2020–21 New Jersey Devils season

The 2020–21 New Jersey Devils season is the 47th season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on June 11, 1974, and 39th season since the franchise relocated from Colorado prior to the 1982–83 NHL season.[1] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and COVID-19 cross-border travel restrictions imposed by the Government of Canada, the Devils are scheduled to play a shortened 56-game regular season, which will consist of divisional play only, with the Devils being temporarily realigned from the Metropolitan Division to the East Division.[2]

2020–21 New Jersey Devils
2020–21 record	4–3–2
Home record	2–2–1
Road record	2–1–1
Goals for	23
Goals against	26
Team information
General manager	Tom Fitzgerald
Coach	Lindy Ruff
Captain	Vacant
Alternate captains	Nico Hischier Kyle Palmieri Damon Severson Travis Zajac
Arena	Prudential Center
Minor league affiliate(s)	Binghamton Devils (AHL) Adirondack Thunder (ECHL)
Team leaders
Goals	Miles Wood (5)
Assists	Ty Smith (6)
Points	Jack Hughes Ty Smith Miles Wood (8)
Penalty minutes	Miles Wood (11)
Plus/minus	Matt Tennyson Miles Wood (+7)
Wins	Mackenzie Blackwood (2)
Goals against average	Mackenzie Blackwood (1.90)

Standings

Divisional standings

East Division

Pos	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	RW	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Boston Bruins	11	8	1	2	4	36	24	+12	18
2	Philadelphia Flyers	13	8	3	2	6	46	41	+5	18
3	Washington Capitals	12	6	3	3	4	44	45	−1	15
4	New York Islanders	11	5	4	2	5	25	27	−2	12
5	Pittsburgh Penguins	11	5	5	1	1	33	41	−8	11
6	New Jersey Devils	9	4	3	2	3	23	26	−3	10
7	Buffalo Sabres	10	4	4	2	2	30	32	−2	10
8	New York Rangers	11	4	5	2	3	29	30	−1	10

Updated to game(s) played on February 8, 2021. Source: National Hockey League[3]
Rules for classification: 1) Fewer number of games played (GP, only during regular season); 2) Greater number of regulation wins (RW); 3) Greater amount of wins in regulation and overtime, excluding shootout wins (ROW); 4) Greater amount of total wins, including shootouts (W); 5) Greater number of points earned in head-to-head play; if teams played an uneven number of head-to-head games, the result of the first game on the home ice of the team with the extra home game is discarded; 6) Greater goal differential (GD); 7) Greater amount of goals scored (GF)

Schedule and results

Regular season

The regular season schedule was published on December 23, 2020.[4]

