I've said before that both the Devils and Avalanche are teams that I could totally see missing the playoffs and creating a freakout for a bunch of people, but that even if that happens, the long-term pieces are good enough that their fans should remain calm and enjoy the ride (Colorado in particular because lmao, they could be that "best team to miss the playoffs" thing that you hate to be, and still have the best shot at Jack Hughes). I do not think the Devils are serious contenders, and I don't think you can glean much of anything from games played thus far, especially when you're one of two teams that are only two games in.
They're 2-0, yes. One of those games was against the Oilers, who should be terrible. Yes, they stomped the defending champions. That is also ONE GAME, and tbqh, that Capitals team is the worst Cup champion since, at very least, the 2006 Hurricanes, might never have been the actual better team in any series they played, and the only reason I don't tell Caps fans this more is because if the best team always won, they'd have already won like three Cups since the cancelled season. Luck and variance matter, and the Capitals were a kinda whatever team who things all came together for after years of insanely great teams running into "career tweener goalie Jaroslav Halak putting up a .999 save percentage" or whatever. So, even if we take a lot from one game, it's still not super impressive to me.
The big thing for me is whether Hischier takes the next step. I honestly was underwhelmed by him at the draft, but for a teenager he had a REALLY strong rookie season. I was wrong, he's going to be a very elite player in the NHL. If that starts this year, the Devils are a probably a serious playoff team that can become a great team with a few tweaks. In that situation, if I'm a Devils fan, my deadline wish list is one or two solid defensemen, doesn't need to be something special, they might've been a good place for Connor Carrick when the Leafs inexplicably gave up on him, and then another Grabner type for the top-six. But they defnitely have the elite talent between Hischier, Hall, and honestly, call be crazy, but I REALLY like both Will Butcher and Damon Severson. Good luck to em, but OP is blowing his load a little earlier.