The All About the Jersey Awards for the 2025-26 New Jersey Devils

Major Awards

Team MVP: Jack Hughes

Despite missing a quarter of the season, Jack Hughes led the New Jersey Devils in scoring by six points over Jesper Bratt. Simply put, Jack was a monster after the Olympic break, when he scored the Golden Goal for Team USA. Jack had 12 goals and 36 points in 36 games prior to the Olympic break, followed by 15 goals and 41 points in 25 games afterwards. The Devils were also far better with Jack in the lineup than without, going 34-24-3 with him on the ice. So, the team was 8-13-0 without him. That says it all right there, doesn’t it? Still, some may knock Jack for not being on the ice the whole season yet again, but it is not like he had his head down on the ice and got knocked out for a quarter of the season. A steakhouse incident is, I would hope, a once-in-a-quarter-century accident. And, ultimately, if the Devils had gone 12-8-1 without Jack to get the team into the playoffs, I personally would have voted for someone else. But they did not, and showed that Jack simply had *the best season, by far* among skaters on the team. **Voting Commentary:** Four voted for Jack Hughes, two voted for Nico Hischier, and one writer voted for Connor Brown. **Prior Winner:** Jesper Bratt (2024 and 2025)

Best Goalie: Jake Allen

For the third year running, Jake Allen has been voted the *Best Goalie* by the All About the Jersey staff. This is certainly a problem for the team, as Allen is not the number one goalie by games played and only came particularly close to Jacob Markstrom’s total games played because of the latter’s October injury. But this was Allen’s third-straight season in which he posted a save percentage over .900, at .903, and his 37 games is the most he has suited up for since the 2022-23 season, when he played 42 for Montreal. Somewhat disappointingly, though, Allen’s best performances came early in the season. He was excellent in October and November, going 8-4-0 in 13 games with a .919 save percentage. After that, he went 9-13-2 with his save percentage dropping to .895. Perhaps if Nico Daws (2-1-0, .908 SV%) played more games, Allen might have been challenged here, but Allen handling 37 games and having a save percentage .020 higher than Jacob Markstrom gives him the easy win here. **Voting Commentary:** This was a unanimous vote.

Best Defenseman: Dougie Hamilton

Well, Mr. Douglas Jonathan Hamilton is still a New Jersey Devil, and they rather needed him at the top of his game down the stretch this season. Things were rough, though, when Sheldon Keefe had Hamilton in a more defensive role from the time of Brett Pesce’s October injury to the return of Johnny Kovacevic in January. This led to a whopping 17-game pointless streak for Dougie from November 28 thorugh December 31, when the Devils’ offense dried up to a crisp. After that, though, Dougie started lighting the world on fire again. He was scratched on January 11 against the Jets in a critical game where Tom Fitzgerald’s supposed replacements for him lost it for the team. But after that game, Dougie put up 11 points in nine games, and his assist on the lone goal in the game prior to his scratching made it a personal 10-game point streak for him. In total, Dougie had seven goals and 21 assists in 37 games from the time of his scratching to the end of the season. That kind of production would put him on a 15-16 goal, 62 point pace over a full season, which should ease some concerns that age was catching up to him. Usage matters. And Hamilton was also one of the best special teams defensemen for the Devils this year. The team’s 9.36 goals per 60 power play minutes had him over double the rate the team had with Simon Nemec on the ice, though his results were only slightly better on a per-minute basis than Luke Hughes (+8.24 net G/60 vs. +7.40 net G/60). Dougie also logged the third-most minutes among Devils defensemen on the penalty kill, and was by far their best blueliner in that situation as well. With Dougie on the ice, the Devils’ penalty kill only allowed 6.46 goals against per 60 (first) while scoring 1.62 shorthanded per 60 (first). But that 20.00 goals for percentage was actually a bit worse than the 20.31 expected goals percentage Dougie had (first) for the team on the kill. **Voting Commentary:** This was a split decision. Three voted for Dougie Hamilton and two voted for Brett Pesce, while both of Luke Hughes and Brenden Dillon received one vote. **Prior Winner:** Luke Hughes (2024 and 2025)

Best Offensive Forward: Jack Hughes

Given the Team MVP award, this one was a pretty easy vote. Even if writers knocked Jack for his availability, or gave the nod to someone else for an all-around impact, leading the team in points is an undeniable position. And watching Jack Hughes play, it looks like the offensive game just comes easier to him than everyone else on the ice a lot of the time. He does not need to be in a perfect position to score. He can set a teammate up for a goal from pretty much anywhere on the ice. He is the engine that makes the offense run, especially when Nico Hischier is off the ice. Jack is a matchup nightmare, and can flip momentum on its head when he uses his speed and skill to put opposing defenses on their heels. It’s beautiful to watch. **Voting Commentary:** This was a unanimous vote. **Prior Winner:** Jesper Bratt

