Devils Reflect on Disappointing Season | FEATURE

The New Jersey Devils gathered as a group for one final time on Wednesday for exit interviews and locker room clean out. It’s the last time this group of players will be together as an off-season of change lays ahead.

They looked back on a season of highs and lows, but ultimately one with a disappointing and premature ending. It was a season that started with an eight-game winning streak and early success but things slipped in the middle and the team fell into a deep hole. The year finished with the Devils making a decent run but not enough to climb into a playoff spot.

“Very disappointing. Not the year that we hoped, or we wanted,” captain Nico Hischier said. “Unfortunately, it is what it is right now. We have to take the right things out of it and move on.”

“Obviously, not where we want to be,” scoring leader Jack Hughes said. “You want to be a team whose season is still going on. It’s a frustrating year and we’re not where we want to be.”

The Devils finished the 2025-26 campaign with a 42-37-3 record for 87 points. They missed the postseason by a 10-point mark.

“It’s hard to process that this is the last day. It’s been hard,” said forward Jesper Bratt. “This year stings the most out of every year where I’ve been in this situation because of the anticipation from before the year, expectations and the group that we have, I feel like we shouldn’t be in this position but at the same time we played ourselves into this position. It’s a hard league and you get what you deserve in a way. It’s frustrating. It’s not a fun day right now.”

The Devils strung together an eight-game winning streak to open the year 8-1-0. By mid-November the club had a 13-4-1 record and held onto first place in the Metro Division. That’s when things started to slip.

Injuries and inconsistent play during the middle portion of the year saw the Devils go 14-23-1 and fall out of the playoffs. After the club returned from the Olympic break, the team – with the aid of some healthy bodies – went on a 14-10-1 surge to end the year.

The combined 27-14-2 mark of the beginning and end wasn’t enough to overcome the middle mark that hampered the season.

“Sometimes it’s smaller than people think why you’re losing games, sometimes it’s not,” Hischier said. “We started very well. We lost our game. We just didn’t find it back quick enough. After that, when you’re running from behind it’s always tougher. At the end of the year, we were proving ourselves or showed what team we could be. That’s what we have to hold on (to) and try to be that over an 82-game season and not just at the beginning and at the end.”

“At the end of the day, when you really look at it, it's not a drastic difference that gets us in the playoffs and out of the playoffs,” veteran goalie Jake Allen said. “It's easy to look back and say you could've had a four- or five-game difference in the season or points or overtimes, and then you're right there in the playoffs. So, it's not huge margins, but it's a big perspective, and I think it's important that we all reflect on that in our own ways.”

There will be much reflection on what happened from mid-November to the Olympic break and why the team played so poorly. Certainly, injuries to key players like Jack Hughes, Brett Pesce, Simon Nemec and Luke Hughes didn’t help the cause. But injuries are part of the game and something successful teams are able to overcome.

“Some of it is the personnel and building a more resilient team and a deeper team, is important, but the growth inside the locker room for the players that remain is equally important,” head coach Sheldon Keefe said. “I have a very significant role to play in that. As we get through this, that’s the top priority for me.”

“We need some swagger. Just because we lose a couple players it shouldn’t affect our whole game and our emotion,” center Cody Glass said. “We’re all good. We’ve all, in our career, put up points at one point in time. It shouldn’t affect us as a whole. The system is in place. We just need to follow it.”

The biggest factor in the team’s final results this season was perhaps the inconsistent play from the group night in and night out.

“The consistency wasn’t there over 82 games to be able to compete in the playoffs,” forward Timo Meier said. “It’s a tight race. Teams are really close until the end. We slipped and didn’t have the consistency. We had parts of the season where we played really well, and we had parts we didn’t.”

“To have the rollercoaster ride that we were on this year, it's not healthy for the group,” veteran blueliner Brenden Dillon said. “It's not a recipe for success, clearly, as we saw. And I think when you talk to players that are on top teams, whether they win one or lose one, they stay even keel. They bring that same structure, that same game on the road, at home, and I think that's what we've got to find.”

