I have always felt that media availabilities—in virtually all their forms—are generally pointless, especially when it comes to hockey players, who for the most part, exhibit conservative, calm and cool demeanors, and seldom say those wacky things the media craves. Accordingly, we have become accustomed to very generic and predictable questions from the media pool after a new player arrives at his new organization, and likewise with his responses thereto. Players always say they are excited to join the team; they always say that they think the team can contend; and that they have heard great things about the guys there now. Nevertheless, there are often interesting nuggets worth highlighting, especially with respect to free agents joining the New Jersey Devils.

Perhaps it is because the Devils often play the part of the third wheel, or the kid brother, to the greater New York and Philadelphia metropolitan area teams, that Devils fans are especially sensitive when it comes to New Jersey being, or not being, a destination for free agents. We grimace and grumble when flashy big fish beg to join our rivals across the river or down the turnpike. So, when a player does choose the Devils, we tend to pay a bit more attention to his words, hoping we can feel a bit of pride in our relatively small (yet impassioned!) piece of the NHL fanbase.

Therefore, allow me to briefly profile a few of the bigger names acquired by the Devils this offseason by highlighting a few interesting tidbits I think the fans may enjoy.

Jacob Markstrom – he played his first NHL game against the Devils at a very interesting time…

During Markstrom’s media availability, Steve Politi from NJ.com pointed out that Markstrom’s first NHL game (January 23, 2011) was against the Devils, where Markstrom faced down Martin Brodeur on the other end of the ice. What I found interesting in Markstrom’s recollections from that game was his comment that the Devils had such a great team then. Mind you, 2010-2011 began as one of the worst seasons in Devils history, where by December 23rd, 2010, coach John MacLean had been fired after leading the team to an NHL-worst 20 points and 9-22-2 record. However, by the time Markstrom faced them, they were riding a 5-0-1 streak since January 9th of that year, en route to a scorching 22-3-2 stretch until March 12th. Maybe that iteration of the team was engrained in Markstrom’s memory, and hopefully that is the team that shows up for him during his tenure here.

Brett Pesce – Kind of a hometown kid.

Hometown heroes are always beloved, especially in a smaller state like New Jersey. That’s why I loved Steve Cangialosi’s occasional affectionate exclamation of “Montclair’s own!” after a great Kyle Palmieri goal, or why a chunk of the base was hot after Ross Colton, a Robbinsville native, this offseason. And while Brett Pesce is a New Yorker who grew up a Rangers fan, his pure elation during his media availability at sharing his ties to New Jersey was really cool to watch. Pesce noted that he played youth hockey in Hackensack (at the Ice House) as part of the Atlantic Youth Hockey League. He also commented that he had attended a number of Devils games as a kid (likely at the Continental Airlines Arena in the Meadowlands) where he learned firsthand the passion and energy of this fanbase in ways most other NHLers never have.

But most importantly, Pesce stressed that it was his goal to, and that he always knew he would, end up in New Jersey, which warms our hearts. It was also nice to see him dismiss a question about his thoughts on Carolina’s loss of several key players to free agency, emphasizing that he is only focused on one team from here on out.

Thus, while not a technically a hometown kid, his connections to New Jersey and overall elation at becoming a member of this franchise will help make him a beloved member of this team for years to come.

Brenden Dillon: Pursued by many, landed with NJ.

Any interesting substance from Brenden Dillon’s media availability paled in comparison to his appearance on Sportsnet’s Dimitri Filipovic’s “The Hockey PDOCast,” which dropped July 5th. On the podcast, Dillon went into incredible detail about the league—the learning curve he has experienced, the way in which his game had developed and evolved, different systems from different coaches, and interesting insights on particular players (including his very high praise for Jesper Bratt). He noted in both his media availability and podcast interviews that he was fortunate enough to have a number of teams interested in him (likely for similar money), yet made his choice to come to New Jersey. In addition to noting that his game compliments the Devils well, and that he believes the Devils are set to make deep playoffs runs, Dillon noted the acquisition of Jacob Markstrom as a principal factor he considered when choosing the Devils, a really promising indication (from a veteran western conference defenseman) of how well Markstrom’s game is respected, and how we Devils fans should be excited about the newfound stability and potential greatness in net.
On the more fan-focused side, Dillon had an awesome shoutout to Dougie Hamilton’s and Curtis Lazar’s epic 2024-2025 schedule highlights video, which the team released a couple of weeks ago. Hopefully, that kind of social media acknowledgement from a newcomer is a sign of the interest in the team culture, and can hopefully help foster the brotherhood.

Paul Cotter – X interactions are the ways to Devils fans’ hearts.

While Paul Cotter was brought in to maintain a steady and tough presence on the bottom six, as well as provide that occasional (but hopefully not too occasional!) scoring touch, that did not deter him from right away engaging with the fans online. His response to a fan’s request on X regarding how many retweets it would take for Cotter to send the fan a Cotter jersey (the answer: 47, Cotter’s number) is exactly the kind of engagement that Devils fans relish. It is a testament to the intimate and close-connected nature of this fanbase, and that kind of shtick propels guys like Cotter into fan favorite status. I think the grittiness along the boards and hard hitting will help as well 😊

Cheers to the new guys—welcome to NJ!

Uri Segelman

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