**Best Defensive Forward: Nico Hischier**

For the second year running, Nico Hischier is the winner of Best Defensive forward. Personally, I have argued on several occasions that using Hischier in a shutdown matchup sort of role is a misuse of his skills. But Nico handles it while still putting up pretty strong offensive production. His 66 points were a bit of a down year for him, but most teams would not complain about the guy who wins 1,000 faceoffs in a single season, leads the team’s forwards in shorthanded minutes, and is second on the the team in expected goals for percentage (0.43 behind Jesper Bratt) despite taking the toughest matchups on a night in, night out basis. He led the team in defensive zone faceoffs per 60 minutes at five-on-five (23.57) and was third in defensive zone starts per 60 (12.48), behind only Luke Glendening (12.75) and Lenni Hameenaho (12.94). Of all the players on the Devils, Nico Hischier is the most willing to engage physically on the boards and battle for the puck, and he is among the best in the league at winning the puck in those situations. I do not think he deserves a Selke, but he makes it so much of the rest of the team has far easier matchups and situations to deal with. What use are most of them making of it? **Voting Commentary:** This one was pretty close. Four voted for Nico Hischier, two voted for Cody Glass, and one writer voted for Jack Hughes.

Best Rookie: Arseny Gritsyuk

Like last year, the New Jersey Devils did not really have a ton of rookies on their roster. Only two, Arseny Gritsyuk and Lenni Hameenaho, played a significant number of games for the New Jersey Devils. But the now 25-year old Gritsyuk put up nearly as many points as Lenni Hameenaho had games played. Gritsyuk’s 13 goals and 18 assists in 66 games made national broadcasters and other teams take notice, and he was able to play on any line for the team. Can you believe Sheldon Keefe really started him on the fourth line? But whether he was on the fourth, first, or third, Gritsyuk was impacting the game like few in the league can. He’s fast, he has a wicked shot, and he is rather willing to get physical. This should only be a glimpse of what he can be. **Prior Winner:** Seamus Casey

Minor Awards

The Sergei Brylin Award for Versatility: Connor Brown

Connor Brown was truly one of the only bright spots of this season. If not for a short-term injury early in the season, he likely would have reached 20 goals, and his 18 goals and 25 assists in 75 games marked a tied career high in points for the quick winger. Brown was also solid on the penalty kill and helped stabilize the power play towards the end of the season, scoring four goals and four assists on the power play in addition to his winger-leading 139:03 of penalty killing time, during which he also chipped in a couple shorthanded goals. We will see if Brown will continue to play in the top six for the Devils, but he is a welcome member of any line because of his ability to do a little bit of everything. **Voting Commentary**: Four voted for Brown, while Dawson Mercer, Nico Hischier, and Jesper Bratt each received one vote. **Prior Winner:** Nico Hischier

Best Comeback: Dougie Hamilton

For the second year running, Dougie Hamilton wins this category. As mentioned earlier, he had a rather tough time in the early to middle part of this season. After sustaining a knee injury, which may have been a repeat of the knee injury he played through in the 2025 Playoffs, Dougie struggled in a defense-first role for the team. Then, when he was scratched, it looked like his Devils career was really coming to an end. But it did not, and Dougie Hamilton, despite what a select few people say online, played his hardest in response to the benching that the Devils gave him to try and prop up Kovacevic and Nemec. He ended up having the best season of any defenseman, whether you look at production, all-situations results, five-on-five play, or any analytic breakdown of the Devils’ blueline group. For a guy who once looked like age and bothersome knee injuries were catching up to him this year, he sure turned it around. **Voting Commentary:** Three voted for Dougie Hamilton, just beating Cody Glass, who received two votes. Jack Hughes, and Brenden Dillon each received a vote.

