2020–21 New Jersey Devils season

The 2020–21 New Jersey Devils season was 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 played a shortened 56-game regular season, which consisted of divisional play only, with the Devils being temporarily realigned from the Metropolitan Division to the East Division.^[2]

2020–21 New Jersey Devils
Division	7th East
2020–21 record	19–30–7
Home record	7–18–3
Road record	12–12–4
Goals for	145
Goals against	194
Team information
General manager	Tom Fitzgerald
Coach	Lindy Ruff
Captain	Vacant (Jan. 14 – Feb. 20) Nico Hischier (Feb. 20 – May 10)
Alternate captains	Nico Hischier (Jan. 14 – Feb. 20) Kyle Palmieri (Jan. 14 – Apr. 7) Damon Severson P. K. Subban (Apr. 8 – May 10) Travis Zajac (Jan. 14 – Apr. 7) Miles Wood (Apr. 8 – May 10)
Arena	Prudential Center
Minor league affiliate(s)	Binghamton Devils (AHL) Adirondack Thunder (ECHL)
Team leaders
Goals	Miles Wood Pavel Zacha (17)
Assists	Jesper Bratt (23)
Points	Pavel Zacha (35)
Penalty minutes	Michael McLeod (42)
Plus/minus	Jesper Bratt (+4)
Wins	Mackenzie Blackwood (14)
Goals against average	Eric Comrie (3.00)
← 2019–20 2021–22 →

Fan attendance in home games was prohibited until March 1, 2021, per an executive order from Governor of New Jersey Phil Murphy.^[3] The Devils reopened Prudential Center to spectators on March 2.^[4]

On April 20, following a 7–6 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Devils were eliminated from playoff contention for the third consecutive season.^[5]

Standings

Divisional standings

East Division

Pos	Team v t e	GP	W	L	OTL	RW	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	y – Pittsburgh Penguins	56	37	16	3	29	196	156	+40	77
2	x – Washington Capitals	56	36	15	5	29	191	163	+28	77
3	x – Boston Bruins	56	33	16	7	25	168	136	+32	73
4	x – New York Islanders	56	32	17	7	24	156	128	+28	71
5	New York Rangers	56	27	23	6	24	177	157	+20	60
6	Philadelphia Flyers	56	25	23	8	17	163	201	−38	58
7	New Jersey Devils	56	19	30	7	15	145	194	−49	45
8	Buffalo Sabres	56	15	34	7	11	138	199	−61	37

Source: National Hockey League^[6]
Rules for classification: 1) Fewer number of games played (GP, only during regular season); 2) Greater number of regulation wins (RW); 3) Greater number of wins in regulation and overtime, excluding shootout wins (ROW); 4) Greater number 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 number of goals scored (GF)
x – Clinched playoff spot; y – Clinched division

Schedule and results

Regular season

The regular season schedule was published on December 23, 2020.^[7]