Another thing the Devils have to find is a Plan B when things aren’t going their way or when they don’t have a complete, healthy lineup.

“It's just for us to find a way that when we don't have our A game, how do we win with our B game and not fall down in a C and D kind of category,” Bratt said. “It's got to be a consistent base where we know that we put up a foundation of defensive play that we know that our skill offensively is going to lead us to the win, but that a defensive game is going to be our mindset to win. I think that we were just a little bit too up and down, and obviously injuries and other stuff were part of that, and you can't really control injuries, unfortunately, but you can control how you promote or how you play every game in terms of the details.”

As far as finding that B game, the captain believes that should be a basement level of expectation.

“B level should be the bare minimum,” Hischier said. “It's not like getting to (B level). I think that's the bare minimum, and that's got to be a consistent enough game that keeps us in games or gives ourselves a chance to win hockey games. And then if we have that as the standard, whenever we play better, we have more chances to win. But the B level is already a high standard.”

Perhaps the biggest cause for disappointed – and optimism – is the talent inside the locker room. The Devils have a strong core of players in Hughes, Hischier, Bratt, Meier, Luke Hughes, Nemec, Pesce, Dawson Mercer, Arseny Gritsyuk and more. They have skill and top-end talent that should make them a competitive group every season.

“We know that we have something good going on. Even if this was a down year and we’re all disappointed, I don’t think we’re far away at from doing something really good,” Bratt said. “It’s going to take some tweaks and that’s what we’re all committed to find.

“I have a lot of belief in this group. I’ve never doubted this group. If we take this the right way I think we’ll be a lot stronger (coming) out of this. … I still think the foundation of the team is still in a good spot.”

“We do believe in the group we have. We believe in the players,” Mercer said. “If you don’t have that at all you’re missing out on a lot of hope. I think that’s a main thing too, the confidence for us.”

That core is one of the biggest reasons free agent forward Connor Brown signed with the club last summer. After two years of playing in back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals with Edmonton, he knows championship potential when he sees it.

“I think we have a lot of good pieces in here,” he said. “I think we have the makings of a situation where we can put together a good team and a competitive team, and not one that just gets in the playoff, but one that can compete for Stanley Cups. I've had, along with some guys in here, we are fortunate to have been to Cup Finals and been on teams that have that capability, and we kind of have a lot of the ingredients.”

But while the Devils have the ingredients, they haven’t been able to find the right recipe yet for consistent success, even with a core that has played the last several years together.

“We’re not getting younger. I’ve been playing with some of these guys for a while now,” Hischier said. “I know these guys well by now. We’re all super competitive. Nobody likes where we’re at here right now and finishing the season short. I also know how competitive they are. We’re all going to be a bit disappointed. We don’t want this to happen again.”

Any disappointing season comes with a summer of change. For the Devils, that change will start at the top. General manager and president of hockey operations Tom Fitzgerald parted ways with the team on April 6. The organization is currently in the process of filling that vacancy and any others that would be required.

“Things like that are not in my hands,” Hischier said. “So, obviously I don't really know who's going to come in or what's going to happen. And all I can hope is that it's somebody that can bring the team forward.”

Hischier has one year remaining on his current contract and will need to negotiate a new deal with whomever is hired.

“Nine years here, I love it here in New Jersey,” he said. “We’ll see who’s coming in and I’m sure we’ll talk with each other and go from there.”

Regardless of whom is hired, changes are expected for the roster – as happens every year. One of the first questions for the new GM will center around his head coach.

“I don’t have an expectation at this point other than I just have to continue to do my job, which I’ve been directed to do,” Keefe said of his future. “Which is to get through the season, have these discussions with the players as you normally would have at the end of the season. Approach it like any other. We’ll see where things go from here. I can tell you that I want to be part of the solution here and I believe I can be.

