2020–21 New Jersey Devils season

The 2020–21 New Jersey Devils season was the 47th season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on June 11, 1974, and 39th season since the franchise relocated from Colorado prior to the 1982–83 NHL season. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and COVID-19 cross-border travel restrictions imposed by the Government of Canada, the Devils played a shortened 56-game regular season, which consisted of divisional play only, with the Devils being temporarily realigned from the Metropolitan Division to the East Division.
Fan attendance in home games was prohibited until March 1, 2021, per an executive order from Governor of New Jersey Phil Murphy. The Devils reopened Prudential Center to spectators on March 2.
On April 20, following a 7–6 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Devils were eliminated from playoff contention for the third consecutive season.
==Standings==
===Divisional standings===
==Schedule and results==
===Regular season===
The regular season schedule was published on December 23, 2020.
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January: 4–3–2 (Home: 2–2–1 ; Road: 2–1–1)	January: 4–3–2 (Home: 2–2–1 ; Road: 2–1–1)	January: 4–3–2 (Home: 2–2–1 ; Road: 2–1–1)	January: 4–3–2 (Home: 2–2–1 ; Road: 2–1–1)	January: 4–3–2 (Home: 2–2–1 ; Road: 2–1–1)	January: 4–3–2 (Home: 2–2–1 ; Road: 2–1–1)	January: 4–3–2 (Home: 2–2–1 ; Road: 2–1–1)	January: 4–3–2 (Home: 2–2–1 ; Road: 2–1–1)	January: 4–3–2 (Home: 2–2–1 ; Road: 2–1–1)	January: 4–3–2 (Home: 2–2–1 ; Road: 2–1–1)	January: 4–3–2 (Home: 2–2–1 ; Road: 2–1–1)
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score 	Home 	OT 	Decision 	Attendance 	Record 	Pts 	Recap
1 	January 14 	Boston 	3–2 	New Jersey 	SO 	Blackwood 	0 	0–0–1 	1 	Recap
2 	January 16 	Boston 	1–2 	New Jersey 	OT 	Blackwood 	0 	1–0–1 	3 	Recap
3 	January 19 	New Jersey 	4–3 	NY Rangers 	 	Blackwood 	0 	2–0–1 	5 	Recap
4 	January 21 	New Jersey 	1–4 	NY Islanders 	 	Wedgewood 	0 	2–1–1 	5 	Recap
5 	January 24 	NY Islanders 	0–2 	New Jersey 	 	Wedgewood 	0 	3–1–1 	7 	Recap
6 	January 26 	Philadelphia 	5–3 	New Jersey 	 	Wedgewood 	0 	3–2–1 	7 	Recap
7 	January 28 	Philadelphia 	3–1 	New Jersey 	 	Wedgewood 	0 	3–3–1 	7 	Recap
8 	January 30 	New Jersey 	3–4 	Buffalo 	SO 	Wedgewood 	0 	3–3–2 	8 	Recap
9 	January 31 	New Jersey 	5–3 	Buffalo 	 	Comrie 	0 	4–3–2 	10 	Recap
==Player statistics==
As of May 11, 2021
===Skaters===
Regular season
Player	 	 	 	 	 	
 	50	17	18	35	 	10
 	56	11	20	31	 	16
 	54	16	14	30	 	4
 	46	7 	23	30	+4	8
 	55	17	8 	25	 	29
 	50	8 	17	25	 	14
 	48	2 	21	23	 	22
 	56	3 	18	21	 	29
 	44	5 	14	19	 	26
‡ 	33	7 	11	18	0 	6
‡ 	34	8 	9 	17	 	18
 	52	9 	6 	15	 	42
 	48	0 	14	14	+3	8
 	21	6 	5 	11	 	4
 	50	5 	6 	11	 	12
 	23	1 	10	11	 	2
 	41	3 	7 	10	0 	21
 	27	2 	8 	10	 	7
 	33	6 	3 	9 	 	4
 	28	4 	3 	7 	 	2
 	30	2 	4 	6 	+2	18
 	20	2 	3 	5 	 	0
 	21	1 	2 	3 	0 	2
 	8 	1 	1 	2 	 	4
 	6 	1 	1 	2 	 	0
 	11	1 	1 	2 	 	5
‡ 	38	0 	2 	2 	 	26
 	7 	0 	2 	2 	0 	0
 	7 	0 	1 	1 	 	0
† 	8 	0 	0 	0 	 	2
 	2 	0 	0 	0 	 	0
† 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0 	7
===Goaltenders===
Regular season
Player	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	35	35	2,090:37	14	17	4	106	3.04	1,081	.902	1	0	0	0
 	16	15	888:02 	3 	8 	3	46 	3.11	458 	.900	2	0	0	0
 	1 	1 	60:00 	1 	0 	0	3 	3.00	33 	.909	0	0	0	0
 	7 	5 	319:10 	1 	5 	0	22 	4.14	154 	.857	0	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.
==Transactions==
The Devils have been involved in the following transactions during the 2020–21 season.