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 [8] 2 January 16 Boston 1–2 New Jersey OT Blackwood 0 1–0–1 3 [9] 3 January 19 New Jersey 4–3 NY Rangers Blackwood 0 2–0–1 5 [10] 4 January 21 New Jersey 1–4 NY Islanders Wedgewood 0 2–1–1 5 [11] 5 January 24 NY Islanders 0–2 New Jersey Wedgewood 0 3–1–1 7 [12] 6 January 26 Philadelphia 5–3 New Jersey Wedgewood 0 3–2–1 7 [13] 7 January 28 Philadelphia 3–1 New Jersey Wedgewood 0 3–3–1 7 [14] 8 January 30 New Jersey 3–4 Buffalo SO Wedgewood 0 3–3–2 8 [15] 9 January 31 New Jersey 5–3 Buffalo Comrie 0 4–3–2 10 [16]
February: 3–5–0 (Home: 0–4–0; Road: 3–1–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap — February 2 New Jersey – Pittsburgh Postponed due to COVID-19 protocol;[17] moved to March 21[18] — February 4 New Jersey – Pittsburgh Postponed due to COVID-19 protocol;[17] moved to April 20[18] — February 6 NY Rangers – New Jersey Postponed due to COVID-19 protocol;[17] moved to March 4[18] — February 9 Pittsburgh – New Jersey Postponed due to COVID-19 protocol;[19] moved to March 18[18] — February 11 New Jersey – Philadelphia Postponed due to COVID-19 protocol;[20] moved to April 25[21] — February 13 New Jersey – Philadelphia Postponed due to COVID-19 protocol;[20] moved to May 10[21] — February 15 New Jersey – Boston Postponed due to COVID-19 protocol;[20] moved to March 7[21] 10 February 16 New Jersey 5–2 NY Rangers Blackwood 0 5–3–2 12 [22] 11 February 18 New Jersey 3–2 Boston Blackwood 0 6–3–2 14 [23] 12 February 20 Buffalo 3–2 New Jersey Blackwood 0 6–4–2 14 [24] 13 February 21 New Jersey 3–4 Washington Dell 0 6–5–2 14 [25] 14 February 23 Buffalo 4–1 New Jersey Blackwood 0 6–6–2 14 [26] 15 February 25 New Jersey 4–3 Buffalo OT Blackwood 0 7–6–2 16 [27] 16 February 27 Washington 5–2 New Jersey Blackwood 0 7–7–2 16 [28] 17 February 28 Washington 3–2 New Jersey Blackwood 0 7–8–2 16 [29]
March: 6–8–3 (Home: 2–5–1; Road: 4–3–2) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 18 March 2 NY Islanders 2–1 New Jersey Dell 1,800 7–9–2 16 [30] 19 March 4 NY Rangers 6–1 New Jersey Blackwood 1,800 7–10–2 16 [31] 20 March 6 NY Rangers 6–3 New Jersey Blackwood 1,800 7–11–2 16 [32] 21 March 7 New Jersey 1–0 Boston Wedgewood 0 8–11–2 18 [33] 22 March 9 New Jersey 4–5 Washington OT Wedgewood 0 8–11–3 19 [34] 23 March 11 New Jersey 3–5 NY Islanders Blackwood 1,000 8–12–3 19 [35] 24 March 13 NY Islanders 3–2 New Jersey Blackwood 1,800 8–13–3 19 [36] 25 March 14 NY Islanders 3–2 New Jersey SO Wedgewood 1,800 8–13–4 20 [37] 26 March 16 Buffalo 2–3 New Jersey Blackwood 1,800 9–13–4 22 [38] 27 March 18 Pittsburgh 2–3 New Jersey Wedgewood 1,800 10–13–4 24 [39] 28 March 20 Pittsburgh 3–1 New Jersey Wedgewood 1,800 10–14–4 24 [40] 29 March 21 New Jersey 2–1 Pittsburgh OT Blackwood 2,800 11–14–4 26 [41] 30 March 23 New Jersey 4–3 Philadelphia Blackwood 2,882 12–14–4 28 [42] 31 March 25 New Jersey 3–4 Washington Blackwood 0 12–15–4 28 [43] 32 March 26 New Jersey 0–4 Washington Wedgewood 0 12–16–4 28 [44] 33 March 28 New Jersey 1–0 Boston Blackwood 2,191 13–16–4 30 [45] 34 March 30 New Jersey 4–5 Boston SO Blackwood 2,191 13–16–5 31 [46]
April: 3–11–2 (Home: 2–6–1; Road: 1–5–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 35 April 2 Washington 2–1 New Jersey OT Blackwood 3,600 13–16–6 32 [47] 36 April 4 Washington 5–4 New Jersey Blackwood 3,600 13–17–6 32 [48] 37 April 6 Buffalo 5–3 New Jersey Wedgewood 3,600 13–18–6 32 [49] 38 April 8 New Jersey 6–3 Buffalo Dell 0 14–18–6 34 [50] 39 April 9 Pittsburgh 6–4 New Jersey Blackwood 3,600 14–19–6 34 [51] 40 April 11 Pittsburgh 5–2 New Jersey Blackwood 3,600 14–20–6 34 [52] 41 April 13 NY Rangers 3–0 New Jersey Blackwood 3,600 14–21–6 34 [53] 42 April 15 New Jersey 0–4 NY Rangers Blackwood 1,688 14–22–6 34 [54] 43 April 17 New Jersey 3–6 NY Rangers Dell 1,800 14–23–6 34 [55] 44 April 18 NY Rangers 5–3 New Jersey Blackwood 3,500 14–24–6 34 [56] 45 April 20 New Jersey 6–7 Pittsburgh Dell 4,672 14–25–6 34 [57] 46 April 22 New Jersey 1–5 Pittsburgh Dell 4,672 14–26–6 34 [58] 47 April 24 New Jersey 2–4 Pittsburgh Blackwood 4,672 14–27–6 34 [59] 48 April 25 New Jersey 3–4 Philadelphia SO Blackwood 3,651 14–27–7 35 [60] 49 April 27 Philadelphia 4–6 New Jersey Blackwood 3,600 15–27–7 37 [61] 50 April 29 Philadelphia 3–5 New Jersey Blackwood 3,600 16–27–7 39 [62]
May: 3–3–0 (Home: 1–1–0; Road: 2–2–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 51 May 1 New Jersey 4–1 Philadelphia Blackwood 2,683 17–27–7 41 [63] 52 May 3 Boston 3–0 New Jersey Wedgewood 3,600 17–28–7 41 [64] 53 May 4 Boston 3–4 New Jersey OT Blackwood 3,600 18–28–7 43 [65] 54 May 6 New Jersey 2–1 NY Islanders Blackwood 1,400 19–28–7 45 [66] 55 May 8 New Jersey 1–5 NY Islanders Blackwood —[a] 19–29–7 45 [67] 56 May 10 New Jersey 2–4 Philadelphia Wedgewood 3,882 19–30–7 45 [68]
Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)   Postponement

