Hatakka suffered an injury in preseason that ultimately resulted in undergoing shoulder surgery. The 23-year-old had a legitimate shot of making the Devils out of training camp after Luke Hughes was announced out due to injury, but will now, unfortunately, be sidelined for the foreseeable future. In 12 games in 2023-24, he had two assists, 12 SOG and a +5 plus/minus while averaging just 14:39 TOI/GP.
Markstrom was excellent in his first game as a New Jersey Devil, saving 30 of 31 shots (.968 SV%) in a 4-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres as part of the NHL Global Series in Prague. The Devils will likely return to Markstrom in net for their first contest in North America on Thursday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Devils are -132 home favorites against a Maple Leafs squad that played their season opener last night and were shut out 1-0 against the Montreal Canadiens despite firing 48 shots on goal.
Palat was away from the team for several days to attend to the birth of his child and should be ready for their next contest on Thursday against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The 33-year-old Palat is in his third season with the Devils and is coming off his lowest full-season production campaign, scoring only 31 points (11G / 20A) in 71 games.
Pesce did not play in the first two games of the season for the Devils in Prague as part of the NHL Global Series as he is still recovering from surgery for a fractured fibula. That said, with his presence at practice on Tuesday, Pesce's return seems to be on the immediate horizon. Pesce signed a six-year contract to join New Jersey in the offseason after nine successful seasons on Carolina's blueline. In 70 games in 2023-24, he had three goals, 13 points, 20 PIMs, and a +10 plus/minus while averaging 20:17 TOI/GP.
Allen was traded to the Devils last March and went 6-6-1 with a 3.11 GAA and .900 SV% in 13 games. Over the last two seasons he has posted a pretty ugly .893 SV% across 76 games. With Jacob Markstrom starting the season opener on Friday, the Devils will turn to Allen in the second half of a back-to-back. New Jersey enter play as -140 favourites following yesterday’s 4-1 win.
Kurtis MacDermid will make his season debut in Palat's absence as he leaves the team for the birth of his second child. Palat managed to stick around for the Devils' season opener in Prague and had no points, and one SOG across 13:46 TOI.
Marsktrom was traded to the Devils in the offseason and will make his Devils debut Friday in Prague. Markstrom led the NHL in shutouts and had 37 wins in 2022 but has gone 46-44-14 with a 2.85 GAA and .898 SV% in two seasons since. He'll start his season as -146 favourites against the Sabres.
With Brett Pesce injured, Casey seized the opportunity to break camp with the Devils and will make his NHL debut in Prague on Friday. The 20-year-old was a second-round pick (No.46 overall) in 2022 and had 45 points (7G / 38A) in 40 games at the University of Michigan last season. Casey, who will man the Devils' second power-play unit, had one assist, three SOG and two hits in his two preseason games.
It's safe to assume that Hughes will miss at least the first 15 games of the season, and he could miss 20+ games if he doesn't return for seven weeks. With Hughes sidelined it looks like Seamus Casey could make his NHL debut in the Devils' season opener. Casey has been running the Devils' second power-play unit in practice recently, indicating that he'll play on Friday.
With New Jersey taking part in the Prague Global Series that starts on October 4th, it appears they will be without one of their big off-season acquisitions after it was announced Brett Pesce is still recovering from surgery for a fractured fibula and is considered week-to-week. Pesce signed a six-year contract to join New Jersey in the offseason after nine successful seasons on Carolina's blueline. In 70 games in 2023-24, he had three goals, 13 points, 20 PIMs and a +10 plus/minus while averaging 20:17 TOI/GP.
New Jersey's defensive core continued to take injury hits on Thursday after it was announced Santeri Hatakka would be out "more than day-to-day" after leaving Thursday's preseason game. The 23-year-old had a legitimate shot of making the Devils out of training camp after Luke Hughes was announced out due to injury, but will now, unfortunately, be joining his fellow young defender. In 12 games in 2023-24, he had two assists, 12 SOG and a +5 plus/minus while averaging just 14:39 TOI/GP.
San Jose's offensive depth took a hit on Tuesday as they announced forward Thomas Bordeleau would be out "for weeks" and is at risk of missing the Sharks' season opener. The 22-year-old is entering his fourth season with San Jose but has still yet to amass more than 27 games played in a single season. In 2023-24, he had six goals, 11 points, 18 PIMs and 48 SOG in 27 games played.
After a long offseason of negotiations, New Jersey's remaining UFA Dawson Mercer has signed a three-year, $12 million contract extension ($4,000,000 AAV) with the Devils. The 22-year-old was New Jersey's 2020 1st round pick (18th overall) and had the worst year of his three-year career in 2023-24 where he picked up 20 goals, 33 points, 134 SOG and a -26 plus/minus in 82 games played.
Nemec left and Olympic Qualifying game a few weeks ago with an upper-body injury after getting tangled up with a member of Team Kazakhstan. Luckily for the Devils, who will already be without Luke Hughes to start the season, Nemec was on the ice on Thursday and was a full participant in Day 1 of training camp.
Tampa Bay's opening season forward depth took a hit on Wednesday as it was announced Luke Glendening will be limited at training camp due to an undisclosed injury and hopes he'll be ready to start the season. The 35-year-old center filled in Tampa Bay's bottom six admirably in 2023-24, with 10 goals, 11 points, 39 PIMs and 57 SOG in 81 games played.
Bad news came out of New Jersey's camp on Thursday morning as they announced their star 21-year-old defender Luke Hughes suffered a left-shoulder injury during offseason training and is expected to miss the next 6-to-8 weeks as he recovers. The sophomore defenseman is expected to return between October 24th and November 7th and will play a key role in the Devils' back end. In 2023-24, he had nine goals, 47 points, 135 SOG, 28 PIMs and a -25 plus/minus in 82 games played.
Pittsburgh added to their forward depth on Tuesday by acquiring Cody Glass alongside a 2025 3rd-round pick (MIN) and a 2026 6th-round pick from Nashville for Jordan Frasca. The 25-year-old centre carries a cap hit of $2.5 million into 2023-24 and should fit in well in Pittsburgh's bottom six after a down season last year which saw him score only six goals and 13 points in 41 games played.
New Jersey locked up their goaltending depth for the next two seasons as they signed Nico Daws to a two-year contract with the first year being a two-way and the second being a one-way. The 23-year-old netminder was drafted by New Jersey in the 3rd round of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft (84th overall) and had a down season with his 9-11-0 record, 3.15 GAA and .894 SV% in 2023-24.
Cholowski spent the entire 2024 season in Bridgeport (AHL), where he had 31 points (7G / 24A) in 68 games. Since signing with the Islanders prior to the 2023 season, Cholowski has appeared in just two NHL games but has eight goals and 61 assists (69 points) in 135 AHL games. Expect him to continue to provide offence at the AHL-level and be one of the first names the Islanders consider when they need help on their NHL blueline.
Bordealeau set career highs in 2023-24 in games played (27), goals (6), assists (5), points (11), PIMs (18) and SOG (48) and earned himself a one-year, $875,000 contract extension with San Jose. The 22-year-old was the Sharks' 2020 2nd round pick (38th overall) and has six goals and 18 points in 43 games played across three NHL seasons.