“I think in my experience and my time here I’ve learned a lot about myself, I’ve learned a lot about this team, more importantly, and the players within it and where it needs to go. I think I can be a great ally and partner for whoever does come in here. I think I have a good sense of the team and where we need to improve upon on the ice as well.”

Whether or not there is a change on the bench remains to be determined, but there is no doubt that changes will happen to the roster – as is the case every season.

“With some new leadership coming in here, it's going to be interesting to see how things shake up and see where we go from there,” Brown said.

“It's kind of out of control for us players in here, it's something that we can't control,” goalie Jacob Markstrom said. “What we can control is how much time we spend in the gym and how much time we spend working out and all that. So, I'm going to try to stay in touch with a lot of guys and just to make sure everybody is excited for what to come.”

What’s to come is an offseason of dedication and commitment to moving the Devils forward.

“I feel like we need a big offseason from everyone and myself, I’ve got to lead the way,” Markstrom said. “We’ve got to come in with a chip on our shoulder, (angry). And it's a humbling moment to stand here right now when there are still games going on. We're done, but games are still going on, so yeah, it's very humbling and disappointing but we need a big offseason.”

“I’m not just someone that sits back and lets things happen. I want to be a part of the solution, try to find ways to get better,” Bratt said. “I think the talks we’ve had going into these last couple days have been good in terms of that. It’s a committed group to be involved to try and find ways and solutions.”

The Devils entered 2025-26 with high hopes and high expectations. The feelings will be similar when 2026-27 rolls around.

“The expectations have been high for us (for) a few years, which is good,” Hischier said. “That's what you want. And obviously, when you're not getting there, it sucks. And we didn't deserve it. Like I said, we didn't play consistent enough the whole year.

“But the expectation will be the same as this year, next year. I think even higher, to be honest, because nobody in here wants to have a year like (this) again. We want to come back in those playoffs, and I think that's always a main goal for a team to have, because what you've seen in the past too, if you just make the playoffs, then anything is possible.”

For many, the expectations are a welcomed situation.

“We’re coming back with the mindset that we’re going to be a good group,” Mercer said. “We have a lot to prove and a lot that we want to achieve. That’s where our head is focused.”

All championship organizations go through growing pains before achieving greatness. The Florida Panthers missed the playoffs in six out of seven seasons from 2012-19. Then they lost in the first round (2020), lost in the first round (2021), lost in the second round (2022) and lost in the Cup Final (2023) before winning back-to-back titles. And they’ll miss the playoffs this season.

Vegas missed the playoffs in 2022, then won the Cup in 2023. Colorado lost in the second round three seasons in a row (2019-21) before hoisting the Cup in 2022. Since that title, they’ve lost in the first round (2023), lost in the second round (2024) and lost in the first round (2025). Tampa Bay, St. Louis, Washington, Pittsburgh all went through similar ups and downs before ultimately winning championships.

That isn’t to say the Devils will win a Stanley Cup. That fate will ultimately be up to the players to determine. But it is to say that the road to a championship isn’t a straight line. The Devils have assembled a lot of the right pieces. It’s now about finding a way to put the puzzle together.

“We need to build something sustainable here,” Allen said. “Listen, we all know we have good players on this team. We really do, but I think the ultimate goal when you're on a good team and a good organization, which we have here, is really about building something that's sustainable year in, year out, and knowing that you're going to get to the playoffs and eventually, hopefully, one of those times, you're going to kick that can over and you're going to win the Stanley Cup.

“But it really starts with building something really sustainable and changing that narrative a little bit. Consistency is king. I've always preached it. It matters within our game. Consistency gets you in the playoffs, and consistency builds a really strong competitive organization for a long time. So, I think that's one thing we really need to pride ourselves on here moving forward and obviously reflection is step one and then get back to it in September.”

As Hughes put it: “This not the expectation or the standard we want to set. We need to raise the bar way higher and start to take strides as an organization. It starts with the guys training in the summer and showing up to camp (next year) excited and ready to have a fun year.”