Player statistics

As of May 11, 2021^[69]

Skaters

Regular season^[70]

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Pavel Zacha	50	17	18	35	–11	10
Jack Hughes	56	11	20	31	–3	16
Yegor Sharangovich	54	16	14	30	–4	4
Jesper Bratt	46	7	23	30	+4	8
Miles Wood	55	17	8	25	–6	29
Janne Kuokkanen	50	8	17	25	–1	14
Ty Smith	48	2	21	23	–9	22
Damon Severson	56	3	18	21	–8	29
P. K. Subban	44	5	14	19	–16	26
Travis Zajac‡	33	7	11	18	0	6
Kyle Palmieri‡	34	8	9	17	–2	18
Michael McLeod	52	9	6	15	–12	42
Ryan Murray	48	0	14	14	+3	8
Nico Hischier	21	6	5	11	−9	4
Andreas Johnsson	50	5	6	11	–1	12
Will Butcher	23	1	10	11	−3	2
Nathan Bastian	41	3	7	10	0	21
Nick Merkley	27	2	8	10	–5	7
Mikhail Maltsev	33	6	3	9	−4	4
Jesper Boqvist	28	4	3	7	−5	2
Sami Vatanen	30	2	4	6	+2	18
Nikita Gusev	20	2	3	5	–12	0
Matt Tennyson	21	1	2	3	0	2
Marian Studenic	8	1	1	2	–2	4
Nolan Foote	6	1	1	2	–1	0
Connor Carrick	11	1	1	2	–2	5
Dmitri Kulikov‡	38	0	2	2	−4	26
Kevin Bahl	7	0	2	2	0	0
Tyce Thompson	7	0	1	1	–3	0
Jonas Siegenthaler†	8	0	0	0	–6	2
Colton White	2	0	0	0	–1	0
A. J. Greer†	1	0	0	0	0	7

Goaltenders

Regular season^[71]

Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	OT	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Mackenzie Blackwood	35	35	2,090:37	14	17	4	106	3.04	1,081	.902	1	0	0	0
Scott Wedgewood	16	15	888:02	3	8	3	46	3.11	458	.900	2	0	0	0
Eric Comrie	1	1	60:00	1	0	0	3	3.00	33	.909	0	0	0	0
Aaron Dell	7	5	319:10	1	5	0	22	4.14	154	.857	0	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.

Transactions

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

Trades

Date	Details		Ref
October 7, 2020 (2020-10-07)	To Arizona Coyotes 7th-round pick in 2020	To New Jersey Devils 7th-round pick in 2021	[72]
October 8, 2020 (2020-10-08)	To Columbus Blue Jackets 5th-round pick in 2021	To New Jersey Devils Ryan Murray	[73]
October 10, 2020 (2020-10-10)	To Toronto Maple Leafs Joey Anderson	To New Jersey Devils Andreas Johnsson	[74]
April 7, 2021 (2021-04-07)	To New York Islanders Kyle Palmieri Travis Zajac	To New Jersey Devils A. J. Greer Mason Jobst 1st-round pick in 2021 Conditional 4th-round pick in 2022	[75]
April 11, 2021 (2021-04-11)	To Washington Capitals Conditional 3rd-round pick in 2021	To New Jersey Devils Jonas Siegenthaler	[76]
April 12, 2021 (2021-04-12)	To Edmonton Oilers Dmitri Kulikov	To New Jersey Devils Conditional 4th-round pick in 2022	[77]

