Devils' Midseason-Plus Awards
With hockey on pause for the Four Nations Tournament, now is as good a time as any to give out some midseason Devils awards.
The season is in respite for the Four Nations Tournament — which has been better than advertised, I must say — and with that, it’s time to do some “Midseason” NHL Awards for the New Jersey Devils. They’ve played 57 games so far, which is a smidge below 70% of the season, so I suppose it’s better labeled as midseason-plus.
Without further ado, let’s hand out some awards for this point in the 2024-25 campaign:
Hart Memorial Trophy
“Presented to the player adjudged to be the most valuable to his team.”
First Place: Nico Hischier
Hischier put the team on his back early in the season, at one point leading the NHL in goals while the rest of the team’s stars got off to slower starts. His blistering pace has since tempered off, but he’s still tied for the team lead in goals (24) and has been the Devils’ most valuable player in my opinion.
From an even-strength standpoint, Hischier’s +11.7 offensive expected goals above replacement (xGAR) is comfortably first on the team despite missing a handful of games. His actual offensive goals above replacement (GAR) is a bit lower down the rankings at 7th, but that’s still more than respectable and he’s second on the team in total GAR. Hischier’s total xGAR of 22.1 leads the team and is third in the entire NHL.
It’s the little things, too. He even sports the second-best penalty GAR in the league — he has just 12 penalty minutes on the season and is one of the league’s best at drawing penalties. Who’s going to complain about the Devils’ power play getting more opportunities?
The other part of why I selected Hischier for the Hart Trophy is the team’s dependence on him. He’s an integral part of the team’s league-breaking power play (and actually leads all Devils players in power-play xGAR), is on the first penalty-killing unit, and makes their center depth look a lot less scary when he’s in the lineup. You could see how uncomfortable the team was when they had to ice Erik Haula in his slot and give Justin Dowling 3C time. Hell, I’m of the opinion that faceoffs don’t really matter — except for a few niche situations — but it was painful to watch the team struggle in that facet without him in the lineup. He simply cannot come back soon enough.
Runner-Up: Jack Hughes
The Devils’ leader in points and face of the franchise, Jack Hughes is having yet another spectacular campaign, falling just short of being named the MVP of the middle-plus of the season. Pacing for 93.5 points, he could become the first Devil in history to eclipse triple digits if he catches fire down the stretch, which, knowing him, isn’t out of the realm of possibility.
There’s a legitimate argument for him to be the winner of this award — it was more of a coin flip to me than anything else — considering his statistical profile under the hood as well. Of Devils regulars, he has the second-best expected goal share (xGF%) behind Timo Meier and is third in expected goals for per 60 minutes (xGF/60) behind Meier and Hischier. Relative to the rest of the Devils, he’s second in xGAR (20.1) — which is fourth in the NHL — and first in actual GAR (14.1).
On top of that, he’s been a defensive demon this year and has taken strides in that aspect of his game, turning himself into a legitimate two-way star. I’ll get a bit more into that below…
Selke Trophy
“Awarded to the forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game.”
First Place: Jack Hughes
It’s been a hell of a year for the Devils’ most skilled player. I touched on it above, but what has truly impressed me this year is his development on the defensive side of things.
Of the Devils’ top-six players, Jack is leading the way in expected goals against per 60 minutes (xGA/60), with New Jersey having allowed just 2.28 xGA/60 when he’s on the ice. Among all forwards with at least 800 minutes of 5v5 hockey, of which there are 32, Jack ranks third in this metric behind only Tim Stützle and Brandon Hagel.
In terms of xGAR, Jack is leading the Devils’ forwards in even-strength defense with +4.9, which is also seventh in the NHL among forwards. It’s matched with the eye test, too. He’s been much more active in the defensive zone and has been an expert at disrupting the flow of play for the opposition. It’s bled over into the penalty kill, where he has legitimately the best results in the league.
If you want to read on just how dominant Jack has been on the penalty kill and how exactly he’s been able to be so great at it, here’s a full deep-dive on it.
Even in the Four Nations Tournament, Jack’s defensive dominance has shown. What he’s been able to accomplish this season from a two-way growth standpoint is simply amazing.
