The 2019–20 New Jersey Devils season was the 46th season for the National Hockey League (NHL) franchise that was established on June 11, 1974, and 38th season since the franchise relocated from Colorado prior to the 1982–83 NHL season. For the second time in three years, the Devils received the first overall pick in the 2019 NHL entry draft and selected Jack Hughes first overall.

The season was suspended by the league officials on March 12, 2020, after several other professional and collegiate sports organizations followed suit as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. On May 26, the NHL regular season was officially declared over with the remaining games being cancelled and the Devils missed the playoffs for the second straight year, as well as the seventh time in the past eight seasons.

Standings

Divisional standings

Conference standings

Schedule and results

Preseason The preseason schedule was published on June 18, 2019. 2019 preseason game log: 5–2–0 (Home: 3–0–0; Road: 2–2–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Recap 1 September 16 Boston 3–4 New Jersey OT Senn 8,652 1–0–0 2 September 16 New Jersey 2–4 Montreal Cormier 19,080 1–1–0 3 September 18 New Jersey 4–3 NY Rangers Schneider 16,688 2–1–0 4 September 20 NY Rangers 2–4 New Jersey Blackwood 12,307 3–1–0 5 September 21 NY Islanders 3–4 New Jersey Schneider 10,652 4–1–0 6 September 25 New Jersey 0–2 Boston Blackwood 17,565 4–2–0 7 September 27 New Jersey 2–0 Columbus Schneider 12,347 5–2–0 Notes: Indicates split-squad.

