Pucker Nation!
I've been writing for allaboutthejersey.com and just started a new super big time day job where I use Microsoft Teams all day and that's about it so I have been limited in my ability to contribute to pucker site like I did last season. But, fear not my faithful readers, I will be trying to add a weekly/periodic check in on how our boys are doing.
It's far easier and more fun to write about these guys as we are 4-1 and have the makings for a good season. We've slayed some early psychological dragons, vibes are high, we just bent the 2x defending champs and defending runner-ups over our knee and gave them a good spanking. Yeahhhh, you like that you little bitch? Fuck you, McDavid. Suck it, Leon. Bums.
I am optimistic, but let's remember we were a bit of a wagon to start last season and the PTSD is real. The hope is Keefe's summer project (to find out what happened after January) will pay dividends and we finally get health to fall our way. We have seen some early returns on this as our finishing was dogshit last season, scoring only 2.5 goals per game from 1/1 on while finishing a whopping 23 goals below expected. For some disgusting context, those marks were 31st and 29th in the league. Not Great, Bob. As of 5 games in we are already nearly a goal per game above expected (4.7) and right now we are 8th in overall team scoring (3.8 GF/GP) and 5th in GF/60 at 5v5. As we get deeper into the season it seems like the Carolina game was really the outlier for our boys, and Connor Brown said it best - they tried to win everything all at once that game. Now that we've settled in and only 5 games into the season, we've already done something we couldn't in 1006 days, win 4 in a row. We still will have that Carolina bugaboo hanging over our head but that is an issue for another time - for now we gotta keep building on this streak.
What went wrong last season? If you want to deep dive into the overarching issues, I wrote about our scoring problems here: (https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/devils-issues-views-and-ge/60367/how-do-the-devils-get-more-scoring-in-2025-26). Long story short, our 5v5 scoring was bad, m'kay, we were 20th in overall scoring and 26th in even strength scoring. Not good enough, and while our depth was tough to watch and the primary culprit, we also could've used more from our stars. I promise the linked blog above is a good read, I did a shitload of research and parsing out numbers. I also found the guys we should be targeting based on 24-25 numbers. As the season goes on that need may change, but Alex Tuch continues to be at the top of my list. Eeli Tolvanen also intrigues me, but would need to see how his year progresses and could be a guy we can get in a package if Fitz revisits a McCann deal because Seattle sucks donkey dick.
For now though, we are right up against the cap so this team is what it is. So, how about these new guys? Early returns are pretty good on Brown and Glendening but I'm still not entirely sure Dadonov is a real person. Gritsyuk has integrated pretty seamlessly as well from the KHL and I tihnk it's a matter of time before he plays his way into the top 6. In my humble yet almost always correct opinion, speed was the primary reason our depth was so bad last season. Lazar and Haula were nursing injuries, Bastian would lose a foot race to a slug and Tatar is washed. Dowling tried real hard. The new guys have added a more dynamic skating ability to our depth, and our transitions look faster, the lineup has been lengthened and we can be more dangerous up and down the lineup. This was evidenced yesterday as Keefe indicated he hard matched Nico against McDavid and ALSO had the ability to hard match Glass against Leon which gave Jack and Bratt a window to run train on those little bitch oilmen. We would not have been able to do that last season. If you want to read more about speed, look here: (https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/2025-devils-offseason/49879/addition-by-subtraction-need-for-speed)
If you take that Carolina game out we look pretty good and I think, while a small sample size, is a better representation of our team. And since I can write whatever I want, here they are with Carolina removed at 5v5:
Shot Attempts For/Against: 187-166 (rank 9th @ 53%)
Shots: 88-74 (9th @ 55%)
Scoring Chances: 81-69 (9th @ 54%)
Shots from Scoring Chances: 48-31 (3rd @ 61%)
High Danger Scoring Chances: 41-28 (5th @ 60%)
Goals: 8-7 (13th @ 53%)
xGF: 8.1 - 7.5 (8th @ 52%)
So based on all the fancies, we are well within the top 10 for chance generation and driving play. I expect this to get better as nearly 1/3 of that 7.5 xGA number came in the first 5 min against FLA (1.0), and the 1st period against CLB (1.2). If I were to complain about anything, it is getting off to better starts. Further, the 8-7 GF/GA ratio is also high because of some questionable Markstrom goals and Uncle Curtis scoring with a second left yesterday. Throw in some highway robbery by Tarasov and yadda yadda here we are.
Speaking of Markstrom, he has been ... shaky.. to start the season and got his knee folded back against Columbus, so we have Jake driving the bus as of now with Daws. I'm not going to get too much into detail here because it's so early, but I have felt far more comfortable with Allen in goal vs. Markstrom. I think Keefe's systems are better suited to Allen's game than Markstroms, whereas Ruff's system was better suited to Markstrom. Keefe's systems call for less high danger and a bend but don't break philosophy, and Markstrom's flaw is low danger shots from distance but is exceptional at holy shit saves on high danger chances (eg Ruff's system). I really hope Fitz is giving a long hard thought about a Markstrom extension and the term. As of this writing through 3 games each, Allen has saved about a half a goal more per game vs expected while Marky has given up about a half a goal per game more vs expected.
