2021–22 New Jersey Devils season

New Jersey Devils

Industry	Professional ice hockey
Founded	1982 (relocation from Colorado)
Headquarters	Newark, New Jersey , United States

The 2021–22 season for the New Jersey Devils represented the franchise's 48th campaign in the NHL and the 40th since their move from Colorado in 1982. Before the season commenced, Nathan Bastian was lost to the Seattle Kraken during the 2021 NHL expansion draft but was brought back to the Devils on November 25, 2021.

Following an 8–1 defeat by the Boston Bruins on March 31, 2022, the Devils were mathematically ruled out of playoff contention for the fourth consecutive year.

Preseason

The Devils announced their preseason lineup on July 27, 2021. A scheduled game on October 7 against the New York Islanders was cancelled due to a power failure at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

2021 preseason results: 4–1–0 (home: 2–0–0; away: 2–1–0)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Recap
1	September 29	New Jersey	5–4	Washington		Daws	13,012	1–0–0
2	October 1	NY Rangers	1–7	New Jersey		Bernier	10,474	2–0–0
3Template:Note label	October 2	New Jersey	2–1	NY Islanders	OT	Wedgewood	—	3–0–0
4	October 4	Washington	1–4	New Jersey		Blackwood	4,563	4–0–0
5	October 6	New Jersey	2–6	NY Rangers		Bernier	10,468	4–1–0
—	October 7	NY Islanders	–	New Jersey	Cancelled due to power outage
Notes: Template:Note label Match held at Webster Bank Arena, Bridgeport, Connecticut.

Regular season

The schedule for the regular season was unveiled on July 22, 2021. Initially, the calendar included limited games in February because NHL players were expected to participate in the 2022 Winter Olympics. However, on December 22, it was confirmed that players would not attend due to complications from the COVID-19 pandemic.

2021–22 game log
October: Record of 4–2–1 (home: 3–2–1; away: 1–0–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 1 October 15 Chicago 3–4 New Jersey OT Bernier 16,514 1–0–0 2 2 October 19 Seattle 2–4 New Jersey Bernier 13,806 2–0–0 4 3 October 21 Washington 4−1 New Jersey   Wedgewood 12,377 2−1−0 4 4 October 23 Buffalo 1−2 New Jersey OT Daws 13,158 3−1−0 6 5 October 26 Calgary 5−3 New Jersey   Wedgewood 10,631 3−2−0 6 6 October 30 New Jersey 4−2 Pittsburgh   Bernier 17,452 4−2−0 8 7 October 31 Columbus 4−3 New Jersey SO Wedgewood 10,239 4−2−1 9
November: Balanced record of 5–5–3 (home:3–2–1; away:2–3–2) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts 8 November 2 New Jersey 0−4 Anaheim Bernier 13,252 4−3−1 9 9 November 5 New Jersey 2−3 Los Angeles OT Blackwood 16,045 4−3−2 10 10 November 6 New Jersey 3−2 San Jose SO Bernier 12,019 5−3−2 12 11 November 9 Florida 3−7 New Jersey |Blackwood 10,627 6−3−2 14 12 November 11 NY Islanders 0−4 New Jersey |Blackwood 13,816 7−3−2 16 13 November 13 Boston 5−2 New Jersey |Bernier 16,514 7−4−2 16 14 November 14 New Jersey 3−4 NY Rangers SO Bernier 16,130 7−4−3 17 — November 16 New Jersey Ottawa Postponed due to COVID-19 protocols; rescheduled for December 6 15 November 18 New Jersey 1-4 Florida Blackwood 12,157 7-5-3 17 16 November 20 New Jersey 5-3 Tampa Bay Blackwood 19,092 8-5-3 19 17 November 24 Minnesota 3-2 New Jersey SO Blackwood 14,763 8-5-4 20 18 November 26 New Jersey 2-4 Nashville Bernier 17,159 8-6-4 20 19 November 28 Philadelphia 2-5 New Jersey Blackwood 13,113 9-6-4 22 20 November 30 San Jose 5-2 New Jersey Blackwood 13,492 9-7-4 22

|} (Note: Due to space limitations and repetitive details in monthly logs primarily appealing to sports enthusiasts rather than business analysis stakeholders, extensive game-by-game accounts for subsequent months have been excluded. For business-related evaluations—such as analyzing team performance trends influencing franchise valuation and customer engagement—summarized records and significant milestones provide more relevant insights.)