===Trades===
Date	Details 	Details 	Ref
 	To Arizona Coyotes7th-round pick in 2020 	To New Jersey Devils7th-round pick in 2021 	
 	To Columbus Blue Jackets5th-round pick in 2021 	To New Jersey DevilsRyan Murray 	
 	To Toronto Maple LeafsJoey Anderson 	To New Jersey DevilsAndreas Johnsson 	
 	To New York IslandersKyle PalmieriTravis Zajac 	To New Jersey DevilsA. J. GreerMason Jobst1st-round pick in 2021Conditional 4th-round pick in 2022	
 	To Washington CapitalsConditional 3rd-round pick in 2021	To New Jersey DevilsJonas Siegenthaler 	
 	To Edmonton OilersDmitri Kulikov 	To New Jersey DevilsConditional 4th-round pick in 2022 	
===Free agents===
Date	Player 	Team 	Contract term	Ref
 	Brandon Baddock 	to Montreal Canadiens 	1-year 	
 	Corey Crawford 	from Chicago Blackhawks 	2-year 	
 	John Hayden 	to Arizona Coyotes 	1-year 	
 	Dakota Mermis 	to Minnesota Wild 	1-year 	
 	Kevin Rooney 	to New York Rangers 	2-year 	
 	Scott Wedgewood 	from Tampa Bay Lightning	1-year 	
 	Dmitry Kulikov 	from Winnipeg Jets 	1-year 	
 	Zane McIntyre 	to Dinamo Riga (KHL) 	1-year 	
 	Sami Vatanen 	from Carolina Hurricanes	1-year 	
 	Fredrik Claesson	to San Jose Sharks 	1-year 	
 	Mirco Muller 	to Leksands IF (SHL) 	1-year 	
===Waivers===
Date	Player 	Team 	Ref
 	Eric Comrie 	from Winnipeg Jets 	
 	Aaron Dell 	from Toronto Maple Leafs	
 	Eric Comrie 	to Winnipeg Jets 	
 	Sami Vatanen	to Dallas Stars 	
===Contract terminations===
Date	Player 	Via 	Ref
 	Cory Schneider	Buyout 	
 	Nikita Gusev 	Mutual termination	
===Retirement===
Date	Player 	Ref
 	Corey Crawford	
===Signings===
Date	Player 	Contract term	Ref
 	Josh Jacobs 	1-year 	
 	Brett Seney 	1-year 	
 	Ben Street 	1-year 	
 	Nick Merkley 	1-year 	
 	Colton White 	1-year 	
 	Mackenzie Blackwood	3-year 	
 	Dawson Mercer 	3-year 	
 	Jesper Bratt 	2-year 	
 	Graeme Clarke 	3-year 	
 	Michael Vukojevic 	3-year 	
 	Tyce Thompson 	2-year 	
 	Aarne Talvitie 	2-year 	
 	Alexander Holtz 	3-year 	
 	Nicolas Daws 	3-year 	
 	Akira Schmid 	3-year 	
==Draft picks==
Below are the New Jersey Devils' selections at the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, which was held on October 6 and 7, 2020, in a remote format, with teams convening via videoconferencing, and Commissioner Gary Bettman announcing selections from the NHL Network studios in Secaucus, New Jersey. It was originally scheduled to be held on June 26–27, 2020, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, but was postponed on March 25, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the conclusion of the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs.
Round	# 	Player 	Pos	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1 	7 	Alexander Holtz 	RW 	 	Djurgårdens IF (SHL)
1 	181 	Dawson Mercer 	C 	 	Chicoutimi Saguenéens (QMJHL)
1 	202 	Shakir Mukhamadullin	D 	 	Salavat Yulaev Ufa (KHL)
3 	843 	Nicolas Daws 	G 	 	Guelph Storm (OHL)
4 	99 	Jaromir Pytlik 	C 	 	Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHL)
4 	1204	Ethan Edwards 	D 	 	Spruce Grove Saints (AJHL)
5 	130 	Artem Shlaine 	C 	 	Shattuck-St. Mary's High School (Minnesota)
6 	161 	Benjamin Baumgartner	C 	 	HC Davos (NL)
Notes:
# The Arizona Coyotes' first-round pick went to the New Jersey Devils as the result of a trade on December 16, 2019, that sent Taylor Hall and Blake Speers to Arizona in exchange for Nick Merkley, Kevin Bahl, Nate Schnarr, a conditional third-round pick in 2021 and this pick (being conditional at the time of the trade).
# The Vancouver Canucks' first-round pick went to the New Jersey Devils as the result of a trade on February 16, 2020, that sent Blake Coleman to Tampa Bay in exchange for Nolan Foote and this pick (being conditional at the time of the trade).
# The Carolina Hurricanes' third-round pick went to the New Jersey Devils as the result of a trade on February 24, 2020, that sent Sami Vatanen to Carolina in exchange for Fredrik Claesson, Janne Kuokkanen and this pick (being conditional at the time of the trade).
# The Boston Bruins' fourth-round pick went to the New Jersey Devils as the result of a trade on February 25, 2019, that sent Marcus Johansson to Boston in exchange for a second-round pick in 2019 and this pick.
==Notes==
==References==
Category:New Jersey Devils seasons
New Jersey Devils