# 2018–19 New Jersey Devils season

The 2018–19 New Jersey Devils season was the 45th season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on June 11, 1974, and 37th season since the franchise relocated from Colorado prior to the 1982–83 NHL season. The Devils were eliminated from playoff contention on March 15, 2019, despite defeating the Vancouver Canucks. After missing the playoffs, the Devils received the first overall selection in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, which was the second time in three years for the team, and selected Jack Hughes.

## Standings
### Divisional standings

Metropolitan Division :
| Pos | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | ROW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | y – Washington Capitals | 82 | 48 | 26 | 8 | 44 | 278 | 249 | +29 | 104 |
| 2 | x – New York Islanders | 82 | 48 | 27 | 7 | 43 | 228 | 196 | +32 | 103 |
| 3 | x – Pittsburgh Penguins | 82 | 44 | 26 | 12 | 42 | 273 | 241 | +32 | 100 |
| 4 | x – Carolina Hurricanes | 82 | 46 | 29 | 7 | 44 | 245 | 223 | +22 | 99 |
| 5 | x – Columbus Blue Jackets | 82 | 47 | 31 | 4 | 45 | 258 | 232 | +26 | 98 |
| 6 | Philadelphia Flyers | 82 | 37 | 37 | 8 | 34 | 244 | 281 | −37 | 82 |
| 7 | New York Rangers | 82 | 32 | 36 | 14 | 26 | 227 | 272 | −45 | 78 |
| 8 | New Jersey Devils | 82 | 31 | 41 | 10 | 28 | 222 | 275 | −53 | 72 |

### Conference standings

Eastern Conference Wild Card :
| Pos | Div | Team v t e | GP | W | L | OTL | ROW | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | ME | x – Carolina Hurricanes | 82 | 46 | 29 | 7 | 44 | 245 | 223 | +22 | 99 |
| 2 | ME | x – Columbus Blue Jackets | 82 | 47 | 31 | 4 | 45 | 258 | 232 | +26 | 98 |
| 3 | AT | Montreal Canadiens | 82 | 44 | 30 | 8 | 41 | 249 | 236 | +13 | 96 |
| 4 | AT | Florida Panthers | 82 | 36 | 32 | 14 | 33 | 267 | 280 | −13 | 86 |
| 5 | ME | Philadelphia Flyers | 82 | 37 | 37 | 8 | 34 | 244 | 281 | −37 | 82 |
| 6 | ME | New York Rangers | 82 | 32 | 36 | 14 | 26 | 227 | 272 | −45 | 78 |
| 7 | AT | Buffalo Sabres | 82 | 33 | 39 | 10 | 28 | 226 | 271 | −45 | 76 |
| 8 | AT | Detroit Red Wings | 82 | 32 | 40 | 10 | 29 | 227 | 277 | −50 | 74 |
| 9 | ME | New Jersey Devils | 82 | 31 | 41 | 10 | 28 | 222 | 275 | −53 | 72 |
| 10 | AT | Ottawa Senators | 82 | 29 | 47 | 6 | 29 | 242 | 302 | −60 | 64 |

## Schedule and results
### Preseason

The preseason schedule was published on June 19, 2018.

### Regular season

The regular season schedule was released on June 21, 2018.
2018–19 game log :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)
Notes:
$^a$ Game was played at Scandinavium in Gothenburg, Sweden. :