2020–21 game log
January: 4–3–2 (Home: 2–2–1 ; Road: 2–1–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 1 January 14 Boston 3–2 New Jersey SO Blackwood 0 0–0–1 1 Recap 2 January 16 Boston 1–2 New Jersey OT Blackwood 0 1–0–1 3 Recap 3 January 19 New Jersey 4–3 NY Rangers Blackwood 0 2–0–1 5 Recap 4 January 21 New Jersey 1–4 NY Islanders Wedgewood 0 2–1–1 5 Recap 5 January 24 NY Islanders 0–2 New Jersey Wedgewood 0 3–1–1 7 Recap 6 January 26 Philadelphia 5–3 New Jersey Wedgewood 0 3–2–1 7 Recap 7 January 28 Philadelphia 3–1 New Jersey Wedgewood 0 3–3–1 7 Recap 8 January 30 New Jersey 3–4 Buffalo SO Wedgewood 0 3–3–2 8 Recap 9 January 31 New Jersey 5–3 Buffalo Comrie 0 4–3–2 10 Recap
February: 0–0–0 (Home: 0–0–0 ; Road: 0–0–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap — February 2 New Jersey – Pittsburgh Postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic;[5] moved to March 21[6] — February 4 New Jersey – Pittsburgh Postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic;[5] moved to April 20[6] — February 6 NY Rangers – New Jersey Postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic;[5] moved to March 4[6] — February 9 Pittsburgh – New Jersey Postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic;[7] moved to March 18[6] 10 February 11 New Jersey – Philadelphia 11 February 13 New Jersey – Philadelphia 12 February 15 New Jersey – Boston 13 February 16 New Jersey – NY Rangers 14 February 18 New Jersey – Boston 15 February 20 Buffalo – New Jersey 16 February 23 Buffalo – New Jersey 17 February 25 New Jersey – Buffalo 18 February 27 Washington – New Jersey 19 February 28 Washington – New Jersey
March: 0–0–0 (Home: 0–0–0 ; Road: 0–0–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 20 March 2 NY Islanders – New Jersey 21 March 4 NY Rangers – New Jersey 22 March 6 NY Rangers – New Jersey 23 March 7 New Jersey – Washington 24 March 9 New Jersey – Washington 25 March 11 New Jersey – NY Islanders 26 March 13 NY Islanders – New Jersey 27 March 16 Buffalo – New Jersey 28 March 18 Pittsburgh – New Jersey 29 March 20 Pittsburgh – New Jersey 30 March 21 New Jersey – Pittsburgh 31 March 23 New Jersey – Philadelphia 32 March 25 New Jersey – Washington 33 March 26 New Jersey – Washington 34 March 28 New Jersey – Boston 35 March 30 New Jersey – Boston
April: 0–0–0 (Home: 0–0–0 ; Road: 0–0–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 36 April 1 Philadelphia – New Jersey 37 April 2 Washington – New Jersey 38 April 4 Washington – New Jersey 39 April 6 Buffalo – New Jersey 40 April 8 New Jersey – Buffalo 41 April 9 Pittsburgh – New Jersey 42 April 11 Pittsburgh – New Jersey 43 April 13 NY Rangers – New Jersey 44 April 15 New Jersey – NY Rangers 45 April 17 New Jersey – NY Rangers 46 April 18 NY Rangers – New Jersey 47 April 20 New Jersey – Pittsburgh 48 April 22 New Jersey – Pittsburgh 49 April 24 New Jersey – Pittsburgh 50 April 27 NY Islanders – New Jersey 51 April 29 Philadelphia – New Jersey
May: 0–0–0 (Home: 0–0–0 ; Road: 0–0–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 52 May 1 New Jersey – Philadelphia 53 May 3 Boston – New Jersey 54 May 4 Boston – New Jersey 55 May 6 New Jersey – NY Islanders 56 May 8 New Jersey – NY Islanders
Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)   Postponement

Player statistics

As of February 7, 2021[8]

Skaters

Regular season[9]

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Miles Wood	9	5	3	8	+7	11
Jack Hughes	9	3	5	8	+2	0
Ty Smith	9	2	6	8	+4	8
Michael McLeod	9	3	1	4	+4	2
Pavel Zacha	9	2	2	4	–1	2
Nathan Bastian	9	1	3	4	+4	2
Damon Severson	9	1	3	4	+2	8
Andreas Johnsson	9	1	2	3	+3	6
Janne Kuokkanen	9	1	2	3	+2	6
Kyle Palmieri	8	0	3	3	+1	4
P. K. Subban	9	0	3	3	–5	10
Travis Zajac	7	2	0	2	–1	2
Yegor Sharangovich	9	1	1	2	+1	0
Ryan Murray	9	0	2	2	+2	0
Nikita Gusev	9	0	1	1	–6	0
Matt Tennyson	9	0	1	1	+7	2
Dmitri Kulikov	9	0	1	1	+4	2
Nick Merkley	3	0	1	1	+1	0
Jesper Bratt	3	0	1	1	+1	0
Jesper Boqvist	5	0	0	0	0	2
Mikhail Maltsev	1	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltenders

Regular season[10]

Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	OT	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Mackenzie Blackwood	3	3	189:58	2	0	1	6	1.90	115	.948	0	0	0	0
Eric Comrie	1	1	60:00	1	0	0	3	3.00	33	.909	0	0	0	0
Scott Wedgewood	5	5	300:22	1	3	1	14	2.80	141	.901	1	0	0	0

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Devils. Stats reflect time with the Devils only.
^‡Denotes player was traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with the Devils only.
Bold/italics denotes franchise record.

