The Devils have vastly improved their fringe NHL depth

Sunny Mehta and Braden Birch have equipped the organization to better overcome injuries.

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By JP Gambatese (@JP_Gambatese)

Among many other factors, one thing that killed the New Jersey Devils in 2025-26 was a lack of depth options to call upon when someone went down with injury.

As skilled a team as they are, they aren’t the healthiest, historically speaking, and a good GM prepares for that.

Last season, much of the fringe-NHL depth was limited to players who have never suited up or had limited experience in the league.

Shane Lachance, Xavier Parent, and Topias Vilén all made their NHL debuts. None of Nathan Légaré, Marc McLaughlin, Angus Crookshank, or Brian Halonen had more than 25 games of NHL experience prior to last year.

All of them predictably struggled at the NHL level.

Introducing players who have never played in the league or barely suited up is perfectly fine, but typically call-ups are producing well at the AHL level by the time they make the jump.

We saw with Lenni Hämeenaho that he was more than capable of hanging, granted he tapered off a bit come season’s end and is a highly-touted prospect within the Devils’ pipeline.

Still, adding more AHL depth that has played substantial time in the NHL or produces well enough to be worth the call-up more than the previous names on this list was a clear priority for Sunny Mehta and Braden Birch, and they have delivered so far.

On the back-end, they added Vladislav Kolyachonok, a 25-year-old lefty with 87 games of NHL experience under his belt.

The former second-round pick has not only played somewhat meaningful time in the big leagues, but has proven to be a strong seventh defenseman from an underlying perspective.

Between him, Seamus Casey, and now-stateside Anton Silayev, there are a few options to pull from if and when a defenseman goes down with injury, though I think the Devils would rather keep Silayev rolling in the AHL until he proves to be too good for the league.

As great as the defensive depth is, up front is where the Devils have acquired the most help in terms of injury call-up help that will be serviceable in the NHL..

In addition to keeping McLaughlin, Parent, and Lachance in the system – three players who were injury call-up options last campaign – the Devils went out and signed Colin White and Riley Tufte, two players who have played in the show before.

White, a first-round selection from the stacked 2015 draft, has 323 games of NHL experience to his name.

He most recently played just a handful of games with the San Jose Sharks in 2024-25, but was a mainstay fourth-line option for the Panthers’ first run to the Cup in 2022-23 and has a 17-goal, 41-point NHL season in his repertoire.

While he has been relegated to the AHL in the last two seasons, he very well may be the best injury replacement option the Devils have.

Tufte, 28, has played only 28 NHL games but outproduced anyone on the Comets’ roster at the AHL level in recent seasons and is more defensively responsible than the 2025-26 call-ups.

His 6’6’ frame and nose for the net would serve him well in a fourth-line capacity if he was needed there.

That doesn’t even take into account Amadeus Lombardi, who is likelier to start the season in the NHL than AHL.

In the unlikely event that he does start the year in Utica, he would immediately present as the highest-upside player on the Comets and would be the first to get into the Devils’ lineup.

Even though he has no NHL experience, he has the skillset to thrive in a middle-six capacity.

The Devils went from having very few borderline NHLers on their AHL roster to having them strewn throughout the lineup.

It’s a great problem to have – at some point or another, the Devils will need to call on them.

Putrid fourth-line play cost them a few games in 2025-26, but it now seems as though that is an issue of the past.