The New Jersey Devils emerged as a contender last season and made the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs after beating the New York Rangers in seven games in the first round, and Devils captain Nico Hischier described what the team will be challenged with in the 2023-2024 season.

“Teams are going to be ready for us,” Nico Hischier said, according to Kayla Douglas of theScore. “It will be a challenge for sure, but a challenge we take with open arms.”

The Devils will take no one by surprise this season, and they are expected to be a strong team again this year, and maybe even take the next step to win the Metropolitan division. As of right now, the Devils are a pretty popular pick to represent the Eastern Conference in the Stanley Cup Final.

Hischier went on to say that it is a clean slate this season, and the Devils have to earn everything again.

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“The season we had lst year doesn't change anything this year,” Hischier said, according to Douglas. “It's a new season coming up. (We have to) look at the now and not what happened. … It gives us confidence as a group we took the steps we wanted to take. But we definitely understand that expectations are going to be higher. But that's what we want if we want to end up on top.”

The Devils and general manager Tom Fitzgerald did a good job locking in talent for the long term with extensions for Timo Meier and Jesper Bratt. The addition of Tyler Toffoli should be impactful as well.

It will be interesting to see if the Devils, with Jesper Bratt locked in and full seasons from Timo Meier and Jesper Bratt, can take the next step.

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