Roster

Updated January 31, 2021[11][12]

#	Nat	Player	Pos	S/G	Age	Acquired	Birthplace
88		Kevin Bahl	D	L	20	2019	New Westminster, British Columbia
42		Nathan Bastian	RW	R	23	2016	Kitchener, Ontario
29		Mackenzie Blackwood	G	L	24	2015	Thunder Bay, Ontario
90		Jesper Boqvist	LW	L	22	2017	Falun, Sweden
63		Jesper Bratt	LW	L	22	2017	Stockholm, Sweden
8		Will Butcher	D	L	26	2017	Sun Prairie, Wisconsin
5		Connor Carrick	D	R	26	2019	Orland Park, Illinois
1		Eric Comrie	G	L	25	2021	Edmonton, Alberta
60		Aaron Dell	G	L	31	2021	Airdrie, Alberta
97		Nikita Gusev	LW	R	28	2019	Moscow, Russia
13		Nico Hischier (A)	C	L	22	2017	Brig, Switzerland
86		Jack Hughes	C	L	19	2019	Orlando, Florida
11		Andreas Johnsson	LW	L	26	2020	Gavle, Sweden
70		Dmitry Kulikov	D	L	30	2020	Lipetsk, Soviet Union
59		Janne Kuokkanen	C	L	22	2020	Oulunsalo, Finland
23		Mikhail Maltsev	LW/C	L	22	2019	Saint Petersburg, Russia
20		Michael McLeod	C	R	23	2016	Mississauga, Ontario
39		Nick Merkley	RW	R	23	2019	Calgary, Alberta
22		Ryan Murray	D	L	27	2020	Regina, Saskatchewan
21		Kyle Palmieri (A)	RW	R	30	2015	Smithtown, New York
31		Gilles Senn	G	L	24	2017	Visp, Switzerland
28		Damon Severson (A)	D	R	26	2012	Brandon, Manitoba
17		Yegor Sharangovich	C/LW	L	22	2018	Minsk, Belarus
24		Ty Smith	D	L	20	2018	Lloydminster, Saskatchewan
76		P. K. Subban	D	R	31	2019	Toronto, Ontario
7		Matt Tennyson	D	R	30	2019	Minneapolis, Minnesota
45		Sami Vatanen	D	R	29	2021	Jyvaskyla, Finland
44		Miles Wood	LW	L	25	2013	Buffalo, New York
37		Pavel Zacha	C	L	23	2015	Brno, Czech Republic
19		Travis Zajac (A)	C	R	35	2004	Winnipeg, Manitoba
41		Scott Wedgewood	G	L	28	2020	Brampton, Ontario

Transactions

The Devils have been involved in the following transactions during the 2020–21 season.

Trades

Date	Details		Ref
October 7, 2020	To Arizona Coyotes 7th-round pick in 2020	To New Jersey Devils 7th-round pick in 2021	[13]
October 8, 2020	To Columbus Blue Jackets 5th-round pick in 2021	To New Jersey Devils Ryan Murray	[14]
October 10, 2020	To Toronto Maple Leafs Joey Anderson	To New Jersey Devils Andreas Johnsson	[15]

Free agents

Date	Player	Team	Contract term	Ref
October 9, 2020	Brandon Baddock	to Montreal Canadiens	1-year	[16]
October 9, 2020	Corey Crawford	from Chicago Blackhawks	2-year	[17]
October 9, 2020	John Hayden	to Arizona Coyotes	1-year	[18]
October 9, 2020	Dakota Mermis	to Minnesota Wild	1-year	[19]
October 9, 2020	Kevin Rooney	to New York Rangers	2-year	[20]
October 11, 2020	Scott Wedgewood	from Tampa Bay Lightning	1-year	[21]
October 22, 2020	Dmitry Kulikov	from Winnipeg Jets	1-year	[22]
October 26, 2020	Zane McIntyre	to Dinamo Riga (KHL)	1-year	[23]
January 7, 2021	Sami Vatanen	from Carolina Hurricanes	1-year	[24]
January 11, 2021	Fredrik Claesson	to San Jose Sharks	1-year	[25]
February 1, 2021	Mirco Muller	to Leksands IF (SHL)	1-year	[26]

