In the 17th of a 32 part series leading up to the start of the 2025-26 National Hockey League regular season, we will look at the key off-season transactions made by all NHL organizations with an overall grade. Here are the New Jersey Devils.
Throughout the entire decade of the 1990s, and the first half of the 2000s, the Devils identity was defense and preventing their opponents from scoring. It helped that the Devils had a Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender in Martin Brodeur, and Hockey Hall of Fame defensemen Scott Niedermayer and Scott Stevens, but the Devils executed a game plan laid out by general manager Lou Lamoriello and head coach Jacques Lemaire to absolute consistent perfection.
As we approach the 2025-26 NHL season, it is the bottom six forward group that the Devils tried to upgrade. The goal among the bottom six forwards is to prevent their opponents from scoring. Let’s take a look at the two new Devils–Connor Brown of Toronto, Ontario and Evgenii Dadonov of Chelyabinsk, Russia.
Connor Brown
Brown signed a four-year deal worth $12 million on July 1. He is joining his fifth NHL team after four seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs (2015 to 2019), three seasons with the Ottawa Senators (2019 to 2022), one season with the Washington Capitals (2022 to 2023), and two seasons with the Edmonton Oilers (2023 to 2025).
Last season for the Oilers, Brown had 13 goals and 17 goals for 30 points in 82 games. He was a +9 with 10 penalty minutes, two shorthanded points, four game-winning goals, 123 shots on goal, 16 faceoff wins, 37 blocked shots, 19 hits, 26 takeaways, and 55 giveaways. Brown’s shorthanded points came in a 6-2 Oilers win over the New York Rangers on November 23, and in a 7-1 Oilers win over the Minnesota Wild on December 12. Brown is projected to be on the third line with Gritsyuk and Dawson Mercer.
Evgenii Dadonov
Dadonov signed one-year deal worth $1 million on July 1. He is joining his sixth NHL team after six seasons with the Florida Panthers in two different time periods (2009 to 2012 and 2017 and 2020), one season with the Ottawa Senators (2020 to 2021), one season with the Vegas Golden Knights (2021 to 2022), one season with the Montreal Canadiens (2022 to 2023), and the last three seasons with the Dallas Stars (2023 to 2025).
Last season for the Stars, Dadonov had 20 goals and 20 assists for 40 points in 80 games. He was a +1 with 10 penalty minutes, seven power-play points, two game-winning goals, 123 shots on goal, 39 blocked shots, 44 hits, nine takeaways and 66 giveaways. The game-winning goals came in a 2-0 Stars win over the St. Louis Blues on January 25 and in a 5-3 Stars win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on February 2. This season, Dadonov is projected to be on the fourth line with Paul Cotter and Cody Glass.
Projected Grade
The Devils tried to upgrade their defensive forward group. However, in the process, they upgraded their offense too. Brown and Dadonov combined for 70 points last season. My grade for the Devils offseason is a B. The reason why it is not an A is because Dadonov had a poor takeaway-giveaway ratio last season of -57.