Regular season The regular season schedule was published on June 25, 2019. 2019–20 game logOctober: 2–5–3 (Home: 2–2–3; Road: 0–3–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 1 October 4 Winnipeg 5–4 New Jersey SO Blackwood 16,514 0–0–1 1 2 October 5 New Jersey 2–7 Buffalo Blackwood 19,070 0–1–1 1 3 October 9 New Jersey 0–4 Philadelphia Schneider 19,658 0–2–1 1 4 October 10 Edmonton 4–3 New Jersey SO Blackwood 14,586 0–2–2 2 5 October 12 New Jersey 0–3 Boston Schneider 17,193 0–3–2 2 6 October 14 Florida 6–4 New Jersey Schneider 13,208 0–4–2 2 7 October 17 NY Rangers 2–5 New Jersey Blackwood 16,514 1–4–2 4 8 October 19 Vancouver 0–1 New Jersey Blackwood 13,818 2–4–2 6 9 October 25 Arizona 5–3 New Jersey Blackwood 14,724 2–5–2 6 10 October 30 Tampa Bay 7–6 New Jersey OT Schneider 13,152 2–5–3 7 November: 7–7–1 (Home: 2–4–1; Road: 5–3–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 11 November 1 Philadelphia 4–3 New Jersey SO Blackwood 14,624 2–5–4 8 12 November 2 New Jersey 5–3 Carolina Blackwood 15,079 3–5–4 10 13 November 5 New Jersey 2–1 Winnipeg SO Blackwood 15,325 4–5–4 12 14 November 7 New Jersey 2–5 Calgary Blackwood 18,851 4–6–4 12 15 November 8 New Jersey 0–4 Edmonton Schneider 17,240 4–7–4 12 16 November 10 New Jersey 2–1 Vancouver Blackwood 18,871 5–7–4 14 17 November 13 Ottawa 4–2 New Jersey Blackwood 13,438 5–8–4 14 18 November 15 Pittsburgh 1–2 New Jersey Blackwood 16,514 6–8–4 16 19 November 16 New Jersey 4–3 Montreal OT Blackwood 21,016 7–8–4 18 20 November 19 Boston 5–1 New Jersey Blackwood 15,061 7–9–4 18 21 November 22 New Jersey 1–4 Pittsburgh Blackwood 18,420 7–10–4 18 22 November 23 Detroit 1–5 New Jersey Domingue 16,514 8–10–4 20 23 November 26 Minnesota 3–2 New Jersey Domingue 14,627 8–11–4 20 24 November 28 New Jersey 6–4 Montreal Blackwood 20,876 9–11–4 22 25 November 30 NY Rangers 4–0 New Jersey Blackwood 16,514 9–12–4 22 December: 5–7–2 (Home: 2–2–2; Road: 3–5–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 26 December 2 New Jersey 1–7 Buffalo Domingue 15,422 9–13–4 22 27 December 3 Vegas 4–3 New Jersey Blackwood 12,831 9–14–4 22 28 December 6 Chicago 2–1 New Jersey SO Blackwood 15,273 9–14–5 23 29 December 7 New Jersey 4–6 Nashville Domingue 17,418 9–15–5 23 30 December 10 New Jersey 0–2 Dallas Blackwood 18,134 9–16–5 23 31 December 13 New Jersey 1–3 Colorado Domingue 18,034 9–17–5 23 32 December 14 New Jersey 2–1 Arizona Blackwood 17,125 10–17–5 25 33 December 18 Anaheim 1–3 New Jersey Blackwood 13,936 11–17–5 27 34 December 20 Washington 6–3 New Jersey Blackwood 15,021 11–18–5 27 35 December 21 New Jersey 1–5 Columbus Senn 17,188 11–19–5 27 36 December 23 New Jersey 7–1 Chicago Blackwood 21,559 12–19–5 29 37 December 27 Toronto 5–4 New Jersey OT Blackwood 16,514 12–19–6 30 38 December 29 New Jersey 4–3 Ottawa OT Blackwood 14,005 13–19–6 32 39 December 31 Boston 2–3 New Jersey SO Blackwood 16,514 14–19–6 34 January: 4–5–2 (Home: 1–1–2; Road: 3–4–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 40 January 2 New Jersey 2–1 NY Islanders Blackwood 13,917 15–19–6 36 41 January 4 Colorado 5–2 New Jersey Blackwood 16,514 15–20–6 36 42 January 7 NY Islanders 4–3 New Jersey OT Blackwood 14,518 15–20–7 37 43 January 9 New Jersey 3–6 NY Rangers Blackwood 17,007 15–21–7 37 44 January 11 New Jersey 5–1 Washington Domingue 18,573 16–21–7 39 45 January 12 Tampa Bay 1–3 New Jersey Domingue 14,203 17–21–7 41 46 January 14 New Jersey 4–7 Toronto Domingue 19,124 17–22–7 41 47 January 16 New Jersey 2–5 Washington Schneider 18,573 17–23–7 41 48 January 18 New Jersey 0–5 Columbus Schneider 18,680 17–24–7 41 49 January 27 New Jersey 4–3 Ottawa SO Blackwood 9,673 18–24–7 43 50 January 30 Nashville 6–5 New Jersey SO Blackwood 14,327 18–24–8 44 February: 7–3–4 (Home: 5–1–2; Road: 2–2–2) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 51 February 1 Dallas 3–2 New Jersey OT Domingue 16,514 18–24–9 45 52 February 4 Montreal 5–4 New Jersey SO Domingue 13,283 18–24–10 46 53 February 6 New Jersey 5–0 Philadelphia Blackwood 19,070 19–24–10 48 54 February 8 Los Angeles 0–3 New Jersey Blackwood 16,514 20–24–10 50 55 February 11 Florida 5–3 New Jersey Domingue 12,732 20–25–10 50 56 February 13 Detroit 1–4 New Jersey Blackwood 12,941 21–25–10 52 57 February 14 New Jersey 2–5 Carolina Domingue 18,680 21–26–10 52 58 February 16 Columbus 3–4 New Jersey SO Blackwood 16,514 22–26–10 54 59 February 18 New Jersey 0–3 St. Louis Domingue 18,096 22–27–10 54 60 February 20 San Jose 1–2 New Jersey Blackwood 13,941 23–27–10 56 61 February 22 Washington 2–3 New Jersey Blackwood 16,514 24–27–10 58 62 February 25 New Jersey 4–1 Detroit Schneider 17,525 25–27–10 60 63 February 27 New Jersey 2–3 San Jose OT Schneider 16,913 25–27–11 61 64 February 29 New Jersey 1–2 Los Angeles OT Blackwood 17,372 25–27–12 62 March: 3–2–0 (Home: 1–1–0; Road: 2–1–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 65 March 1 New Jersey 3–0 Anaheim Schneider 16,195 26–27–12 64 66 March 3 New Jersey 0–3 Vegas Blackwood 18,290 26–28–12 64 67 March 6 St. Louis 2–4 New Jersey Schneider 14,685 27–28–12 66 68 March 7 New Jersey 6–4 NY Rangers Blackwood 17,542 28–28–12 68 69 March 10 Pittsburgh 5–2 New Jersey Blackwood 13,473 28–29–12 68 Cancelled games # Date Visitor Home 70 March 12 Carolina New Jersey 71 March 14 New Jersey Florida 72 March 15 New Jersey Tampa Bay 73 March 17 New Jersey Toronto 74 March 19 Calgary New Jersey 75 March 21 NY Islanders New Jersey 76 March 23 Columbus New Jersey 77 March 26 New Jersey Minnesota 78 March 28 Philadelphia New Jersey 79 March 29 Carolina New Jersey 80 March 31 New Jersey Pittsburgh 81 April 2 Buffalo New Jersey 82 April 4 New Jersey NY IslandersLegend:

Player statistics As of March 12, 2020

Skaters Regular season Player 65 25 20 45 41 66 13 31 44 12 58 14 22 36 12 60 16 16 32 6 65 8 24 32 14‡ 57 21 10 31 40 69 8 23 31 52 69 9 16 25 28‡ 30 6 19 25 20‡ 61 8 16 24 64 68 11 12 23 57‡ 47 5 18 23 22 61 7 14 21 10 56 4 17 21 6 68 7 11 18 79‡ 53 2 9 11 +1 14 49 4 5 9 +8 20 50 2 5 7 23 18 4 2 6 +1 2 29 1 5 6 17 35 4 0 4 8 43 3 1 4 77 10 1 3 4 +7 4 20 0 3 3 6† 5 1 1 2 +1 0 4 1 1 2 0 2 12 0 2 2 +4 4 3 0 1 1 +1 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 +1 2 6 0 0 0 4 † 1 0 0 0 0 0

Goaltenders Regular season Player 47 43 2,684:01 22 14 8 124 2.77 1,452 .915 3 0 1 0 13 11 679:16 3 6 2 40 3.53 355 .887 1 0 0 0‡ 16 14 743:32 3 8 2 47 3.79 399 .882 0 0 0 0 2 1 70:05 0 1 0 4 3.42 41 .902 0 0 0 0

Transactions The Devils have been involved in the following transactions during the 2019–20 season.

