Devils News & Rumors: Daws & Waivers Rules, Injury Updates, Win Streak

The New Jersey Devils have been firing on all cylinders to start the 2025-26 season. After dropping their first contest in Carolina, they’ve rattled off six in a row — five of those six against teams who finished in the top 12 of last season’s standings.

Related: Devils’ Assistant Brad Shaw Making Immediate Positive Impact

In this edition of Devils News & Rumors, we take a glance at the waivers rules surrounding Nico Daws‘ call-up, provide some injury updates regarding Jacob Markstrom and Cody Glass, and dive into some numbers from this current win streak.

Will Nico Daws Need Waivers Once Markstrom is Healthy!?

The fact of the matter is the Devils got extremely lucky when Daws went unclaimed on waivers a few weeks back. He stopped a remarkable 30 of 31 (.968%) during Wednesday night’s 4-1 victory over the Minnesota Wild. While Jake Allen has been phenomenal in his temporary starting gig, having Daws to take some of the load off Allen is huge.

Daws’ great performance had some fans worried about potentially losing him on waivers. Here is the official rule, according to PuckPedia: He does not have to clear waivers unless he’s “played in 10 or more cumulative NHL Games or been on an NHL roster for 30 cumulative days.”

Nico Daws New Jersey Devils
Nico Daws, New Jersey Devils (Jess Starr/The Hockey Writers)

For goaltenders, being dressed (even if backup) counts towards the 10-game limit. Daws was officially added to the roster on Oct. 15, and the Devils have played four games since. This means he would only have to go through the waivers process if Nov. 2 (10th game since call-up) comes and he’s still on the roster. That leads to the next point, which is very relevant…

Injury Updates: Markstrom and Glass

For the first time since his injury, Jacob Markstrom joined the Devils for this morning’s skate. He will practice again tomorrow and is getting close, according to head coach Sheldon Keefe.

NJ.com’s Ryan Novozinsky said he was told the injury was “very minor”, thus he was unsurprised by the news. As long as Allen stays healthy, Markstrom would have nine days to return before waivers for Daws would come into play. Barring a setback, it’s almost certain he’ll return way sooner than that, meaning Daws can be sent down and remain in the organization.

Keefe also mentioned that Cody Glass will “miss some time”, explaining that his upper body injury, which was once thought to be day-to-day, is no longer considered as such. “We’re hoping it’s no more than a couple of weeks,” said Keefe.

Win Streak Up to 6 Games, *Tough* Sharks Test?

The Devils did not win more than three consecutive games at any point during the last two seasons. Just seven games in, they’ve doubled that total (6), and they’re in prime position to extend it to seven against a league-worst San Jose Sharks team that played past regulation last night.

The last time they had a win streak this long was the back-half of their miraculous 13-game streak in 2022-23: 1,068 days ago. But they can’t take the Sharks for granted: last season’s Sharks won just 24.3% of their games, yet took down the Devils — in regulation — in both matchups. The Devils haven’t beat the Sharks at home in 1,098 days…and are just 4-6-0 against them in their last ten.

As the 2025-26 season moves along, be sure to continue following The Hockey Writers as your source for news, updates, and more from around the NHL and the hockey world.

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