Devils 2025-26 Schedule: What You Need to Know

The NHL schedule was released, and chances are, you probably don’t care. I don’t blame you if you don’t care either. The schedule release is important for the teams and fans who travel (plus the few beat writers who cover all 82 games). Otherwise, it’s a reminder of the dog days. 

So, let’s try to find something worth thinking about in an otherwise uneventful time of the year. With the schedule release, there are some defining stretches of the 2025-26 season, and for the New Jersey Devils, there are five of them. 

Panthers & Oilers in Back-to-Back Games (Oct. 16 & 18)

Just two weeks into the season, and the Devils get their first test, and it’s a big one. They play the Florida Panthers, and two nights later they face the Edmonton Oilers. It’s a hockey cliche that to be the best, you must beat the best. 

The Devils are at home for both of these games, and they are measuring stick games for a good team that wants to be in the Stanley Cup conversation. The Panthers and Oilers are early-season games, and it’s hard to take much away from October hockey but the Devils will use these two games to measure how far they are from truly contending for the Cup.

The Last Week of November (11/24 -11/29)

Another hockey cliche is that Thanksgiving (the American one that is) determines whether a team is going to make the playoffs or not. If a team is in playoff position at this time of the year, they usuall get in by the end of the season and similarly, a team not in position won’t be. 

The Devils will likely be in playoff position at this time. However, the week of the holiday is pivotal for them. They host the St. Louis Blues and Detroit Red Wings before a back-to-back against the Buffalo Sabres on the road, then a home game against the Philadelphia Flyers. 

None of these games is easy to win. That said, the Devils can climb up the Metropolitan Division standings in this stretch. Taking three of these four games will either comfortably put them in playoff position or, better yet, near the top of the Eastern Conference, setting the stage for a big trade deadline. 

Devils West Coast Swing (1/19 – 1/25)

The West Coast swing is always brutal and usually kills any momentum for the teams on the East Coast or even sets them back. This season, the four games in the week can be particularly challenging, considering the Calgary Flames, Seattle Kraken, and Vancouver Canucks can all be playoff-caliber, while the Oilers will be in the Cup conversation. 

The Devils are hoping to earn at least four points in this stretch. Anything more than that is a big win but they’ll be in a fight with the Carolina Hurricanes for the best record in the division and must avoid falling a few points behind in the race.

Devils 7-Game Homestand (3/3 – 3/16)

To begin March, the Devils have a seven-game homestand, which is an oddity. Usually, teams play four or five home games before hitting the road again but the Devils have a stretch where they can pile up the wins.

There are a few difficult games in this schedule. The Panthers and Toronto Maple Leafs are back-to-back nights, while the Rangers are also in this stretch. That said, the Devils can take advantage of this post-trade-deadline slate and essentially secure their spot in the playoffs. 

The Big Finish 

The Devils have a relatively light schedule to close out the season. They begin April with a home game against the Washington Capitals and a home-and-home against the Montreal Canadiens, which will likely be three tough matchups. Then it’s a slate with a lot of winnable games. 

The Devils host the Flyers and the Pittsburgh Penguins, then they play the Red Wings and the Senators on back-to-back nights, followed by their season finale against the Boston Bruins. There’s a good chance the Bruins and Penguins will be tanking for Gavin McKenna at this point, and the Devils can take advantage.

So, the schedule release is still irrelevant for most. But hey, it’s not meaningless after all! Now it’s clear when the Devils will have big moments in their season ahead.