Runner-Up: Nate Bastian
I’m sure after seeing Hughes take home first place here, you expected to see Hischier’s name as a surefire runner-up, but the truth is that Devils fans have a tendency to overrate Hischier’s defensive game. This isn’t to say that it’s bad — Hischier is actually having a pretty good defensive season while playing against the opposition’s best, but he’s still “just” above average and not excellent.
Enter Nate Bastian, who is, has been, and always will be, a defensive stalwart.
When Bastian is on the ice, nothing happens. Like, literally nothing. On either side of the ice:
This RAPM chart shows that, in isolation, Bastian is a major net negative offensively and a major net positive defensively. This holds true for his other under-the-hood metrics, too. Of the 369 forwards who have logged at least 350 minutes of 5v5 ice time, Bastian’s xGA/60 of 1.98 ranks 15th in the league, while his xGF/60 of 2.03 ranks 323rd. By all accounts, he’s a defensive specialist. Sure, Justin Dowling has an xGA/60 of 1.97, which is ever-so-slightly better than Bastian, but Dowling’s RAPM chart tells me that it’s largely a product of Bastian’s effect on the ice.
Bastian is also second on the team in even-strength defensive xGAR and first in actual even-strength defensive GAR. He’s playing against softer competition, sure, but the point of the Selke trophy is to assess the defensive aptitude of a player, and he’s been dynamite in that regard.
Norris Trophy
“Awarded to the defense player who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-round ability in the position.”
First Place: Jonas Siegenthaler
Siegenthaler’s injury hurts more than a lot of people realize. He’s been the league’s best defensive defenseman, and it isn’t even close. He’s first in the entire NHL in both defensive xGAR (10.0) and GAR (13.3). For comparison, second place in defensive xGAR is Toronto’s Chris Tanev with 8.5, and second place in defensive GAR is Dallas’ Esa Lindell with 9.5.
There are 72 defensemen who have logged at least 900 5v5 minutes this season. Siegenthaler ranks first in xGA/60 with a mind-bogglingly low 1.92. Of the 71 who have logged at least 100 minutes of penalty-killing time, Siegenthaler again ranks first in xGA/60. By all accounts, he’s been the defensive guru that he was prior to last season. Having him under contract for just $3.4 million until 2028 is a godsend.
Runner-Up: Dougie Hamilton
Hamilton has garnered a ton of flack from the anti-analytic, pro-grit crew in Devils fandom this season, and it honestly makes no sense to me. I think it’s partly due to that Damon Severson-esque tendency to mess up glaringly when he does fumble a play, but my eyes haven’t been telling me he’s been bad, either.
In fact, the story this season is much of the same for Hamilton as it has been throughout his career: elite offensive playdriving, elite power play quarterbacking, and middling defense. The points might not be there as much this season, but that’s a product of him being snakebitten and playing the fewest amount of minutes he’s played since 2018-19.
At even-strength, he drives play by pinching aggressively to maintain possession of the puck. His slap shot is second to none in the NHL (it might not be as hard as Evan Bouchard’s, but it’s typically more accurate and he can place it better), so defenders are drawn into his shooting lane which thus opens up more space for his teammates. He leads the Devils in even-strength offensive GAR by a country mile and is top-three in the NHL in that regard, behind Thomas Chabot and Quinn Hughes.
And then there’s the power play dominance. He can — and should — be regarded as the league’s best power-play quarterback this season, and for good reason. As I noted above, his shot is a huge threat to defenses, so a team’s penalty kill always keeps one player in Dougie’s shooting lane. This gives more space for the flanks (Jack and Bratt) to do whatever they want to, and considering they’re two of the best skaters and passers in the NHL, “whatever they want to” usually generates a high-danger, cross-ice pass. When you add power-play GAR to the mix, Dougie profiles as the best offensive defenseman in the NHL this season.
Calder Trophy (Devils Edition)
“Awarded to the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition.”
Because the Devils haven’t really had any rookies play for them much this season (sorry Seamus), I’m modifying the Calder Trophy to include players who have not played for the Devils in at least five seasons, which, considering the complexion of the team is very different, I think is fair. Hopefully, I’ll be able to do a true Calder award for the team next season.
First Place: Stefan Noesen
If this award were given out solely for 5v5 play, Noesen wouldn’t be in the running at all. Half of his 18 goals have been on the man advantage and he hasn’t scored once at 5v5 since the calendar flipped to 2025. Still, he sits third on the team in goals and sixth in total points (31).
