The New Jersey Devils were one of the National Hockey League’s big disappointments in 2023-24, following up one of the best regular-seasons in franchise history by going 38-39-5 and missing the playoffs altogether. But after a couple of offseason tweaks, along with some better health, this version of the Devils is again looking like a contender.
Through 21 games in 2024-25, New Jersey is 12-7-2 and third place in the Metropolitan Division. They’ve also become a fixture in the top-10 of ClutchPoints’ weekly NHL Power Rankings. Although the team has played more games than every other squad except the San Jose Sharks and Pittsburgh Penguins, it’s still been an encouraging start. The Devils began the campaign with back-to-back victories over the Buffalo Sabres in the NHL Global Series Czechia, and have not looked back.
Devils have bounced back well after a tough 2023-24 campaign
One of the catalysts of last year’s discouraging season was the play between the pipes. That looks to have been rectified, as both Jacob Markstrom and Jake Allen have settled in well to their respective roles. Both have been-up-and-down at times, but mostly solid for a Devils team that badly needed an improvement at the position.
Along with stable goaltending, the usual suspects have been showing up in a big way. Jesper Bratt leads the squad with eight goals and 24 points in 21 games, while Jack Hughes has managed 22 points in the same span; captain Nico Hischier, 20. The offense is going to live and die by those three star players, but there has been one big surprise contributing a ton offensively: summer signing Stefan Noesen.
Stefan Noesen has been a home run signing for Devils
A former first-round pick by the Ottawa Senators in the 2011 NHL Draft, Noesen spent some time with the Devils between 2016-19, at his best recording 13 goals and 27 points in 72 games with New Jersey in 2017-18. He most recently spent three campaigns with the Carolina Hurricanes, managing career-bests across the board last season.
With the Canes in 2023-24, the 31-year-old chipped in 14 goals and 37 points, adding another four tallies in 11 Stanley Cup Playoff contests as Carolina was eliminated in Round 2 by the New York Rangers. Over the summer, he reunited with the Devils, signing a three-year, 8.25 million contract to return to his former club on July 1.
And what a bargain the Plano, Texas native has looked like so far. Noesen began the season on the third line with Erik Haula and Paul Cotter, but his excellent play has earned him a massive bump up the lineup. He’s now not only playing on the top line along with Hischier and Timo Meier, he’s also a fixture on the top powerplay unit along with Hischier, Hughes, Bratt and Dougie Hamilton.
Through 21 games, Noesen is fourth on the team in scoring, amassing nine goals and 16 points in that span. The former American Hockey League superstar is well on his way to shattering career-highs across the board, and has emerged into a phenomenal two-way player for the Devils. His $2.75 million AAV is looking like a steal, and he is without a doubt the team’s biggest surprise so far.
Offensive depth was a place where the Devils were lacking last season, and that’s just not the case in 2024-25. Besides Noesen’s breakout season, Haula has managed nine points, while Cotter is up to seven goals and 12 points of his own. The Devils are scoring 3.43 goals per game, good enough for eight place league wide. It’s one of the catalysts of their great start in 2024-25.
But despite some surprisingly strong production from a couple veterans, there are a few other seasoned forwards who are struggling mightily. Tomas Tatar is one of those players, with just five points in 21 games. But more concerningly is the declining play of two-time Stanley Cup champion Ondrej Palat.
Ondrej Palat is a massive disappointment so far
Without a doubt, Palat has been New Jersey’s biggest disappointment this season. The Czechoslovakian-born forward started to see the decline creeping in when he managed just 31 points over 71 games in a lost season in 2023-24. He had chipped in 23 points in 49 games the year before that.
But in 2024-25, the 33-year-old is having an impossible time contributing anything offensively. Palat has three goals and five points in 20 games, which is just over a 20 point pace over a full 82-game campaign. If this production holds, it would be the worst offensive season of his career. Palat broke into the NHL fulltime with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2013-14, and scored 59 points in his first full campaign.
Palat was a difference-maker for the Bolts in his prime, and a key piece of back-to-back championship teams in 2020 and 2021, respectively. But his decline has been swift. It’s even more concerning considering Palat is playing with probably the two best offensive players on the team in Hughes and Bratt at 5-on-5.
That is probably going to change soon if he can’t get going, and it’s already cost him a spot on the powerplay. The second group currently consists of Meier, Haula, Tatar, Dawson Mercer and defenseman Luke Hughes, and Palat hasn’t made a good case to usurp any of the four forwards on the unit.
The Devils need Palat to produce at even-strength, and if he can’t do it with Bratt and Hughes, there aren’t too many other ways the team can get him going. Palat’s play isn’t bringing down the team, which is 7-3 in its last 10. But this is a skater well past his prime, and there are some players in the bottom six who are contributing much more than the left winger.
Despite the disappointing play of a couple of veterans, it’s been a fantastic bounce-back in Newark. The offense is humming for the most part, the blue line is back to full health and thriving under Hamilton’s leadership, and the play between the pipes has been much-improved compared to last year.
Whether or not this is a true Stanley Cup contender probably won’t come into focus for a couple of months. But through nearly seven weeks in 2024-25, it’s becoming clear that back-to-back missed postseasons will not become a reality for this club.
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