New Jersey Devils 2026-27 Player Projections: Nico Daws

2025-26 Performance
Expectations for 2026-27
Upcoming Milestones
2026-27 Projections
Other Projections

The New Jersey Devils are facing a ton of pressure heading into the 2026-27 season. They have a strong team, but last season, they crumbled and missed the postseason after a solid start. The Devils are determined to not let that happen again.

Each player has a role to fill, and as we gear up for the season, we can start predicting how each player will perform as we continue our Devils’ player projections, finally looking at the goaltending. Finally, we have Nico Daws.

2025-26 Performance

In the 2025-26 season, Daws only played in three games in New Jersey, earning two wins and one loss. He played in one game in October and closed out the Devils season in April.

For the majority of the season, he played with the Devils’ American Hockey League (AHL) team, the Utica Comets. There, he played in 44 games and ended the season with a record of 17-16-11. Daws was the starting goaltender for the Comets, making him a valuable member of the AHL lineup.

Expectations for 2026-27

The expectations for Daws will be different than what he is used to in the past. In the past four seasons since he has been with the Devils, Daws has played some games in the NHL but spent a majority of his time in the AHL with the Comets. This season, he will be the backup goaltender for the Devils.

During the offseason, the Devils traded Jacob Markstrom to the Florida Panthers. In exchange, the Devils received Jesper Boqvist, Evan Rodrigues, and Ben Steeves. The group consisted of three forwards, not much there in the goaltending department. The Devils did sign David Rittich during the offseason as well.

During training camp and preseason, Daws had to step up and really put his skills on display. In their second round of roster cuts, the Devils placed Rittich on waivers to assign him to the Comets. In addition, New Jersey claimed goaltender Remi Poirier off waivers from the Dallas Stars. Another player who has spent the entirety of his career in the AHL, Poirier has yet to play in his first NHL game.

With Jake Allen, Daws, and Poirier all on the Devils’ opening night roster, Allen’s experience makes him the clear starting goaltender. With Daws having the most experience to follow up, he will be Allen’s backup goaltender. The possibility is there for him to split time with Poirier, but the fact remains that Daws will be the primary backup.

Upcoming Milestones

Before the 2026-27 season begins, Daws is currently at 55 total NHL games played. If he splits the time in net evenly with Allen for the season, he will play in 42 games this season, which will put him just shy of his 100th NHL game.

It’s more likely that Allen will play the majority of the games this season, with Daws and Poirier coming in to split time and give Allen a break here and there. Unfortunately, Daws will have to wait until next season to reach the 100-goal mark.

2026-27 Projections

My bold prediction for Daws is that he will spend the entirety of the 2026-27 season in the NHL with the Devils. He has had to split his time in the past few seasons, but now is the time for him to truly shine in the NHL.

During training camp, general manager Sunny Mehta was asked about Daws’ development and stated, “There is nothing more frustrating than prospects who develop over time and then there’s no path for them. Now he has that path.” The Devils front office sees what Daws is capable of and is now finally giving him the chance to prove to the entire NHL what the Devils can already see in him.