The selling point, to me, is what he’s allowed the Devils to unlock from a power-play standpoint. He’s a net-front presence like no other in the NHL, creating chaos and giving defenders a reason to give space to the other members of the Devils’ top power-play unit. Because they’re worried about what Noesen will do in front of the net, they usually hold pretty tight to him in coverage, letting Jack and Bratt do what they do on the flanks and give Hischier a bit of extra leeway in the bumper. Pair that with the fact that Dougie is a threat from the other side of the O-zone and it’s a recipe for success. It’s pretty remarkable how much they respect Noesen as a chaos goblin on PP1 and I implore you to really hone in on him and how defenders respect him the next time they get a power play opportunity.
His effect on the Devils’ power play alone warrants him getting first place for this award — his isolated impact on the PP gives the Devils nearly a full xG per 60 minutes, and it’s almost completely from the front of the net.
Runner-Up: Paul Cotter
When Tom Fitzgerald traded Alex Holtz and Akira Schmid for Paul Cotter this past offseason, I thought it was a generally underwhelming move. I didn’t know much about Cotter other than the fact that he was a bottom-sixer and that he could very occasionally score a pretty goal that showed up on my Instagram feed. Flash forward to now and I truly couldn’t be happier with his game. He is one of two consistent bottom-six players who can actually provide a smidgen of offense and playdriving.
In fact, he has the third-highest even-strength offensive xGAR on the team behind Hischier and Hughes, sporting a very respectable +5.3. He’s doing this while placing third on the forward group in even-strength defensive xGAR as well, behind Hughes and Bastian. He’s honestly been very impressive, and I’d like to see Fitzgerald keep him around long-term after his contract expires in 2025-26.
Vezina Trophy
“Awarded to the goaltender adjudged to be the best at his position.”
First Place: Jacob Markstrom
When Markstrom went down with injury, I panicked a little bit. He’d been playing out of his mind for a while and was keeping the Devils in games when they had no business being competitive.
He’d been holding that fort down for two months by the time he got hurt. After a middling October and November in which he floated around the .900 SV% mark, he really turned things up a notch from December onward, boasting a ridiculous .937 SV% in the twelfth month and a .910 in January. He lost just two games — one in regulation — in December and though he lost five games in January, each were decided by one goal and the Devils were largely getting outplayed for the duration of the month.
His usually up-and-down career has seemingly flatlined this season, building on an impressive 2023-24 campaign in Calgary that saw him finish top-10 in goals saved above expected (GSAx). This season, he ranks 13th in the metric, having saved 11.3 more goals than he was expected to in 36 games. Among all starting goaltenders (35+ games), he ranks seventh. His 2.20 GAA is the lowest of his career, though that’s likely a byproduct of playing behind a defense that is stronger than he has ever played for. I truly cannot wait for him to come back after the Four Nations tournament ends.
Runner-Up: Jake Allen
To me, it was a genuinely close race between Allen and Markstrom for first place, but two things set the two apart for me — workload and consistency. Allen has been superb of late, stepping in for the injured Markstrom quite nicely and shooting up the GSAx ranks as a byproduct of it.
At this point in the season, I think I’m confident in saying that Allen has been the best backup goalie in the NHL. His +16.1 GSAx on the season ranks fifth in the entire league, and his GSAx/60 ranks second, narrowly trailing who I would consider to be the best goalie in the league in 2024-25 in Logan Thompson.
As I said, though, the difference is workload and consistency. He’s played 16 fewer games than Markstrom despite the latter going down with injury in mid-January and he has had several really, really bad outings, including one in which he gave up eight goals against the Tampa Bay Lightning way back in October.
Still, the point stands that he’s been excellent for the vast majority of the season, and I would be supremely disappointed if he was not offered a one-year deal before his current contract expires.
First All-Star Team
One left-winger, one center, one right-winger, one of each handed defenseman, and a goalie.
Paul Cotter - Jack Hughes - Jesper Bratt
Jonas Siegenthaler - Dougie Hamilton
Jacob Markstrom
Second All-Star Team
Timo Meier - Nico Hischier - Stefan Noesen
Luke Hughes - Johnathan Kovacevic
Jake Allen