Free agents

Date	Player	Team	Contract term	Ref
October 9, 2020 (2020-10-09)	Brandon Baddock	to Montreal Canadiens	1-year	[78]
October 9, 2020 (2020-10-09)	Corey Crawford	from Chicago Blackhawks	2-year	[79]
October 9, 2020 (2020-10-09)	John Hayden	to Arizona Coyotes	1-year	[80]
October 9, 2020 (2020-10-09)	Dakota Mermis	to Minnesota Wild	1-year	[81]
October 9, 2020 (2020-10-09)	Kevin Rooney	to New York Rangers	2-year	[82]
October 11, 2020 (2020-10-11)	Scott Wedgewood	from Tampa Bay Lightning	1-year	[83]
October 22, 2020 (2020-10-22)	Dmitry Kulikov	from Winnipeg Jets	1-year	[84]
October 26, 2020 (2020-10-26)	Zane McIntyre	to Dinamo Riga (KHL)	1-year	[85]
January 7, 2021 (2021-01-07)	Sami Vatanen	from Carolina Hurricanes	1-year	[86]
January 11, 2021 (2021-01-11)	Fredrik Claesson	to San Jose Sharks	1-year	[87]
February 1, 2021 (2021-02-01)	Mirco Muller	to Leksands IF (SHL)	1-year	[88]
May 27, 2021 (2021-05-27)	Gilles Senn	to HC Davos (NL)	3-year	[89]

Waivers

Date	Player	Team	Ref
January 12, 2021 (2021-01-12)	Eric Comrie	from Winnipeg Jets	[90]
January 18, 2021 (2021-01-18)	Aaron Dell	from Toronto Maple Leafs	[91]
February 18, 2021 (2021-02-18)	Eric Comrie	to Winnipeg Jets	[92]
April 12, 2021 (2021-04-12)	Sami Vatanen	to Dallas Stars	[93]

Contract terminations Date Player Via Ref October 9, 2020 (2020-10-09) Cory Schneider Buyout [94] April 10, 2021 (2021-04-10) Nikita Gusev Mutual termination [95]

Retirement Date Player Ref January 9, 2021 (2021-01-09) Corey Crawford [96][97]

Signings

Date	Player	Contract term	Ref
September 30, 2020 (2020-09-30)	Josh Jacobs	1-year	[98]
September 30, 2020 (2020-09-30)	Brett Seney	1-year	[98]
September 30, 2020 (2020-09-30)	Ben Street	1-year	[98]
October 21, 2020 (2020-10-21)	Nick Merkley	1-year	[99]
October 29, 2020 (2020-10-29)	Colton White	1-year	[100]
December 23, 2020 (2020-12-23)	Mackenzie Blackwood	3-year	[101]
December 24, 2020 (2020-12-24)	Dawson Mercer	3-year	[102]
January 10, 2021 (2021-01-10)	Jesper Bratt	2-year	[103]
March 6, 2021 (2021-03-06)	Graeme Clarke	3-year	[104]
March 19, 2021 (2021-03-19)	Michael Vukojevic	3-year	[105]
March 24, 2021 (2021-03-24)	Tyce Thompson	2-year	[106]
March 25, 2021 (2021-03-25)	Aarne Talvitie	2-year	[107]
April 19, 2021 (2021-04-19)	Alexander Holtz	3-year	[108]
May 5, 2021 (2021-05-05)	Nico Daws	3-year	[109]
May 17, 2021 (2021-05-17)	Akira Schmid	3-year	[110]
June 15, 2021 (2021-06-15)	Nathan Bastian	2-year	[111]
July 6, 2021 (2021-07-06)	Scott Wedgewood	1-year	[112]

Draft picks

See also: List of New Jersey Devils 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.^[113] It was originally scheduled to be held on June 26–27, 2020, at the Bell Centre in Montreal,^[114][115] but was postponed on March 25, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the conclusion of the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs.^[116]

Round	#	Player	Pos	Nationality	College/junior/club team
1	7	Alexander Holtz	RW	Sweden	Djurgårdens IF (SHL)
1	181	Dawson Mercer	C	Canada	Chicoutimi Saguenéens (QMJHL)
1	202	Shakir Mukhamadullin	D	Russia	Salavat Yulaev Ufa (KHL)
3	843	Nico Daws	G	Canada	Guelph Storm (OHL)
4	99	Jaromir Pytlik	C	Czech Republic	Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHL)
4	1204	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)

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).^[117]
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).^[118]
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).^[119]
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.^[120]

Notes

1. Spectators were in attendance, but the exact number was not reported.