Research Reveals Devils Enforcer Wins 100% of Fights in 2023-24

By no means are the New Jersey Devils known as a scrappy team. Their identity is largely based of speed and skill, and with a new crop of talent coming in over the last few weeks, they’re adding a defensive element to their repertoire as well. However, Devils enforcer Kurtis MacDermid cannot be ignored. Especially when he’s called upon what he does best, and does it to 100% efficiency.

According to research conducted by Sportshandle, Kurtis MacDermid won all five fights he was involved in this season between the Devils and Colorado Avalanche — a 100% win rate. Of the five fights, MacDermid wore a Devils sweater in four of them.

In terms of methodology, here’s how Sportshandle conducted their research:

“To conduct this research, we utilized data from hockeyfights.com, where all fights from the 2023/24 season are recorded. We decided to limit our analysis to fights from the regular season due to the limited sample size of post-season fights. From the database, we extracted information on the two fighters involved in each fight and the winners as determined by user votes. This data enabled us to quantify various metrics, including the most fight-eager teams, the most active fighters, and the most successful fighters of the season. All percentages have been rounded to the nearest whole numbers. To qualify for the best individual fighter, a player had to have been involved in at least five fights. 

“Full data set can be found here.”

MacDermid faced five different opponents this season between Bokondji Imama, Mark Kastelic, Josh Brown, and Jamie Oleksiak. However, his most notable tilt was against rival New York Rangers forward Matt Rempe.

In fact, Sportshandles research shows Matt Rempe and Will Cuylle come joint last — each with a 20% win rate. That could seemingly change next season with Rempe training with former enforcer Georges Laraque this summer.

I’m training Matt Rempe and Tyrel Bauer for hockey fighting, this week in Edmonton, at the Silent Ice arena. If you thought Rempe was a problem this year in the @NHL, wait till you see him this coming season… 🔥🔥

J’entraîne Matt Rempe et Tyrel Bauer aux combats de hockey,… pic.twitter.com/Y0zjWNTJjl

— Georges Laraque (@GeorgesLaraque) July 8, 2024

MacDermid didn’t earn the honor of Sportshandle’s fictional Bob Probert Award as the league’s best fighter. That went to Philadelphia Flyers forward Nicolas Deslauriers as the player who exhibited the most remarkable efforts and skills, when resorting to fisticuffs to settle on-ice disputes in the National Hockey League — winning 11/11 fights this season.

Another finding in Sportshandles research revealed that the Devils had a 42% fight win rate this season, which is admittedly not great and ranked them ninth-worst in the NHL.

However, new Devils defenseman Brenden Dillon won four of his seven fights last season, which will certainly help beef up the Devils and increase their win rate.

The Devils inked MacDermid to a three-year, $3.45 million contract this summer. That means Devils fans can count on MacDermid keeping the opposition in check for at least the next handful of seasons.

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