Trades Date Details Ref To Chicago BlackhawksJohn QuennevilleTo New Jersey DevilsJohn Hayden To Nashville PredatorsSteven SantiniJeremy Davies2nd-round pick in 20192nd-round pick in 2020To New Jersey DevilsP. K. Subban To Nashville PredatorsFuture considerationsTo New Jersey DevilsAdam Helewka To Vegas Golden Knights3rd-round pick in 20202nd-round pick in 2021To New Jersey DevilsNikita Gusev To Tampa Bay LightningConditional 7th-round pick in 2021To New Jersey DevilsLouis Domingue To Arizona CoyotesTaylor HallBlake SpeersTo New Jersey DevilsKevin BahlNick MerkleyNate SchnarrConditional 1st-round pick in 2020Conditional 3rd-round pick in 2021 To New York IslandersAndy GreeneTo New Jersey DevilsDavid Quenneville2nd-round pick in 2021 To Tampa Bay LightningBlake ColemanTo New Jersey DevilsNolan FooteConditional 1st-round pick in 2020 To Buffalo SabresWayne SimmondsTo New Jersey DevilsConditional 5th-round pick in 2021 To Carolina HurricanesSami VatanenTo New Jersey DevilsFredrik ClaessonJanne KuokkanenConditional 4th-round pick in 2020 To Vancouver CanucksLouis DomingueTo New Jersey DevilsZane McIntyre

Free agents Date Player Team Contract term Ref Kurtis Gabriel to Philadelphia Flyers 1-year Nick Lappin to St. Louis Blues 1-year Dakota Mermis from Arizona Coyotes 1-year Blake Pietila to Anaheim Ducks 1-year Wayne Simmonds from Nashville Predators 1-year Ben Street from Anaheim Ducks 1-year Matt Tennyson from Buffalo Sabres 2-year Cam Johnson to Milwaukee Admirals (AHL) 1-year Kenny Agostino to Toronto Maple Leafs 2-year Eric Tangradi to Barys Nur-Sultan (KHL) 1-year Stefan Noesen to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL) 1-year Joe Morrow from Winnipeg Jets 1-year Julian Melchiori from Binghamton Devils (AHL) 1-year Julian Melchiori to Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk (KHL) 1-year

Contract terminations Date Player Via Ref Adam Helewka Mutual termination Joe Morrow Mutual termination

Retirement Date Player Ref Eric Gryba

Signings Date Player Contract term Ref Jack Hughes 3-year Brandon Baddock 1-year Josh Jacobs 1-year Connor Carrick 2-year Mirco Müller 1-year Nikita Gusev 2-year Will Butcher 3-year Pavel Zacha 3-year Nico Hischier 7-year Nikita Okhotiuk 3-year Reilly Walsh 3-year

Draft picks

Below are the New Jersey Devils' selections at the 2019 NHL entry draft, which was held on June 21 and 22, 2019, at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Round # Player Pos Nationality College/junior/club team11 Jack Hughes C U.S. NTDP (USHL)2611 Nikita Okhotiuk D Ottawa 67's (OHL)3702 Daniil Misyul D Loko Yaroslavl (MHL)3803 Graeme Clarke RW Ottawa 67's (OHL)3824 Michael Vukojevic D Kitchener Rangers (OHL)496 Tyce Thompson RW Providence (Hockey East)41185 Case McCarthy D U.S. NTDP (USHL)5127 Cole Brady G Janesville Jets (NAHL)51296 Arseni Gritsyuk LW Omskie Yastreby (MHL)6158 Patrick Moynihan RW U.S. NTDP (USHL)7189 Nikola Pasic RW Linköpings J20 (J20 SuperElit) The Boston Bruins' second-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 fourth-round pick in 2020 and this pick. The Anaheim Ducks' third-round pick went to the New Jersey Devils as the result of a trade on November 30, 2017, that sent Adam Henrique, Joseph Blandisi and a third-round pick in 2018 to Anaheim in exchange for Sami Vatanen and this pick (being conditional at the time of the trade). The Dallas Stars' third-round pick went to the New Jersey Devils as the result of a trade on February 23, 2019, that sent Ben Lovejoy to Dallas in exchange for Connor Carrick and this pick. The Winnipeg Jets' third-round pick went to the New Jersey Devils as the result of a trade on June 22, 2019, that sent Nashville's second-round pick in 2019 (55th overall) to San Jose in exchange for a third-round pick in 2019 (91st overall) and this pick.