Waivers

Date	Player	Team	Ref
January 12, 2021	Eric Comrie	from Winnipeg Jets	[27]
January 18, 2021	Aaron Dell	from Toronto Maple Leafs	[28]

Contract terminations Date Player Via Ref October 9, 2020 Cory Schneider Buyout [29]

Retirement Date Player Ref January 9, 2021 Corey Crawford [30][31]

Signings

Date	Player	Contract term	Ref
September 30, 2020	Josh Jacobs	1-year	[32]
September 30, 2020	Brett Seney	1-year	[32]
September 30, 2020	Ben Street	1-year	[32]
October 21, 2020	Nick Merkley	1-year	[33]
October 29, 2020	Colton White	1-year	[34]
December 23, 2020	Mackenzie Blackwood	3-year	[35]
December 24, 2020	Dawson Mercer	3-year	[36]
January 10, 2021	Jesper Bratt	2-year	[37]

Draft picks

Below are the New Jersey Devils' selections at the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, which was held on October 6 and 7, 2020, in a remote format, with teams convening via videoconferencing, and Commissioner Gary Bettman announcing selections from the NHL Network studios in Secaucus, New Jersey.[38] It was originally scheduled to be held on June 26–27, 2020, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec,[39][40] but was postponed on March 25, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the conclusion of the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs.[41]

Round	#	Player	Pos	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1	7	Alexander Holtz	RW	Sweden	Djurgårdens IF (SHL)
1	18^1	Dawson Mercer	C	Canada	Chicoutimi Saguenéens (QMJHL)
1	20^2	Shakir Mukhamadullin	D	Russia	Salavat Yulaev Ufa (KHL)
3	84^3	Nicolas Daws	G	Canada	Guelph Storm (OHL)
4	99	Jaromir Pytlik	C	Czech Republic	Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHL)
4	120^4	Ethan Edwards	D	Canada	Spruce Grove Saints (AJHL)
5	130	Artem Shlaine	C	Russia	Shattuck-St. Mary's High School (Minnesota)
6	161	Benjamin Baumgartner	C	Austria	HC Davos (NL)

Notes:

1. The Arizona Coyotes' first-round pick went to the New Jersey Devils as the result of a trade on December 16, 2019, that sent Taylor Hall and Blake Speers to Arizona in exchange for Nick Merkley, Kevin Bahl, Nate Schnarr, a conditional third-round pick in 2021 and this pick (being conditional at the time of the trade).[42]
2. The Vancouver Canucks' first-round pick went to the New Jersey Devils as the result of a trade on February 16, 2020, that sent Blake Coleman to Tampa Bay in exchange for Nolan Foote and this pick (being conditional at the time of the trade).[43]
3. The Carolina Hurricanes' third-round pick went to the New Jersey Devils as the result of a trade on February 24, 2020, that sent Sami Vatanen to Carolina in exchange for Fredrik Claesson, Janne Kuokkanen and this pick (being conditional at the time of the trade).[44]
4. The Boston Bruins' fourth-round pick went to the New Jersey Devils as the result of a trade on February 25, 2019, that sent Marcus Johansson to Boston in exchange for a second-round pick in 2019 and this pick.[45]

