2011–12 New Jersey Devils season

The New Jersey Devils 2011–12 season was the 38th season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on June 11, 1974, and 30th season since the franchise relocated to New Jersey to start the 1982–83 NHL season. The Devils hoped to return to the playoffs after having their long playoff streak snapped the previous year. While finishing fourth in the strong Atlantic division, they did rank sixth in the Eastern Conference, thus securing a playoff berth, and first round match-up against the Southeast division-winning Florida Panthers.

The focus of the Devils during the 2011 off-season was on finding a new coach and player signings. The main focus of the team was resigning Zach Parise and signing fourth-overall 2011 pick Adam Larsson to an entry-level contract, although team CEO and General Manager Lou Lamoriello did find the time to sign goaltender Johan Hedberg, as well as defenseman Andy Greene. Additionally, the team chose to suspend operations of the Trenton Devils, which was a minor league ECHL club that the team had used for player development, citing declining fan interest in the team and a desire to bring the organization more in line with other NHL organizations in terms of minor league affiliations.

The Devils announced the hiring of Peter DeBoer as the new head coach of the team on July 19, 2011.

On June 30, 2011, the New Jersey Devils announced that they would play six games during the pre-season. There were three home games at the Prudential Center against the New York Rangers, New York Islanders and Philadelphia Flyers. They also played two road games, one against the Islanders at Nassau Coliseum and one against the Flyers at Wells Fargo Center. One neutral site game against the Rangers took place at the Times Union Center, located in Albany, New York.