Best In-Season Move by the Devils: Trading Ondrej Palat

The long ordeal is over. After watching Ondrej Palat stuff scoring chance after scoring chance into pads while playing subpar defense for a player of reputation for a couple years, Tom Fitzgerald finally found an out for the worst contract he signed during his tenure as Devils General Manager. When Mathieu Darche foolishly took on Palat’s contract in exchange for a draft pick and Maxim Tsyplakov, many Devils fans were relieved to see the Palat era end. We will always remember his plays in the First Round in the 2023 Playoffs, but this one never really worked out the way Fitzgerald intended it to. **Voting Commentary:** This was a strong majority, with two votes going to the firing of Tom Fitzgerald. **Prior Winner:** Trading for Cody Glass

Worst In-Season Move by the Devils – Signing Jacob Markstrom to an Extension

Because Tom Fitzgerald struggled to learn from his mistakes, he gave out another $6 million contract to Jacob Markstrom in October, when the then-35 year old Markstrom was struggling to even save basic shots after sustaining an injury in the first week of the regular season. Now, if he actually plays out this contract under Sunny Mehta, Jacob Markstrom will be 38 at the end of the deal. Prior to his Halloween extension, Markstrom had an .830 save percentage in four games for the Devils. The rest of the season was better, technically, at an .888 save percentage in 40 games. Markstrom was eventually shut down for the final three games of the season, but says he is not going to surgery. I struggle to believe that he can bounce back, but I would believe that he was playing through an injury for most or all of the season. That makes it even more confusing that Fitzgerald did this, though, as Markstrom certainly would not have commanded this type of money if they let the season play out. **Voting Commentary:** This was a near-unanimous vote. One voted for taking on Maxim Tsyplakov in the Palat trade. **Prior Winner:** Trading for Brian Dumoulin

Best 2025 Offseason Move by the Devils: Signing Arseny Gritsyuk

It only happened two years too late, but Arseny Gritsyuk finally joined the New Jersey Devils in 2025. He was the only rookie who really had a solid chance to contribute from the start to finish of this season, though his year was cut short by a shoulder surgery. I would argue that this was a very *easy* move for Tom Fitzgerald, but Gritsyuk proved to be a transformative force for the middle six this season. Now, we should be hoping that he gets locked up for the long-term and that he turns into a perennial 50-60 point player. **Voting Commentary:** This one was very close. Three voted for Gritsyuk, two voted for the Cody Glass re-signing, and two voted for signing Connor Brown. **Prior Winner:** Acquiring Jacob Markstrom (funny how quickly things change)

Worst 2025 Offseason Move by the Devils: Signing Evgenii Dadonov

To be fair to Evgenii Dadonov, I was thrilled by the Devils signing him. He was coming off of a 20-goal, 40-point season, and he showed an ability to score goals by the front of the net in Dallas despite his age. But age is exactly what did him in this season, and it turned rather sour when his performance bonuses kicked in for playing some games despite not registering a point until his 20th game of the season, which he was given $250,000 (which will penalize the Devils’ cap ceiling next season) for simply suiting up in. He got hurt in the first game of the season, and his hand never seemed to recover. He tried to come back in November, played four games, and again went out until January. Ending with just one goal in 24 games, in which the Devils went just 10-14-0 (with just seven regulation wins), Dadonov showed that completely lacking depth on the roster is absolutely something that can contribute to a season falling apart. **Voting Commentary:** This was a strong majority. Five voted for Evgenii Dadonov. One argued that Fitzgerald did not do enough. One writer said he was cheating the category a bit and taking the Johnny Kovacevic extension. **Prior Winner:** Extending Kurtis MacDermid

Best Surprise: Arseny Gritsyuk

I have long been banging the drum that Arseny Gritsyuk is worth hyping up, but he really showed the extent of his ability this season. I think what surprised people here is that Gritsyuk is not only an offensive threat, but he is a very good two-way player. He is going to give everything his all, whether it be fighting for a shot, anticipating a passing lane on the forecheck, hitting someone by the boards in the defensive zone, or messing with his teammates on Telegram. He has fit in very well. **Voting Commentary:** This one was close. Three voted for Gritsyuk, while two votes went to Cody Glass. Connor Brown and Lenni Hameenaho also received singular votes. **Prior Winner:** Johnny Kovacevic

Most Disappointing: Jacob Markstrom

Given that the writers voted Markstrom as the best 2024 Offseason Acquisition in last year’s awards, this one should not be surprising. Had Markstrom just performed at a league average save percentage (.896), the Devils very well could have made the playoffs. Had he matched his flat .900 from last season, it would have been all but guaranteed. But Markstrom played over half the season and put up an .883. So many games were lost this season on the first or fifth shot of the game because Markstrom did not come ready to play, whether he faced that first shot in the first shift or if his defense was holding the opponent shotless for a several minutes. **Voting Commentary:** Four writers voted for Markstrom. One voted for Simon Nemec. One writer lumped Luke Hughes, Simon Nemec, and Brad Shaw into one pile of disappointment, with a particular focus on Shaw. And one voted for Evgenii Dadonov. **Prior Winner:** Simon Nemec

