Camp Opens With No Answer in Net

The Devils head into training camp having moved Markstrom to Florida in June and watched the veteran goaltending market close around them since. Michael Hutchinson retired. Another option signed overseas. The pool narrowed, and New Jersey didn't land anyone out of it.

The timing matters. This is a team that finished 42–40 last season with a goal differential of minus-24 — a record built more on winning the close ones than on outplaying opponents. That kind of overperformance doesn't repeat on its own, and it certainly doesn't repeat without a reliable presence in net. The Devils know this. They also dealt Simon Nemec, who posted 22 points in 37 games from the blue line, so the defensive structure in front of whoever starts in goal is also in transition.

The forward additions — Mantha, Evangelista, Gritsyuk locked up long-term — reflect a genuine effort to build something more sustainable offensively. That work is real. But goaltending is where close games get decided, and right now the Devils don't have a clear answer there. Camp will tell us whether one exists internally. My read is that it probably doesn't, at least not yet.