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The New Jersey Devils have officially returned to the Stanley Cup Playoffs after having failed to qualify in 2023-24. Among the main reasons why they failed to achieve a postseason berth last season was injuries to players like Dougie Hamilton along with inconsistent goaltending.
The good news for the Devils is that they went out and solved their goaltending issue, acquiring Jacob Markstrom from the Calgary Flames to stabilize the crease; while he didn't get off to the best of starts in his tenure in New Jersey, he eventually began to look more like his old self down the stretch.
However, the bad news is that the Devils once again ran into injury trouble to players like Hamilton and Markstrom; additionally, they lost their most important forward in Jack Hughes for the rest of the season.
Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe, who is as prepared as anyone in the NHL behind the bench, knows what to expect from the Hurricanes considering that they're a divisional opponent, via NHL.com.
“I would categorize them as a team that is easy to prepare for, in the sense that you know exactly what you're getting,” Keefe said. “There are no real surprises. This is a team we haven't played in a while. We were diligent about our notes and the things we wanted to keep on file and keep at the top of our mind from the last time we played them.”
Without Hughes, the Devils are expected to ice the following lineup for the opening game of the series:
Stefan Noesen — Nico Hischier — Jesper Bratt
Erik Haula — Dawson Mercer — Timo Meier
Ondrej Palat — Cody Glass — Tomas Tatar
Paul Cotter — Curtis Lazar — Nathan Bastian
Luke Hughes — Brett Pesce
Brian Dumoulin — Jonathan Kovacevic
Brenden Dillon — Dougie Hamilton
Jacob Markstrom (starter)
As the Devils prepare to enter the playoffs for the first time since 2023, what are their dream and nightmare scenarios that could play out?
New Jersey Devils' dream scenarios for 2025 NHL Playoffs
First and foremost, the dream scenario for the Devils to begin the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs is that the absence of Hughes won't hurt them against the Hurricanes. While that sounds more like a pipe dream than a realistic situation, the Devils will be counting on their depth throughout the lineup to help carry them through.
The Devils are led by top offensive guns like captain Nico Hischier, who scored 35 goals during the regular season, along with Timo Meier, who scored 26 goals.
Additionally, special teams have been a strength for the Devils all season long. Their power-play percentage of 28.2 percent ranked as the third-best in the NHL, while their penalty-killing prowess of 82.7 percent was ranked second overall in the NHL.
If the Devils are able to get inside Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen's head early on, it will be a considerable advantage that they can exploit.
Devils' nightmare scenarios for 2025 NHL Playoffs
Another obvious problem the Devils have is as mentioned, the absence of top forward Jack Hughes.
The Hurricanes have no shortage of offensive forces of their own, but where they really kick things into high gear is when they get the lead and then proceed to give their opposition absolutely no life afterward thanks to their tight-checking defensive structure.
Losing a top offensive piece like Hughes already puts the Devils behind the 8-ball, and it could come back to haunt them in the postseason. The worst-possible case is that players like Hischier and Meier fail to penetrate Carolina's defense and their scoring suddenly dries up.
Devils forward Jesper Bratt already is well aware of what kind of challenges that the Hurricanes present to him and the rest of his teammates, via NHL.com.
“They're really good 1-on-1. All over the ice are 1-on-1 battles when you play a team like that,” he said. “They're hard on you. They're tight on you. You have to make them turn. You have to play with a lot of speed. You have to be confident with the puck and have to win your battles. If you're weak in the battles, you'll be playing in your own zone a lot. I think we all know what kind of test we're up for.”
While it's easy to talk about the kind of test that the Devils have in store for themselves in the coming days, the real test will come when they're on the ice and not in the dressing room simply talking about it.
The Devils and Hurricanes will officially drop the puck on their opening-round series starting on Sunday afternoon at Lenovo Center in Raleigh; the puck is set to drop just after 3:00 PM ET.
