The Devils have a lot to play heading into the playoffs

The New Jersey Devils are in the thick of their hunt for the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs as the season enters its final stages. 

While some teams have practically sealed their spots in the postseason, the Devils have been dealt a challenging bill of health. Still, they continue to keep themselves in the fight in the Metropolitan Division with 15 games remaining. 

Center Jack Hughes is set to miss the rest of the season and playoffs, and defenseman Dougie Hamilton is out for the rest of the regular season. Yet, head coach Sheldon Keefe sees his team heading into the final stretch with the postseason and potentially more within their sights.

On Friday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Frank Seravalli and Tyler Yaremchuk looked at teams that could have something to prove in the last bit of the regular season. 

Yaremchuk: “We just talked about sort of the bubble in the playoffs in the east, but let’s talk about some contenders who may be more along the lines of locks to make the playoffs but maybe still have something here in their final 16-17 games of the regular season… the team I had circled are the Carolina Hurricanes.”

Seravalli: “I’m going to go with the Devils, the likely team that is [Carolina’s] first-round matchup. We know that Jack Hughes is out, we know that Dougie Hamilton is done for the regular season, but when I look at that team, there was so much more hope and promise.

“At one point earlier in the season, people were looking at the Devils as a legitimate Stanley Cup threat. They have a chance to make some noise based purely on just what you were talking about. 

“The Carolina Hurricanes, especially after this Mikko Rantanen trade, are a team that can be beaten in round one. Can you find a way to play better hockey down the stretch? Defend better? The funny thing about the Devils season is their goaltending has been so much better than it has been at any other point during Tom Fitzgerald’s tenure, and yet, now all of a sudden, they’re missing the secondary scoring punch. 

“They’re missing some of the experience they had on the back end earlier in the year. So they’ve got an opportunity here to play better and put themselves in a position to make some noise and create an upset that could provide them some momentum.”

Catch the full segment and episode from Friday’s show below.