The New Jersey Devils have been looking for a net-front presence ever since David Clarkson left the franchise back after David Clarkson left for the Toronto Maple Leafs after the 2012-13 season. New Jersey may have finally found their man in Stefan Noesen.
Devils President and General Manager, Tom Fitzgerald, knew his team needed a little more jam on offence. They were too easy to play against and did not get enough dirty goals. Adding Stefan Noesen back into the locker room has been the perfect addition. You can argue that Noesen was Fitzgerald’s best signing in free agency. Brett Pesce and Brendan Dillon may have something to say about that, but most would agree it is Noesen.
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Fitzgerald signed him to a three-year, $2.75 million per season deal. The idea was to have Noesen bolster the Devils’ bottom-six forward group, similar to what he did with the Carolina Hurricanes. Remember, this is Noesen’s second stint with the Devils. This time around, he understands his role with the team. Noesen is not a skilled guy. He is the grittier type of player who will score the ugly goals.
Under head coach Sheldon Keefe, Noesen has accepted this role and made it his mission to be the Devils’ “Joe Pavelski. “By that, Noesen wants to be able to hone in on an area of his game in front of the net and tip pucks.
“That’s something I work on every day. You can ask a lot of people here, I spent a lot of time in front of the net trying to tip pucks. Work on my game down low and everything else,” Noesen said. “My game is not pretty like some of these other guys. It’s a little more nitty gritty. And if you can hone in one really good skill in this league, it’s that, it’s being around the net, and you see a guy like Joe Pavelski for 15 years just being so, so, so good, and all the skill as well, but having that really gift that being able to tip pucks and have a knack for scoring stuff and take a lot of pride in it, and being able to do that.”
That hard work is paying off. So far this season, he has 18 points (10 goals and eight assists) in 22 games. This is after coming off two seasons where he recorded 36 points (13 goals and 23 assists) in 78 during the 2022-23 season and a career-high 37 points, including a career-high 14 goals, while tying a career-high with 23 assists in 81 games during the 2023-24.
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Stefan Noesen understands his role is to drive to the middle of the ice and get to the net. That is where he makes his money in the hard areas, which is paying off.
“Yeah. I think that’s kind of one of my good assets, is being able to just kind of get open, get pucks back and try to take them to the net,” Noesen said after the Devils game against the Anaheim Ducks in October, when he netted two goals. “And that’s kind of where I like to hang out, take a lot of pucks off the place, everywhere, face everywhere.”
The hand-eye coordination is on display tonight in New Jersey.
Stefan Noesen gets the #NHLNPlayersOnly bump and gets a goal against his former team!@NJDevils | #NJDevils | #NHLTonight pic.twitter.com/osPboohNTU
— NHL Network (@NHLNetwork) November 22, 2024
In his first meeting against his old team, the Carolina Hurricanes, Noesen had a beautiful redirection goal on the power play in the second period. With the Devils on a 5-on-3 man advantage, Noesen drove hard to the net with time expiring. Jack Hughes picked up one of his three assists on the night. It was a great sauce pass over Hurricanes defenseman Jaccob Slavin. Noesen batted the puck out of the air and passed Hurricanes goalie Spencer Martin to give the Devils 2-1. New Jersey ended up winning the game 4-2.
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Throughout the season, Noesen has brought the Devils energy. This has allowed him to earn the confidence of head coach Sheldon Keefe to move up or down in the lineup. His play has allowed him to be put on the first power play unit. Seven of his 14 points, including four goals, have come on the power play.
Noesen is a big body that can park himself in front of a goalie without getting called for goalie interference. It is similar to what the Devils did with Nathan Bastian when they reclaimed him off waivers from Seattle Kraken in 2022. Bastian parked his big body in front of the goalies on the power play. Noesen is doing that too, but he has more skill than Bastian.
Stefan Noesen has also been the Devils’ energy guy. If a line is not clicking, head coach Sheldon Keefe is not afraid to move him up or down the lineup. Originally, he started with Paul Cotter and Nathan Bastian, but then he and Cotter moved up to play with Erik Haula in a game against Washington.
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Look, Noesen isn’t just some big guy who lacks skills. He has plenty of them. Noesen showed off his playing-making ability in their first meeting with the Capitals, which impressed Sheldon Keefe.
“Just the fact that he made plays,” Keefe said on Noesen’s playmaking back in October. “He had opportunities to make plays and he did. That whole line was really good, Haula was good in the faceoff circle, Noesen played real hard. Whenever those guys were called upon, whatever the game presented, they made the play.”
During his second stint with the Devils, Stefan Noesen better understands what the team needs from him. Maturing as a player and being a little older always help. The Devils hated to lose him after the first time around. They saw what he could do against them when he was in Carolina. Now that Stefan Noesen is back on the roster, the New Jersey Devils have a “secret weapon” in front of the net that will be hard to stop.