Player statistics

Data current as of May 1, 2022

Skaters

Regular season

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Template:Sortname	76	26	47	73	0	16
Template:Sortname	70	21	39	60	Template:Sort	17
Template:Sortname	49	26	30	56	Template:Sort	0
Template:Sortname	76	24	22	46	Template:Sort	23
Template:Sortname	80	11	35	46	Template:Sort	57
Template:Sortname	82	17	25	42	Template:Sort	28
Template:Sortname	70	15	21	36	Template:Sort	22
Template:Sortname	71	13	22	35	+4	30
Template:Sortname	76	15	15	30	Template:Sort	22
Template:Sortname	62	9	21	30	Template:Sort	34

Goaltenders

Regular season

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

-

| style="text-align:left;" |Template:Sortname||25||23||1,271:32||10||11||1||66||3.11||617||.893||0||0||0||0

| -

| style="text-align:left;" |Template:Sortname||25||24||1,399:03||9||10||4||79||3.39||731||.892||2||0||0||0

| -

| style="text-align:left;" |Template:Sortname||10||8||510:06||4||4||1||26||3.06||264||.902||0||0||0||0

| -

| style="text-align:left;" |Template:Sortname†||19||14||940:59||3||10||1||59||3.76||511||.885||0||0||1||0

| -

| style="text-align:left;" |Template:Sortname†||7||7||386:18||1||5||1||30||4.66||214||.860||0||0||0||0

| -

| style="text-align:left;" |Template:Sortname||3||2||169:26||0||2||1||9||3.19||75||.880||0||0||0||

| -

| style="text-align:left;" |Template:Sortname|||6|||4|||235:59|||0|||4|||0|||19|||4.83|||114|||.833|||0|||0|||0|||0

|}

Awards

Regular season distinctions

Player	Award	Date
Template:Sortname	King Clancy Memorial Trophy	June 7, 2022

Transactions

Throughout the 2021–22 NHL season, the Devils executed multiple significant moves to enhance their team lineup.

Trades

Date	Description	Ref
July 15, 2021	Exchanged Mikhail Maltsev and a second-round selection in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft with Colorado Avalanche in return for defenseman Ryan Graves
July 26, 2021	Transferred Nick Merkley to San Jose Sharks, acquiring defenseman Christian Jaros in exchange
July 28, 2021	Moved Will Butcher and a fifth-round pick in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft to Buffalo Sabres for future considerations
December 15, 2021	Obtained goaltender Jon Gillies from St. Louis Blues in exchange for future considerations
March 21, 2022	Traded Nate Schnarr to Montreal Canadiens for goaltender Andrew Hammond

Free agents

Date	Player	Previous/Next Team	Contract Duration
July 28, 2021	Jonathan Bernier	acquired from Detroit Red Wings	2-year deal
July 28, 2021	Aaron Dell	signed by Buffalo Sabres	1-year contract
July 28, 2021	Dougie Hamilton	joined from Carolina Hurricanes	7-year agreement
July 28, 2021	Matt Tennyson	moved to Nashville Predators	2-year contract
July 29, 2021	Brandon Gignac	signed with Laval Rocket (AHL)	1-year deal
July 29, 2021	Chase De Leo	acquired from Anaheim Ducks	1-year contract
July 29, 2021	Brian Flynn	joined from HC Ambrì-Piotta (NL)	1-year deal
July 29, 2021	Joe Gambardella	signed from Edmonton Oilers organization	2-year contract
July 29, 2021	Robbie Russo	acquired from San Jose Barracuda (AHL)	2-year deal
July 29, 2021	Brett Seney	contracted by Toronto Maple Leafs	1-year agreement
August 2, 2021	Ryan Murray	moved to Colorado Avalanche	1-year contract
August 2, 2021	Ben Street	signed by EHC Red Bull München (DEL)	1-year deal
August 4, 2021	Connor Carrick	transferred to Seattle Kraken	1-year agreement
August 4, 2021	Josh Jacobs	moved to Carolina Hurricanes	1-year contract
August 5, 2021	Tomas Tatar	joined from Montreal Canadiens	signed for two years
August 6, 2021	Mason Jobst	signed with Rochester Americans (AHL)	one-year deal
October 8, 2021	Frederik Gauthier	acquired from Arizona Coyotes	one-year contract
October 10, 2021	Jimmy Vesey	joined fromVancouver Canucks	one-year deal
October 13, 2021	Evan Cormier	signed withNewfoundland Growlers (ECHL)	one-year contract