References

1. National Hockey League (2010). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book/2011. Triumph Books. p. 83. ISBN 978-1-60078-422-4.
2. "NHL, NHLPA officially announce agreement for 2020-21 season". Sportsnet.ca. December 20, 2020. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
3. "NHL Hockey Standings". www.nhl.com. National Hockey League.
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5. "Devils games postponed through at least Saturday because of COVID-19". NHL.com. February 1, 2021. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
6. Ciampa, Marc (February 6, 2021). "BLOG: NHL Announces 27 Schedule Changes; 13 Involving Devils". NHL.com. Retrieved February 7, 2021.
7. "NHL Announces New Dates for Eight Penguins Games". NHL.com. February 5, 2021. Retrieved February 7, 2021. The Penguins' Tuesday Feb. 9 game at New Jersey is among the latest to be postponed, as a result of Covid protocols with the Devils.
8. "New Jersey Devils Stats - 2020-2021 - Regular season". NHL.com. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
9. "NHL.com - Stats - New Jersey Devils Skaters - Regular season". NHL.com. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
10. "NHL.com - Stats - New Jersey Devils Goalies - Regular season". NHL.com. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
11. "New Jersey Devils Roster". National Hockey League. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
12. "New Jersey Devils Hockey Transactions". The Sports Network. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
13. "Coyotes Select Five Players on Second Day of 2020 NHL Draft". NHL.com. October 7, 2020. Retrieved October 8, 2020. The Coyotes acquired a seventh-round choice (192nd overall) from the New Jersey Devils in exchange for the Coyotes' 2021 seventh-round draft choice.
14. "RELEASE: Devils Acquire Murray From Columbus". NHL.com. October 8, 2020. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
15. "RELEASE: Devils Acquire Andreas Johnsson". NHL.com. October 10, 2020. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
16. "One-year contract for forward Brandon Baddock". NHL.com. October 9, 2020. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
17. "FREE AGENCY: Devils Agree to Terms with Crawford". NHL.com. October 9, 2020. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
18. "Coyotes Sign Forward John Hayden to One-Year Contract". NHL.com. October 9, 2020. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
19. "Wild signs Cramarossa and Mermis to one-year, two-way contracts". NHL.com. October 9, 2020. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
20. "Rangers Announce Six Free Agent Signings". NHL.com. October 9, 2020. Retrieved October 10, 2020.
21. "FREE AGENCY: Devils Sign Wedgewood". NHL.com. October 11, 2020. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
22. "RELEASE: Devils Sign Kulikov". NHL.com. October 22, 2020. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
23. "Vārtsargs Zane McIntyre pievienojas DINAMO RĪGA komandai". dinamoriga.lv (in Latvian). October 26, 2020. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
24. "RELEASE: Devils Sign Sami Vatanen". NHL.com. January 7, 2021. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
25. "Sharks Sign Defenseman Fredrik Claesson". NHL.com. January 11, 2021. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
26. Brasar, Richard (February 1, 2021). "Mirco Müller klar för Leksands IF". Leksands IF (in Swedish). Retrieved February 2, 2021.
27. Wescott, Chris (January 12, 2021). "BLOG: Devils Claim Comrie". NHL.com. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
28. Bogart, Catherine (January 18, 2021). "BLOG: Devils Claim Aaron Dell From Waivers". NHL.com. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
29. Stein, Amanda (October 9, 2020). "BLOG: Devils Buy Out Cory Schneider". NHL.com. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
30. "NEWS: Corey Crawford Retires from NHL". NHL.com. January 9, 2021. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
31. Botte, Peter (January 9, 2021). "Corey Crawford retires before playing game for Devils". New York Post. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
32. Stein, Amanda (September 30, 2020). "BLOG: Devils Re-Sign Three Players". NHL.com. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
33. "RELEASE: Devils Sign Merkley". NHL.com. October 21, 2020. Retrieved October 21, 2020.
34. "RELEASE: Devils Re-Sign Defenseman White". NHL.com. October 29, 2020. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
35. "RELEASE: Devils Re-Sign Blackwood to Three-Year Deal". NHL.com. December 23, 2020. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
36. "RELEASE: Mercer Agrees to Terms on ELC". NHL.com. December 24, 2020. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
37. "RELEASE: Devils Re-Sign Bratt to Two-Year Deal". NHL.com. January 11, 2021. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
38. Cotsonika, Nicholas J. (October 6, 2020). "2020 NHL Draft, being held virtually, will be unique for teams, viewers". NHL.com. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
39. "Canadiens to host 2020 NHL Draft". NHL.com. June 19, 2019. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
40. "NHL reveals tentative dates for Stanley Cup Final, draft". Sportsnet.ca. July 8, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
41. "NHL postpones Scouting Combine, Awards, Draft". NHL.com. March 25, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
42. "RELEASE: Devils acquire picks and players in exchange for Hall, Speers". NHL.com. December 16, 2019. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
43. "RELEASE: Devils acquire Nolan Foote and First-Round Pick". NHL.com. February 16, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
44. "RELEASE: Devils Acquire Janne Kuokkanen, Fredrik Claesson and 4th Rd Pick". NHL.com. February 24, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
45. "Devils acquire second and fourth round picks from Boston". NHL.com. February 25, 2019. Retrieved October 7, 2020.