Best Utica Comet: Brian Halonen

Given his looks at the end of the season, I struggle to believe now that Brian Halonen will ever break out from the AHL to the NHL. But the Utica Comets still really benefitted from him, and he takes this award for the second year in a row. With 20 goals and 14 assists in 51 games, Halonen was fourth in Utica scoring this season despite missing 16 games. Only five points off from the team lead (Xavier Parent, 39 points), Halonen likely would have had it if not for his NHL call-ups and an injury. On the other hand, he fell into this award a little bit with the call-up of Lenni Hameenaho, who got hot after a slow start and finished with 26 points in 37 AHL games. Still, Halonen had some of the better two-way results for Utica this season along with being one of their only three 20-goal scorers with Crookshank and Parent, so this one goes to him. **Voting Commentary:** This was a close one. Three voted for Brian Halonen and two for Xavier Parent. One vote was cast for each of Topias Vilen and Nico Daws.

Best Prospect: Mikhail Yegorov

It was a slow start for Mikhail Yegorov this season with Boston University, but he still had a pretty strong first full NCAA season. He only turned 20 on March 7, putting up a .904 save percentage and 16-15-2 record with a 2.73 goals against average in his final teenaged season. It was not the dominance he brought to the Terriers as an 18-year old, but the myriad NHL Draftees on that roster seemed to experience widespread regression amid an influx of first-year players. Defense was inconsistent, especially when Cole Hutson was off the ice, and Yegorov suffered a bit as a result. Despite this, Yegorov still projects as a very strong long-term bet in goal for the New Jersey Devils, and he really cannot make the NHL soon enough. If the Montreal Canadiens can make the playoffs with the help of a 21-year old goaltender, perhaps the Devils should not commit to an overly-long developmental process for Yegorov. **Voting Commentary:** This one was close. Three voted for Mikhail Yegorov, while two voted for Anton Silayev. One vote was cast for Daniil Orlov. One was cast for Gritsyuk, but I would argue that he is no longer a prospect. **Prior Winner:** Arseny Gritsyuk