## Player statistics

As of April 6, 2019

### Skaters

Regular season :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| Kyle Palmieri | 74 | 27 | 23 | 50 | –9 | 42 |
| Nico Hischier | 69 | 17 | 30 | 47 | 0 | 24 |
| Travis Zajac | 80 | 19 | 27 | 46 | –25 | 20 |
| Damon Severson | 82 | 11 | 28 | 39 | –27 | 56 |
| Taylor Hall | 33 | 11 | 26 | 37 | –6 | 16 |
| Blake Coleman | 78 | 22 | 14 | 36 | –19 | 71 |
| Jesper Bratt | 51 | 8 | 25 | 33 | –8 | 6 |
| Will Butcher | 78 | 4 | 26 | 30 | –17 | 18 |
| Marcus Johansson$^‡$ | 48 | 12 | 15 | 27 | –15 | 8 |
| Pavel Zacha | 61 | 13 | 12 | 25 | –6 | 15 |
| Andy Greene | 82 | 5 | 20 | 25 | –9 | 16 |
| Miles Wood | 63 | 10 | 14 | 24 | –10 | 91 |
| Brian Boyle$^‡$ | 47 | 13 | 6 | 19 | –13 | 22 |
| Sami Vatanen | 50 | 4 | 13 | 17 | –17 | 22 |
| Brett Seney | 51 | 5 | 8 | 13 | –14 | 31 |
| Drew Stafford | 57 | 5 | 8 | 13 | –7 | 18 |
| Kenny Agostino | 27 | 4 | 9 | 13 | –2 | 6 |
| Mirco Mueller | 53 | 1 | 10 | 11 | –3 | 17 |
| Kevin Rooney | 41 | 6 | 4 | 10 | –4 | 15 |
| Stefan Noesen | 41 | 3 | 5 | 8 | –19 | 28 |
| Joey Anderson | 34 | 4 | 3 | 7 | –7 | 6 |
| Egor Yakovlev | 25 | 2 | 5 | 7 | –6 | 6 |
| Ben Lovejoy$^‡$ | 51 | 2 | 5 | 7 | +1 | 33 |
| Connor Carrick$^†$ | 20 | 1 | 6 | 7 | –6 | 6 |
| Jean-Sebastien Dea | 20 | 3 | 2 | 5 | –1 | 6 |
| Kurtis Gabriel | 22 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 59 |
| Steven Santini | 39 | 1 | 3 | 4 | –6 | 16 |
| Nathan Bastian | 7 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10 |
| Michael McLeod | 21 | 0 | 3 | 3 | –8 | 13 |
| John Quenneville | 19 | 1 | 0 | 1 | –1 | 4 |
| Eric Tangradi | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | –3 | 0 |
| Ryan Murphy$^†$ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Blake Pietila | 19 | 0 | 1 | 1 | –7 | 6 |
| Colton White | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | –2 | 2 |
| Josh Jacobs | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | –1 | 0 |
| Nick Lappin | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | –6 | 0 |
| Brandon Gignac | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | –2 | 0 |
| Eric Gryba | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | –1 | 10 |

### Goaltenders

Regular season :
| Player | GP | GS | TOI | W | L | OT | GA | GAA | SA | SV% | SO | G | A | PIM |
| Keith Kinkaid$^‡$ | 41 | 38 | 2,301:58 | 15 | 18 | 6 | 129 | 3.36 | 1,188 | .891 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mackenzie Blackwood | 23 | 21 | 1,263:52 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 55 | 2.61 | 669 | .918 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cory Schneider | 26 | 23 | 1,371:47 | 6 | 13 | 4 | 70 | 3.06 | 718 | .903 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
* $^†$ Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Devils. Stats reflect time with the Devils only.
* $^‡$ Denotes player was traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with the Devils only.
* Bold/italics denotes franchise record.

## Awards and honors
### Awards

Regular season :
| Player | Award | Date |
| Mackenzie Blackwood | NHL Third Star of the Week | December 31, 2018 |

## Transactions

The Devils have been involved in the following transactions during the 2018–19 season.

### Trades

| Date | Details | Details |
| January 30, 2019 (2019-01-30) | To Minnesota WildMichael Kapla | To New Jersey DevilsRyan Murphy |
| February 6, 2019 (2019-02-06) | To Nashville PredatorsBrian Boyle | To New Jersey Devils2nd-round pick in 2019 |
| February 23, 2019 (2019-02-23) | To Dallas StarsBen Lovejoy | To New Jersey DevilsConnor Carrick 3rd-round pick in 2019 |
| February 25, 2019 (2019-02-25) | To Columbus Blue JacketsKeith Kinkaid | To New Jersey Devils5th-round pick in 2022 |
| February 25, 2019 (2019-02-25) | To Boston BruinsMarcus Johansson | To New Jersey Devils2nd-round pick in 2019 4th-round pick in 2020 |

