While the New Jersey Devils watch the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs from home, one of their most ardent supporters still has something to play for.
Josh Langer, Devils season-ticket holder and the voice behind one of the largest Devils fan accounts on Instagram, @devils.fanpage, placed second out of more than 616,000 entries in the NHL’s official ‘Bracket Challenge.’
He has correctly predicted the outcome of all 12 playoff series so far – and determined the exact number of games for every series except three.
has the potential to He Okay up to this point? About one in 200,000.
UPDATE!! Now through two rounds a perfect bracket!!
I’m now ranked second in the world out of 616,147 in the NHL’s Bracket Challenge
Oh my 🤯🤯🤯 https://t.co/srUltFqhBj pic.twitter.com/Bvz5L1GIAt
– Josh (@joshlangerr) 19 May 2026
All that remains for completion is the Colorado Avalanche and Carolina Hurricanes meeting in the Stanley Cup Finals, with the Avs winning it all. According to NHL.com, both of these teams are “overwhelming favorites” to advance in their respective series.
The first place bracket belonging to user “galastorn” predicted the same finals result. But the total number of goals scored in the final could become a potential tiebreaker; Langer predicted 35, while Galstorna predicted 33.
If Langer is able to leap into the first place bracket and win it all, he will win an all-expenses-paid trip to any NHL event as well as a limited edition Norken watch valued at over $10,000. not bad.
Even if he is unable to do so, he will still have a pile of rewards from the individual groups he is involved in, of which Langer says he is “absolutely guaranteed to win at this rate.”
It took him only five minutes to make the bracket.
“I’m a big hockey fan and follow enough regular season action to make my own picks from the dome when looking at the bracket for the first time,” Langer explained. “And from there I think I have a good chance right from the start.”
One call he’s particularly proud of? Picking the Anaheim Ducks to upset the Edmonton Oilers in the first round:
He said, “It feels like Edmonton’s window is slowly closing without proper goaltending, meanwhile Anaheim’s window is opening with young star talent.” “The only way I could have gone different was based on playoff experience, but I still went with Anaheim.”
Many of her more than 51,600 followers on Instagram have supported her bid for first place.
“With the way the internet is these days, you’d probably expect some trash talk to accompany anything I post,” he laughs, “but I’m not sure I’ve seen much, if any, under my bracket success posts, it’s been mainly fun, positive words and most importantly shocking.”
The Devils’ two most recent playoff sweeps have come at the hands of the Hurricanes. Naturally, he’s eating her out.
“I’ve been a Devils fan since birth,” Josh told me. “I was 8 days old when they won their third title in 2003, so I was instantly obsessed with my father and that’s been in my life forever.”
However, the Hurricanes’ success against the Jersey side hasn’t stopped them from being objective when it matters. In fact, he says the opposite is true.
“When filling out a bracket my Devils fandom is put aside. All biases are put aside and I make my picks based on how that team performed that season in my mind… Picking Carolina to go to the Finals this year, I wouldn’t do it if my Devils fandom got in the way.”
Langer has filled out an NHL bracket every year since 2018 or 2019 — it’s a tradition he, his family and his friends look forward to like many during March Madness.
Of course, as a Devils fan, it will be a bit strange for him to watch the Eastern Conference Finals.
He said, “I won’t be rooting for Carolina, but I won’t be as upset if they win the ECF this year compared to the year I didn’t have the right bracket.” “If Montreal wins, great. I won’t be upset because I would love to see them in the finals. If Carolina wins, great too, because it’s good news for my class.”
What if it all comes together and he wins the entire challenge?
“Yeah, I mean it would be great, right?” Josh said with a big smile.
For a man who has been going to games since childhood and now runs one of the largest Devils communities online, a national bracket title would be the final ray of hope after a disappointing Devils season.
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