Superlative Awards

These awards are far less serious, and they are created by the individual writers. They are marked by their initials, and they are largely unedited (except for formatting) by me. So, the words you see after the initials are the words of the writer giving out the award. **The Jack Hughes Award for Wide-Angled Goals (CF):** Arseny Gritsyuk for this ridiculous rush against the Rangers. **The “Maybe We Should Be Talking More About This Guy Being Part of the Future Going Forward” Award (JM):** Simon Nemec. Maybe instead of talking about trading the 22 year old former 2nd overall pick, we should be looking to trade one or several of the 30+ year old defensemen on the roster. Just a thought. **The Tell Them Again! Award (CF):** Jack Hughes for banging the crest after scoring on the Rangers. **Least Valuable Player (KT):** Jacob Markstrom for giving up 17 goals on either the first (3), second (9), or third (5) shot he faced, forcing his team to chase games all season long. **The Tiebreaker Award (CF):** Nico Hischier with 12 goals in tied-game situations. **The Kaiser Soce “Is this guy a real person?” Award (TW):** Marc McLaughlin. We carried him on our cap all year, I couldn’t pick him out of the lineup, then one day he just appeared. **The “Off-Ice MVP” award, to the non-player in the Devils organization who posted an MVP-caliber performance (JM):** Telegram. Assist goes to Arseny Gritsyuk for bringing awareness to Telegram existing as a social media platform and giving us some insight into his personality. **The Please Stay on the Ice Award (CF):** Zack MacEwen, who looked excellent in a few games but suffered a two injuries, including a season-ending one in his final appearance. **The “Bi-polar Career Arc” Award (TW):** Jonas Siegenthaler. I have never seen anyone like it, who alternates between a good year and bad year. So does that mean good year next season? **The “I forgot we stink at that too” Award (JM):** Rebound goals. As of this writing, according to MoneyPuck, the Devils are dead last at 5v5 in rebound goals with six. The next closest team has 14. The league leader has 31. Hopefully next season, the Devils do a better job of getting bodies to the net and in position to bury rebound goals. **The “Scarf Boy” Award (TW)**: Timo Meier. More goals, less fashion please. **The John MacLean Distinguished Excellence in Coaching Award** **(KT)**: Dave Rogalski. **The Put the Game Away Award (CF):** Jack Hughes with 11 goals in leading situations. **The “Filthy Mitts” Award (TW):** Jesper Bratt and Paul Cotter. Bratt is 5 for 5, Cotter is 3 for 5 in shootouts, reversing a long trend of the Devils being putrid in the SO. 4-1 in 25-26. **The 2nd Annual Uncultivated Talented Award (CF):** For biggest gap between puck talent and total output and results, Paul Cotter. **The “He Battled” Consolation Prize (TW)**: Markstrom. I don’t care if you battled, stop the puck. **The “Wait, did that really happen?” Award for the most random one-off this season (JM):** The Juho Lammikko two-assist game. Did you remember he had a two-assist game this season? I did. Did you realize that’s one more two-assist game this season than Timo Meier, who has had zero as of this writing, this season? Did you realize he has had as many two-assist games this season as Dawson Mercer? I did not until I looked it up. **The CY Young (TW):** Cody Glass with a 19g, 7a stat line **The “Why Do We Have to Watch the Other Guy?” Award (CF):** Colton White, who scored four points in 23 games with some of the best five-on-five results on the team, showing how out-of-touch Tom Fitzgerald and Sheldon Keefe were throwing away minutes on Dennis Cholowski. **The Claude Rains “Invisible Man” Award (KT)** – Jesper Bratt (in recognition of his one-goal disappearing act in the 21 games missed by Jack Hughes). **The 5th Annual “I’ve Seen Enough” Award, To the player or executive I don’t need to see or hear from ever again (JM):** Tom Fitzgerald. Thank you for your service but you’ve done enough as the GM of this team. We’ll take it from here. **The Patrik Elias Award for Power Play Excellence (CF):** Nico Hischier with 11 PPGs and 23 total points. **The 5th Annual “Ozzie Smith Falling into the Springfield Mystery Spot” Award, Given to the player who has inexplicably vanished off the face of the Earth (JM):** Evgenii Dadonov. I liked the idea of the Dadonov signing but he went from productive middle six forward to seemingly washed up almost overnight. But hey, at least Tom Fitzgerald let him hit another $250,000 in performance bonuses for next year’s cap before he was shown the door. **The “I Only Score to Tie or Win Games” Award (CF):** Timo Meier and Simon Nemec. Timo Meier had a team-leading 10 game-tying goals and a team-leading six game-winners, with nine total goals in tied-game situations. But Simon Nemec was a monster in his own right with seven game-tying goals,and three game-winners, with three total goals in tied-game situations. Pretty good for an unpolished but promising defenseman. **The “I Don’t Blame You, I Blame the Person Who Hired You” Award (JM):** Jacob Markstrom. I don’t blame him for taking the money when the now former GM foolishly offered it to him. I don’t even necessarily blame him entirely for poor play given how the defense has looked at times. Instead, I blame Fitzgerald for essentially betting his job on Markstrom. **The Jack Hughes Ironman Award** **(KT):** This one is awarded to the most important player who sits out more games injured than he plays: Brett Pesce with 37 games played to 45 games missed due to injury. **The “Do Something” Award (JM):** Tie between Timo Meier and Dawson Mercer, who have both played in a Top Six role for the entire season. Yet, as of this writing, both are neck-in-neck in terms of scoring with Connor Brown despite having more TOI than Brown. It’s unacceptable in Meier’s case since his AAV is almost 3x that of Brown, and it’s unacceptable in Mercer’s case given his stagnation in his development as a player that he’s not doing better than he is. Do something. **The “What is it you say you do around here?” Award (TW)**: Luke Glendening. Carried this guy around for 50+ games, and one of the worst players in all of hockey all season. **The “Hardest Part of Breaking Up” Award, to the player who I like but its time for you to go (JM):** Dawson Mercer. It’s time for a hockey trade. We can’t keep having half season long stretches where you’re doing almost nothing. It’s time. **The Secondary Assists Aren’t Real Award (CF):** Cody Glass, with just two of his 26 points coming from secondary assists. **The 5th Annual “Sickos” award (JM):** Me and anyone else who watched 82 games of whatever this season was. **The My Favorite People Award (CF):** A big thank you to the writers and every reader who has stuck out this incredibly frustrating season. Thanks again to the writers who contributed to this year’s award voting, and thanks again to the whole staff for their writing this year. While this season was tough, we can hope for better times ahead with Sunny Mehta at the helm. And thanks to the readers for staying with us, and please remember to leave your thoughts in the comments below. If you have any superlatives you want to share, share them!