### Free agents

| Date | Player | Team | Contract term |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | Kurtis Gabriel | from Minnesota Wild | 1-year |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | Michael Grabner | to Arizona Coyotes | 3-year |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | Eric Gryba | from Edmonton Oilers | 1-year |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | Jimmy Hayes | to Pittsburgh Penguins | 1-year |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | John Moore | to Boston Bruins | 5-year |
| July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01) | John Ramage | from Nashville Predators | 1-year |
| July 2, 2018 (2018-07-02) | Brian Gibbons | to Anaheim Ducks | 1-year |
| July 3, 2018 (2018-07-03) | Ken Appleby | to Manitoba Moose (AHL) | 1-year |
| July 10, 2018 (2018-07-10) | Patrick Maroon | to St. Louis Blues | 1-year |
| July 19, 2018 (2018-07-19) | Michael Latta | to Kunlun Red Star (KHL) | 1-year |
| July 23, 2018 (2018-07-23) | Bracken Kearns | to Black Wings Linz (EBEL) | Unknown |
| July 25, 2018 (2018-07-25) | Eric Tangradi | from Detroit Red Wings | 1-year |
| July 30, 2018 (2018-07-30) | Mario Lucia | to Stavanger Oilers (GET-ligaen) | Unknown |
| September 5, 2018 (2018-09-05) | Ben Thomson | to San Diego Gulls (AHL) | 1-year |
| September 25, 2018 (2018-09-25) | Jeremy Groleau | from Chicoutimi Saguenéens (QMJHL) | 1-year |
| February 24, 2019 (2019-02-24) | Evan Cormier | from Binghamton Devils (AHL) | 3-year |
| May 9, 2019 (2019-05-09) | John Ramage | to Eisbären Berlin (DEL) | 2-year |
| May 15, 2019 (2019-05-15) | Egor Yakovlev | to Metallurg Magnitogorsk (KHL) | 2-year |

### Waivers

| Date | Player | Team |
| September 28, 2018 (2018-09-28) | Jean-Sebastien Dea | from Pittsburgh Penguins |
| November 29, 2018 (2018-11-29) | Jean-Sebastien Dea | to Pittsburgh Penguins |
| February 11, 2019 (2019-02-11) | Kenny Agostino | from Montreal Canadiens |

### Signings

| Date | Player | Contract term |
| June 30, 2018 (2018-06-30) | Eddie Lack | 1-year |
| July 16, 2018 (2018-07-16) | Michael Kapla | 1-year |
| July 17, 2018 (2018-07-17) | Blake Coleman | 3-year |
| July 17, 2018 (2018-07-17) | Stefan Noesen | 1-year |
| July 20, 2018 (2018-07-20) | Nick Lappin | 1-year |
| July 25, 2018 (2018-07-25) | Yegor Sharangovich | 3-year |
| August 13, 2018 (2018-08-13) | Kevin Rooney | 2-year |
| August 14, 2018 (2018-08-14) | Steven Santini | 3-year |
| August 20, 2018 (2018-08-20) | Ty Smith | 3-year |
| September 22, 2018 (2018-09-22) | Miles Wood | 4-year |
| October 5, 2018 (2018-10-05) | Drew Stafford | 1-year |
| April 3, 2019 (2019-04-03) | Jeremy Davies | 2-year |
| April 17, 2019 (2019-04-17) | Gilles Senn | 2-year |
| May 13, 2019 (2019-05-13) | Mikhail Maltsev | 3-year |
| May 13, 2019 (2019-05-13) | Fabian Zetterlund | 3-year |
| June 10, 2019 (2019-06-10) | Jesper Boqvist | 3-year |

## Draft picks

Below are the New Jersey Devils' selections at the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, which was held on June 22 and 23, 2018, at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
| Round | # | Player | Pos | Nationality | College/junior/club team |
| 1 | 17 | Ty Smith | D | Canada | Spokane Chiefs (WHL) |
| 4 | 110 | Xavier Bernard | D | Canada | Drummondville Voltigeurs (QMJHL) |
| 5 | 136$^1$ | Akira Schmid | G | Switzerland | SCL Tigers U20 (Junioren Elite A) |
| 5 | 141 | Yegor Sharangovich | C | Belarus | Dinamo Minsk (KHL) |
| 6 | 172 | Mitchell Hoelscher | C | Canada | Ottawa 67's (OHL) |
| 7 | 203 | Eetu Pakkila | LW | Finland | Kärpät (Liiga) |
* The Calgary Flames' fifth-round pick went to the New Jersey Devils as the result of a trade on October 28, 2017, that sent Scott Wedgewood to Arizona in exchange for this pick.