2020–21 New Jersey Devils season

New Jersey Devils

Industry	Professional ice hockey
Founded	June 11, 1974 (1974-06-11) (as Colorado Rockies), relocated 1982 to New Jersey
Headquarters	Newark , United States
Area served	National Hockey League (NHL)

The 2020–21 season for the New Jersey Devils marked the team's 47th campaign in the National Hockey League and their 39th year after moving from Colorado prior to the 1982–83 NHL season. Owing to the COVID-19 outbreak and restrictions on international travel, the Devils competed in a condensed 56-game schedule, confined solely to the East Division—a temporary adjustment from their normal placement in the Metropolitan Division.

Attendance by fans at the Prudential Center was banned until March 1, 2021, due to state government mandates. Starting March 2, a limited number of spectators were permitted to attend games.

Following a 7–6 defeat against the Pittsburgh Penguins on April 20, the Devils were officially knocked out of playoff contention for the third year running.

Regular season

The regular season fixtures were announced on December 23, 2020.

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Player statistics

Data accurate as of May 11, 2021

Skaters

Regular season

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Template:Sortname	50	17	18	35	Template:Sort	10
Template:Sortname	56	11	20	31	Template:Sort	16
Template:Sortname	54	16	14	30	Template:Sort	4
Template:Sortname	46	7	23	30	+4	8
Template:Sortname	55	17	8	25	Template:Sort	29
Template:Sortname	50	8	17	25	Template:Sort	14
Template:Sortname	48	2	21	23	Template:Sort	22
Template:Sortname	56	3	18	21	Template:Sort	29
Template:Sortname	44	5	14	19	Template:Sort	26
Template:Sortname‡	33	7	11	18	0	6
Template:Sortname‡	34	8	9	17	Template:Sort	18
Template:Sortname	52	9	6	15	Template:Sort	42
Template:Sortname	48	0	14	14	+3	8

Goaltenders

Regular season

Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	OTL	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	"G"	"A"	"PIM"

|- | style="text-align:left;" |Template:Sortname ||35 ||35 ||2,090:37 ||14 ||17 ||4 ||106 ||3.04 ||1,081 ||.902 ||1 ||0 ||0 ||0

|- | style="text-align:left;" |Template:Sortname ||16 ||15 ||888:02 ||3 ||8 ||3 ||46 ||3.11 ||458 ||.900 ||2 ||0 ||0 ||0

|- | style="text-align:left;" |Template:Sortname ||1 ||1 ||60:00 ||1 ||0 ||0 ||3 ||3.00 ||33 ||.909 ||0 ||0 ||0 ||0

|- | style="text-align:left;" |Template:Sortname ||7 ||5 ||319:10 ||1 ||5 ||0 ||22 ||4.14 ||154 ||.857 ||0 ||0 ||0 ||0 |}

Transactions

Throughout the course of the 2020–21 NHL season, the Devils completed multiple significant roster moves.

Trades

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Free agents

Date	Player	Destination	Contract Length
2020-10-09	Brandon Baddock	joined Montreal Canadiens	1-year
2020-10-09	Corey Crawford	signed from Chicago Blackhawks	2-year
2020-10-09	John Hayden	transferred to Arizona Coyotes	1-year
2020-10-09	Dakota Mermis	moved to Minnesota Wild	1-year
2020-10-09	Kevin Rooney	acquired by New York Rangers	2-year
2020-10-11	Scott Wedgewood	obtained from Tampa Bay Lightning	1-year
2020-10-22	Dmitry Kulikov	joined from Winnipeg Jets	1-year
2020-10-26	Zane McIntyre	signed with Dinamo Riga (KHL)	1-year
2021-01-07	Sami Vatanen	acquired from Carolina Hurricanes	1-year
2021-01-11	Fredrik Claesson	transferred to San Jose Sharks	1-year
2021-02-01	Mirco Muller	signed by Leksands IF (SHL)	1-year
2021-05-27	Gilles Senn	moved to HC Davos (NL)	3-year

Waivers

Date	Player	Team	Reference
January 12, 2021 (2021-01-12)	Eric Comrie	claimed from Winnipeg Jets
January 18, 2021 (2021-01-18)	Aaron Dell	claimed from Toronto Maple Leafs
February 18, 2021 (2021-02-18)	Eric Comrie	returned to Winnipeg Jets
April 12, 2021 (2021-04-12)	Sami Vatanen	claimed by Dallas Stars

Contract terminations

Date	Player	Method	Reference
October 9, 2020 (2020-10-09)	Cory Schneider	Buyout completed
April 10, 2021 (2021-04-10)	Nikita Gusev	Agreement for mutual termination

Retirement

Date	Player	Reference
January 9, 2021 (2021-01-09)	Corey Crawford

Signings

Date	Player	Contract Duration	Reference
September 30, 2020 (2020-09-30)	Josh Jacobs	1-year
September 30, 2020 (2020-09-30)	Brett Seney	1-year
September 30, 2020 (2020-09-30)	Ben Street	1-year
October 21, 2020 (2020-10-21)	Nick Merkley	1-year
October 29, 2020 (2020-10-29)	Colton White	1-year
December 23, 2020 (2020-12-23)	Mackenzie Blackwood	3-year
December 24, 2020 (2020-12-24)	Dawson Mercer	3-year
January 10, 2021 (2021-01-10)	Jesper Bratt	2-year
March 6, 2021 (2021-03-06)	Graeme Clarke	3-year
March 19, 2021 (2021-03-19)	Michael Vukojevic	3-year
March 24, 2021 (2021-03-24)	Tyce Thompson	2-year
March 25, 2021 (2021-03-25)	Aarne Talvitie	2-year
April 19, 2021 (2021-04-19)	Alexander Holtz	3-year
May 5, 2021 (2021-05-05)	Nico Daws	3-year
May 17, 2021 (2021-05-17)	Akira Schmid	3-year
June 15, 2021 (2021-06-15)	Nathan Bastian	2-year
July 6, 2021 (2021-07-06)	Scott Wedgewood	1-year

Draft selections

Presented below are the New Jersey Devils' choices from the 2020 NHL entry draft, conducted on October 6–7, 2020. Due to the pandemic, the draft took place virtually, with teams participating through videoconferencing and Commissioner Gary Bettman delivering announcements from the NHL Network studios located in Secaucus, New Jersey. Initially planned for June 26–27, 2020, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, the event was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the prolonged duration of the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs.

Round	#	Player	Position	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 Devils obtained the first-round pick originally belonging to the Arizona Coyotes through a December 16, 2019 transaction 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 conditional selection.
2. Acquired on February 16, 2020, from the Vancouver Canucks, this first-round pick was part of a trade sending Blake Coleman to Tampa Bay for both Nolan Foote and this conditional draft choice.
3. The third-round pick from the Carolina Hurricanes was secured on February 24, 2020, in return for defenseman Sami Vatanen, with the Devils receiving Fredrik Claesson, Janne Kuokkanen, and this conditional pick.
4. This fourth-round pick originally belonged to the Boston Bruins and was acquired via a February 25, 2019 trade that sent forward Marcus Johansson to Boston in exchange for a second-round pick in 2019 and this selection.