Breaking Down the Devils' Roster Needs for 2025 Offseason

The New Jersey Devils need a few upgrades at forward, but it's not the only position group they could target for improvements.

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The NHL offseason is fast approaching. The draft is almost exactly one month away, as is free agency. We know the New Jersey Devils won't be running back the same roster because last season just wasn't good enough, but what exactly do they need to improve this summer?

Most of the Devils' needs are up front, but it's not the only position group general manager Tom Fitzgerald could target for upgrades. Let's take a look.

Devils’ Forwards Need the Most Improvement

Injuries highlighted how shallow the Devils' roster was this past season. Jack Hughes' injury, in particular, underscored how poorly built the forward group was. Here's the lineup the Devils iced in Game 5 of their Round 1 series vs. the Carolina Hurricanes.

• Palát - Hischier - Meier

• Haula - Mercer - Bratt

• Cotter - Glass - Noesen

• Tatar - Dowling - Bastian

That's simply not a group capable of making a deep playoff run, and it wasn't much better when everyone was healthy:

• Meier - Hischier - Noesen

• Palát - Hughes - Bratt

• Haula - Glass - Mercer

• Cotter - Dowling/Lazar - Bastian/Tatar

The most obvious need for the Devils is finding a third-line center. They have to acquire someone who can fill that position, but also move up the lineup in case Hughes misses time with an injury. It's just an unfortunate reality.

It's also obvious the Devils need at least one top-six winger. They cannot have a declining Palát in the top six and expect to have the scoring prowess to be a legit threat come playoff time.

The Devils could use a fourth-line winger, but that shouldn't be too much of an issue. That can be taken care of by either re-signing Daniel Sprong to the veteran minimum or having someone like Brian Halonen fill the void on a cheap contract.

As it stands, here's what the Devils' offseason needs at forward look like:

• X - Hischier - Meier

• X - Hughes - Bratt

• Gritsyuk - X - Noesen

• Cotter - Glass - Sprong/Halonen

I wouldn't rule out Arseniy Gritsyuk working his way into a top-six role. But he is a bit of an unknown, so let's place him on the third line for now.

Because the Devils don't have much cap space to work with, out are Erik Haula, Dawson Mercer, and Palát to shed salary. Palát and Haula would be cap dumps or buyouts (preferably the former), while Mercer is used to bring back NHL talent in a trade.

Finding a third-line center is the Devils' most important need, but they could use more scoring help on the wing. It could be a more modest addition like Kyle Palmieri or Ryan Donato in free agency, plus whoever they can find in a trade (perhaps Jared McCann).

Improving the forward group should be the top priority for Fitzgerald and his front office, but it's not the only area they could focus on.

Devils Could Use More Offense on Defense

CJ Turtoro wrote an interesting piece for Infernal Access over the weekend. To sum it up, the Devils' blue line is not Cup-caliber, and he's right. When healthy, here's how they line up.

• Siegenthaler - Hamilton

• Hughes - Pesce

• Dillon - Kovacevic

Luke Hughes could make a significant jump at any time, but there still might not be enough offensive ability on the back end. It may be enticing to trade Dougie Hamilton and his $9 million cap hit, but he's still too valuable offensively to part ways with, in my opinion.

One note is that Johnathan Kovacevic could begin next season on LTIR after having offseason knee surgery. That would open the door for Šimon Nemec or Seamus Casey to start 2025-26 in that RD3 role.

That would give the Devils more offensive ability on the back end, but it'd likely only be temporary. The Devils just gave Kovacevic a $20 million extension, so he will play once he returns to the lineup. Where does that leave Nemec or Casey? Time will tell, but one of them would give the Devils the necessary offensive upside their blue line needs.

Otherwise, it's tough to see where the Devils could upgrade their defense core, even though they need to. Their best option is probably to hope Nemec or Casey force their way onto the roster while they wait for a potential pursuit of Quinn Hughes in a year or two.

Could the Devils Replace Allen?

Last but not least, there's goaltending. I'm sure the Devils would love to bring back Jake Allen, but I'm not sure there'll be enough money to go around.

The UFA goalie class is the weakest of the position groups this offseason, and Allen can probably get much more on the open market than the Devils can afford to give him.

That could make Nico Daws a good bet to start 2025-26 as Jacob Markström's backup, but should the Devils head down that path? They may have to since Daws will only have an $825,000 cap hit next season, but there's risk.

Daws finished the AHL season with a save percentage of .893. Granted, the Utica Comets weren't particularly good, but that would give me pause about making him the full-time backup to Markström.

The problem is that there are not many, if any, enticing UFA goalies this summer. Perhaps Anton Forsberg or Dan Vladar (he was Markström's backup in Calgary for a bit) could interest the Devils, but even they aren't safe bets to be upgrades over Daws.

It'll be interesting to see what the Devils do in net if they don't re-sign Allen, but a backup goalie could be on their to-do list if they don't feel comfortable with a Daws and Markström tandem.

More Top-9 Forwards Should Be the Goal

Upgrading at forward should be the top priority for the Devils this offseason. While it'd be nice to add more offensive ability on defense, they're probably best off hoping Nemec or Casey can be a solution until a potential pursuit of Quinn Hughes in a year or two.

If there's money left for a backup goalie or at least a reliable No. 3, I'd expect the Devils to add some depth there. Address these needs properly, and they should take a step forward from the 91 points they totaled this season.

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