen is Playing Exceptionally Well
Allen has been somewhat forced into playing more games than maybe we would have expected him to at this point due to something I will talk about when I get to the bad, yet Jake has risen to the occasion. While he finally got a chance to rest last night, through his four appearances he’s sixth in the NHL with a .931 save percentage and seventh in the league with a 1.91 goals against average. He has also to this point saved 2.92 goals above average while also sporting a 4.33 goals saved above expected. Now, it is only four games after all, but Allen has played very well in front of the team, and he’s been giving them key/timely saves when needed.
Obviously, Allen is playing well above his career averages here, and one bad game at this point could send his stats plummeting, but having someone stabilizing the back end is always a plus. While the Devils defending has been pretty good overall, having a goalie not let in softies and bail out the team when they do make mistakes has largely contributed to their record so far. No matter who is in net on any given night, the whole team needs to play well, but again having someone to make the big saves when needed like Jake is doing now is a huge confidence boost.
The Penalty Kill
Special teams early in the season can sometimes be misleading due to small sample sizes. For the Devils penalty kill, I would argue that being shorthanded 25 times across the first seven contests might be a decent enough sample. While it does mean the team needs to cut down on the amount of penalties they’re taking, the PK has been more than up to the task. Last night’s broadcast made mention that the team has killed 21 straight penalties, all across their last six contests, and have killed 24 of 25 overall. Yet somehow right now, a 96% kill rate is only good enough for third in the NHL! I’m aware Winnipeg and Buffalo are only .3% and .2% above them, but the absurdity of it still stands. Regardless of that, if the kill continues to remain a strength of the team, it should continue to lead to wins more often than not.
The Bad
Jacob Markstrom: Hurt and Ineffective
Markstrom currently finds himself on the injured list after a strange game which saw Allen depart after the second with cramps and Markstrom get bumped in the final minute resulting in him now missing time. What’s more concerning than being down one of the team’s main goaltending options for a couple of weeks is Marky’s play prior. Through seven periods of hockey, he’s only sporting a .845 save percentage, well below his career average. His goals against average is also almost at a 4 and he’s had a few bad goals go past him. Two and a third games isn’t a whole lot to go off if, but with the team’s tandem closer to the ends of their careers than the starts, it’s worrying to see Markstrom post such awful stats. If he doesn’t turn it around upon his return, the Devils might want to start looking into internal options to replace him rather than extending him.
Top Six Ondrej Palat
Man, one injury and Sheldon Keefe just couldn’t help himself. After losing Evgenii Dadonov in game one, the team wasted little time putting Ondrej Palat back on the line with Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt. While the broadcasters have been complementary of Palat’s play, I just don’t see it. I don’t think he’s doing any of the little things on the ice that they say he is any better than any other player like a Paul Cotter could do. Additionally, while Jack and Bratt have combined for 20 points, Palat has just one point, and it was a secondary assist as part of the second power play unit. He has contributed practically nothing while on the ice with his even strength line mates. Right not, this combination isn’t hurting the team (as evidenced by the six straight wins) but it’s more because Jack and Bratt are playing so well in spite of Palat.
Final Thoughts and Your Take
Honestly, with a 6-1-0 record, there’s not a whole lot of negative to be upset about. The first issue is something to be dealt with down the road once Markstrom returns, and the second might resolve itself once Dadonov is healthy. As long as the good from that section continues, and the Devils keep winning more often than not, then the small issues won’t compound and should wind up being of little to no consequence.
What are your thoughts on the good and bad happening with the Devils right now; do you agree with my highlights and lowlights? Is there something I missed that you think deserves to be spotlighted? Anything you have worries about as the young season continues? Leave any and all comments below and thanks as always for reading!