New Jersey Devils 2024-25 Season Preview

The New Jersey Devils disappointed in 2023-24, but the pieces are in place to have quite the rebound year this season.

---

Follow us on Twitter: @AlexC_NJD, @NJD_OnTheRush

---

Now that we've reviewed every New Jersey Devils Metropolitan opponent entering the 2024-25 season, let's turn our attention to Jersey's team. It was a difficult 2023-24 campaign in the Garden State that saw the Devils finish well below expectations.

But after a busy offseason, hopes are high entering 2024-25. Most pundits have the Devils finishing in the top three of the Metro, and, on paper, they should. Can they meet those expectations after failing to do so a season ago?

Goaltending & Injuries Hopefully Won’t Be a Concern

There were a couple of main reasons the Devils disappointed last season. One was injuries, but another was goaltending. General manager Tom Fitzgerald solved one part of the team's tandem last trade deadline by acquiring Jake Allen, but there was more work to do.

That's why Fitzgerald went out and traded for Jacob Markström this offseason. The two sides came close to a deal at last season's trade deadline, but it fell apart, leading to the Devils and Calgary Flames completing a trade in mid-June.

I've spoken at length about Markström's 2023-24 season. He was in the top 10 in goals saved above expected, in the 99th percentile in high-danger save percentage, and all that. If he gives the Devils that kind of goaltending, there shouldn't be many problems.

Allen's numbers in Montreal weren't great, but he also played on one of the worst teams in the NHL while he was there. The Devils are set in net if Allen is a .900 to .905 goaltender with average expected numbers and Markström looks as he did a season ago.

As for injuries, you'd have to hope the Devils are due for some better injury luck. That means Dougie Hamilton playing in well more than 20 games, Jack Hughes more than 62 games, and Timo Meier being close to 100 percent much more than he was last season.

But unfortunately, the Devils are already entering 2024-25 with some injury concerns. Luke Hughes will miss the first few weeks of the season recovering from a dislocated shoulder he suffered training this offseason, and Brett Pesce is week-to-week while working his way back from offseason surgery to repair a broken fibula he suffered at the end of 2023-24.

Those are two projected top-four defensemen out to begin 2024-25, but the good news is that they shouldn't miss too much time. Hughes should return toward the end of the month, and Pesce is skating and participating in morning skates with the team.

The Devils will deal with injuries during the season. It's an unavoidable part of a game that's the fastest it has ever been, but hopefully it doesn't reach the catastrophic levels it did a season ago. Because if they stay relatively healthy, the talent is there to finish in the top three of the Metro and even compete for first place.