As mentioned in our first installment of this series, grading all New Jersey Devils forwards, the Devils, as a team, have had a nice beginning to the season. At just a shade over halfway, let’s take a look at, and grade, each Devils defenseman and goaltender that have played in the first half of the season.

Brenden Dillon

It has been a very interesting season for the Devils’ new veteran defenseman. Brenden Dillon, known as a stay-at-home, defensive defenseman for most of his career, has seen his on-ice metrics profile completely opposite this season playing alongside Dougie Hamilton.

His offensive metrics are extremely strong, rating in the league’s 84th percentile. However, defensively, he has struggled mightily on the penalty kill and has been below average at five-on-five. Despite this, he is still throwing his body around and blocking shots.

Grade: C+

Dougie Hamilton

Dougie Hamilton is once again having another terrific offensive season. According to Evolving Hockey’s offensive goals above replacement (GAR) rating, he ranks second in the league among 275 defensemen to play in a game this season. Hamilton is also on pace for 50 points this year, which would tie the second-highest total of his career.

The defense has certainly been questionable at points. His defensive on-ice metrics sit in the league’s 10th percentile, as he has struggled at five-on-five. Despite what people may think, this is certainly not the norm for Hamilton, as his defensive game has historically profiled around, or slightly below replacement level, not comfortably below like it is this season.

Regardless, despite that, being one of the league’s best offensive defenseman helps his overall impact tremendously.

Grade: B

Luke Hughes

What a transformation it has been for second-year defender Luke Hughes. Last season, Hughes was a work in progress defensively, not catastrophic, but certainly needing to improve. Well, at only 21 years old, Hughes has already made tremendous strides in his own end. He went from a 17th percentile ranking in on-ice defensive metrics last year, to a 69th percentile measure this season.

His offensive game, although from a point perspective, is on pace to regress from his 47 point output last season, has still been good from an on-ice impacts perspective. There is a large difference between his offensive GAR and expected GAR (xGAR) metrics, which means if he keeps up his current play, the points should start to come at a higher rate.

Overall, his Corsi-for percentage (CF%) ranks third on the team and his expected goals-for percentage (xGF%) second. He’s been superb.

Grade: B+

Johnathan Kovacevic 

General manager Tom Fitzgerald had a terrific offseason, one of those superb pick-ups was defenseman Johnathan Kovacevic. Kovacevic entered the season as a seventh defenseman but quickly seized an opportunity when Luke Hughes and Brett Pesce had to miss some time.

Kovacevic, along with his partner, Jonas Siegenthaler, have emerged as arguably the league’s best shutdown defensive pairing. Among 196 defensive pairings to at least play 100 minutes or more of five-on-five ice time together this season, the duo of Kovacevic and Siegenthaler own the 11th-lowest expected goals against per 60 minutes. Kovacevic, himself, sits in the league’s 99th percentile in on-ice defensive impact; excelling both at five-on-five and on the penalty kill.

At the cost of fourth-round pick and a $766,667 cap hit, he may be the biggest steal of the offseason.

Grade: A

Brett Pesce

After getting a late start as a result of recovering from offseason surgery, Brett Pesce has played in 37 games for the Devils. The 30-year-old has become one of the more polarizing players as the season has gone on. The eye test shows a lot of nice plays, whether that be zone exits or breaking up the opposition’s entries. However, the measured on-ice impacts have not been good.

Pesce’s even strength offense, defense, and penalty killing all check in below replacement level according to Evolving Hockey. According to the GAR metrics specifically, Pesce’s -2.4 rating is good for 21 of 22 Devils to play in a game this season. Among 275 defensemen in the league to play at least a game, it ranks 234th.

Granted, the above on-ice impacts don’t exactly measure his influence on Luke Hughes who has taken a huge step in his development largely playing alongside Pesce. He is also blocking a ton of shots, ranking second on the team with 76, despite not having nearly the same amount of games played. Regardless, the numbers do paint a potentially worrisome picture, especially given the Devils handed Pesce a six-year, $33 million deal in the offseason.

Grade: C-

Jonas Siegenthaler

There was a plethora of different reasons for the Devils’ disappointing 2023-24 season. One of the main contributing factors was the regression, thanks in large part to an injury-riddled season, from Jonas Siegenthaler. After being dealt to the Devils, Siegenthaler was playing like one of the best defensive defensemen in the league his first two-plus seasons with the team. However, that all came crashing down in 2022-23 as his on-ice defensive impacts dropped from the 99th and 71st percentiles in 2021-22 and 2022-23, respectively, to the 10th percentile in 2023-24. He was one of the league’s worst defensemen; largely in part to battling injury, during that 2023-24 year.

Fast forward to this season, and Siegenthaler looks much like the player the Devils originally traded for. As mentioned above, along with Kovacevic, he is one-half of arguably the best defensive pairing in the league. He has been great at both even strength and on the penalty kill. So much so, his total GAR ranks 13th and his xGAR ranks 21st, respectively, among 275 NHL defensemen to play in a game this season.

Grade: A

Jake Allen

The traditional statistics may not exactly be sparkling for Jake Allen, as he owns a .901 save percentage and a 2.83 goals against average. However, his goals saved above expected of 2.87 is strong, ranking 35th among 87 goalies. This shows that, despite the average traditional metrics, Allen has actually played better than expected given the chances he’s facing.

At the end of the day, that is all you can want for your back-up goaltender. Especially one that is only making $1.93 million this season.

For those who are curious, if Allen plays more than 40 games this season, that third-round pick the Devils gave up would become a second. Allen is currently on pace to only play around 26.

Grade: B-

Jacob Markström

For the longest time, the Devils were on the constant hunt for a goaltender that would give them at least average play. Well, so far this season, Jacob Markström has gone above-and-beyond that. Markström is 21-8-4 on the season with a .913 save percentage. What really shows how good he has been is his 14.61 GSAx, which placed him sixth among 87 goaltenders in the league.

Getting Markström was rightfully not a cheap endeavor. However, thus far this season, he has been everything the Devils could have wanted and more.

Grade: A

On-ice metrics according to Evolving Hockey. Other statistics courtesy of Natural Stat Trick.