Three differences to expect from this year's New Jersey Devils

Headlined by improved team finishing, let's take a look at three differences you should notice this season.

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The New Jersey Devils open their 2025-26 campaign against the Carolina Hurricanes in just over three weeks.

Here are three differences you should expect to see from the Devils this coming season:

Improved finishing

The Devils were not good at converting their chances into goals a year ago – at least during 5v5 play.

They scored 149 times despite generating more than 169 expected goals. The biggest culprit was their inability to finish as they ranked 22nd in total shooting percentage and 25th on high-danger shots.

Plenty of teams more devoid of talent – like the Philadelphia Flyers, New York Islanders, and Chicago Blackhawks – bested the Devils in both categories. Not great.

The good news is the Devils made some changes that should help.

Evgenii Dadonov has posted a shooting WAR of +0.9 or higher in back-to-back seasons. He converted on 12.38% of his 5v5 shots last year, a number that bested notables like David Pastrnak, Lucas Raymond, and every top-6 forward on the Devils outside of Nico Hischier.

Connor Brown is hardly known as a sniper but he scored on better than 9% of his shots, putting him clear of Erik Haula, Curtis Lazar, Nathan Bastian, Justin Dowling, and pretty much every depth piece the Devils moved on from over the summer.

It’s hard to know exactly what to expect from Arseniy Gritsyuk but he’s a talented kid who has averaged 29.8 goals per 82 games over his last two campaigns in the KHL. It stands to reason he can score on a decent chunk of his chances.

With those three players joining the lineup, the Devils are better equipped to finish the chances that come their way. Even more so if they get better health from Jack Hughes and/or Dougie Hamilton.

Fewer starts from their goaltending tandem