The Devil Should Do NICO DAWS Full Time Backup in 2025-26 – Hockey Writer – New Jersey Devil

There is no doubt that general manager Tom Fitzgerald made the right move for the New Jersey Devils during the offseason. When they enter another year’s “Win Now” mode, they still haven’t surpassed the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs (2023).

Related: Devils’ goals for the top 3 draft picks in the 2025 NHL draft

Even if the cap increases, they may have to make some tough decisions by October. For now, Puckpedia expects their cap space to be just over $12 million in 2025-26… This inevitably extends Luke Hughes. Nathan Bastian, Curtis Lazar, Justin Dowling and Daniel Spring are not counting as that number, as they will be unrestricted free agents (UFAs). Nor are there any of the Freedom Promoter (RFA) Nolan Foote or Cody Glass, who are yet to be restricted.

The devil can no longer tie himself up due to the lack of swinging room. So, after four seasons in the sporadic NHL, Nico Daws is a full-time backup role.

Allen

DAWS plans to earn only $812,500 this season – the average annual value (AAV) is $3 million less than Jake Allen’s estimated transaction (via AFP Analytics (2 years, about $7 million).

In a theoretically unlimited world, the devil brings back Allen’s bet would be a safer option, Fitzgerald recently told NHL.com “want to stay.” Allen has performed well in 31 games, with goals against average (GAA) and .906 percent savings (SV%) reaching 2.66. When Allen scored, the Devil always seemed to be worse on the defensive end. Although he was backing up (via Moneypuck), his +18.4 goal saved expectations (GSAX) (GSAX) in the top ten in the league. Additionally, every 60 minutes, his +0.635 GSAX (GSAX/60) trails only Anthony Stolarz for more than 20 games this season.

Daws himself has a very strange season. On the one hand, he looked like a goalkeeper at Vezina Calibre in Devil’s time, 3-1-0 with 1.60 GAA and .939 SV%. During this time, he stopped the +4.9 goals – about 30% better speed per game than the NHL’s 61 regular NetMinders (minimum 40 games). He was very confident and confident through the ophthalmic test.

“I think I’ve taken a lot of the right steps, made good progress, had confidence, and I’m happy with where I am,” Daws said in the exit interview. “Hopefully I can push to be this team next year.”

However, a small sample is for some reason. In the American Hockey League (AHL) Comet, he won the 11.893 SV% championship with 11 of 34 games. So, which version of DAWS will be stuck to?

To be fair, the entire comet is not very good. Defensive coverage mistakes are a common theme that often makes DAW completely dry. We don’t have the luxury of AHL’s “expected” statistics, but their team SV% is also overall 0.893%, so that’s not like Daws is an outlier. Given his outstanding performance in the NHL, he should be treated with the benefits of doubt.

Although he certainly is not a guarantee, there is no hope that Allen, who turns 35 this summer, will become. In the two seasons before 2024-25, Allen carried .893 SV% (76 games).

The rest of the UFA goalkeeper market is so thin that Allen is actually considered the highest name available. This will only increase his price, potentially making the devil’s precious hat space consumed, which may be better used elsewhere.

On top of that, Jacob Markstrom shows that he can handle 1A roles in New Jersey and, more importantly, playoff time will appear. Goalkeepers are always like relief pitchers in baseball games, and their performance will fluctuate greatly. But Daws turned 25 in December; it was time to give him a shot for regular backups.

Finally, the Devil’s defense is one of the best units in the league and both enjoyed it in the contract for a while, minus Hughes (which will change soon). Unless they are killed by injury again, it is hard to imagine that they won’t help keep most goalkeepers in every game.

The small risk is worth millions of dollars in extra sweet, sweet rewards to level up to the core.

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