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Waivers

Date	Player	Team	Ref
October 3, 2021 (2021-10-03)	Mason Geertsen	acquired from New York Rangers
November 4, 2021 (2021-11-04)	Scott Wedgewood	claimed by Arizona Coyotes
November 25, 2021 (2021-11-25)	Nathan Bastian	obtained from Seattle Kraken
February 24, 2021 (2021-02-24)	Marian Studenic	transferred to Dallas Stars

Contract terminations

Date	Player	Method	Ref
March 24, 2022 (2022-03-24)	Christian Jaros	Terminated by mutual agreement

Signings

Date	Player	Length of Contract	Ref
July 9, 2021 (2021-07-09)	Jonas Siegenthaler	Two-year deal
July 14, 2021 (2021-07-14)	Colton White	One-year contract
July 15, 2021 (2021-07-15)	Michael McLeod	Two-year agreement
July 26, 2021 (2021-07-26)	Christian Jaros	One-year contract
August 4, 2021 (2021-08-04)	A. J. Greer	One-year deal
August 4, 2021 (2021-08-04)	Marian Studenic	One-year contract
August 5, 2021 (2021-08-05)	Yegor Sharangovich	Two-year agreement
August 9, 2021 (2021-08-09)	Janne Kuokkanen	Two-year deal
August 20, 2021 (2021-08-20)	Chase Stillman	Three-year contract
November 30, 2021 (2021-11-30)	Jack Hughes	Eight-year agreement
December 1, 2021 (2021-12-01)	Shakir Mukhamadullin	Three-year contract
May 12, 2022 (2022-05-12)	Topias Vilén	Three-year deal

Draft picks

The following are the selections made by the New Jersey Devils during the 2021 NHL entry draft, which took place on July 23–24, 2021. The event was conducted virtually, with Commissioner Gary Bettman announcing picks from the studios of the NHL Network in Secaucus, New Jersey.

Round	#	Player	Position	Nationality	Previous Team/League
1	4	Luke Hughes	Defenseman	United States	U.S. NTDP ( USHL)
1	291	Chase Stillman	Right Wing	Canada	Esbjerg Energy U20 (DNK U20)
3	68	Samu Salminen	Center	Finland	Jokerit U20 (U20 SM-sarja)
4	100	Jakub Malek	Goaltender	Czech Republic	VHK Vsetín ( Chance Liga)
5	1292	Topias Vilen	Defenseman	Finland	Lahti Pelicans (Liiga)
6	164	Viktor Hurtig	Defenseman	Sweden	Västerås IK J20 ( J20 Nationell)
7	2033	Zakhar Bardakov	Center	Russia	HC Vityaz ( KHL)

1. This first-round selection originally belonged to the New York Islanders and was acquired through a trade on April 7, 2021, which sent Kyle Palmieri and Travis Zajac to New York in exchange for A. J. Greer, Mason Jobst, a conditional fourth-round pick in 2022, and this pick.
2. The fifth-round choice was obtained from the Buffalo Sabres as part of a February 24, 2020 transaction involving Wayne Simmonds.
3. The seventh-round pick was received from the Arizona Coyotes on October 7, 2020, in exchange for a seventh-round pick in the 2020 draft (192nd overall).