I'd be remiss if I didn't first bring up the absolute horses that have been there from Day 1 in Nico-Timo-Mercer. Including only forward lines that have more than 40 minutes together (meaning consistent lines) so far, they are second in xGF%, hold a 4-1 goals advantage and are generally dominating their minutes. Nico has picked up where he left off, but the real revelations have been early season Timo and Dawson. Timo has looked the part of an 8.8MM power forward, while Mercer has shown that a consistent top six complementary role was where he should've been this whole time. Who knew (we did).
Glass-Grits-Brown have been building into an excellent 3rd line. One of the more glaring question marks was if Glass can elevate and be a consistent 3C, and the one that we needed. His defensive acumen has been on display so far, and was particularly impressive matching up against Leon Draisatl, burying one of the best players in the league in 7:10 of 5v5 action. With strong play driving wings in Brown and Grits, we finally have that lengthened lineup we have absolutely needed. Grits has mostly shown why he was one of our most touted prospects - and being able to develop quick easy chemistry with both Cotter and Brown is the mark of an elite player. His playmaking was vastly underreported, and his assists to Brown and Mercer were both high end. More on Brown later, but I fucking love this gorgeous ginger, he is suchhhhh a solid north-south responsible veteran leader. It's almost as if your friends at The Uncle Puckers touted him as a really good signing, weird, maybe we know things sometimes.
Jack-Bratt-Palat started a little slowly, and frankly Jack had some pretty bad moments, particularly with puck management. Well that changed and he but has gone nuclear the past two games. Bratt has been his usual elite playmaking self, and Palat has been generally fine, even though he continues to flub chances that end up on his stick. But the last 2 games - holllleee shit man. Jack joined the season in his most Jack way with his trademark rockstar zone shot, and Saturday just a casual 3 point night with 2 highlight reel goals. Bratt has had two important goals (one against Carolina to tie it and the 3-1 goal against Tampa) even though the Carolina goal wound up being squandered.
I wrote a lot about the power play this summer (https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/devils-issues-views-and-ge/60658/lets-talk-power-play-stuff) and (https://www.allaboutthejersey.com/2025-26-devils-season-preview/61326/new-jersey-devils-2025-26-season-preview-part-4-special-teams). It started off somewhat slow sitting at a 25% conversion rate which, for our group, is somewhat pedestrian but is still 8th in the league. After starting 0/6 vs Carolina and TB, they are clicking at a 40% rate, so I'm not worried at all about this unit.
When I was writing about the PP this summer I wrote a semi-impassioned defense of Dougie as the PP1 QB. Further, the Noesen injury news surprised all of us (and Fitz seemed a little annoyed about it). The latter presented a question of what they would do personnel wise with the first unit, and the former presented a question of what do you do with 2 dynamic offensive D men making $9MM each that both have a claim to be the #1 PP QB. Well, it seems Colliton and Keefe are smart hockey coaches for a reason, and are making personnel decisions based on the particular philosophy of the PK we are facing. This is an absurdly smart solution to both problems, and frankly how many other teams have the personnel to actually rotate guys like this? With Dougie/Mercer we seem to be structured a little more like last season, and with Luke/Timo it is nightmare motion-based controlled chaos that is impossible to defend. Further, this is a bitch to gameplan for as a PK unit and makes them spread themselves thinner having to prepare for 2 different looks. I watched the Panthers PKers during one of these, and they were just flat out lost. Hilarious, good fuck those guys.
Lastly, I wanted to touch on the PK which has been outstanding so far this season. They are so good, we are currently +1 and are actually net converting at 105%. LOL. Connor Brown may be one of my favorite new Devils, and has electric red hair and a preposterous canadian accent/voice combo. Glendening has also delivered on the defensive and faceoff acumen as promised, and should out his effort on Brown's shorty against Edmonton. He and Glendening seem to be the 1st pair over the boards followed by Nico and Mercer. Jack and Bratt are getting more significant PK time and are firmly in that 3rd pair rotation. We look a little more aggressive which I love. Let's see how this season plays out, but so far no notes.
I realize I didn't touch much on the D-corps, but they have been so solid I didn't think it was totally necessary. I like the pairings, I like how Nemo has looked and Luke has been earning that 9MM paycheck so far. Dougie ahs shgown a real commitment to defensive play and has the biggest two hits of the season. Not much to complain about.
That's about it, is it wagon season? I dunno, what do you think Valiquette, you smug bitch.
LGD
