Anthony Mantha’s injury may end up forcing the New Jersey Devils into a roster decision they’d rather avoid.
The Devils are coming off a strong road trip through the West, finishing 2-1-0 against some of the conference’s best teams and improving to 9-5-0 overall. That has them sitting firmly in the top three in the Metropolitan Division, second in points and third in points percentage, with the club looking very much like a team in contention.
New GM Sunny Mehta has built a winner, but he has also leaned on the kind of salary-cap maneuvering he learned during his time with the Florida Panthers. That approach works - until it doesn’t. And right now, the Devils are operating with a 22-man roster, one under the NHL maximum, while sitting right up against the cap after the Connor Hellebuyck trade.
They’ve chosen to carry an extra defenseman and an extra goalie, which leaves them without an extra forward. That setup could suddenly matter if Mantha is forced to miss time.
Mantha was hurt late in the Devils’ most recent game against the Vegas Golden Knights. The exact injury hasn’t been confirmed, though the guess is that it happened when he slid into the goal in the third period. After the game, Sheldon Keefe didn’t have much to offer beyond caution.
"No update. We'll have to get back at home and we'll see how he reacts after that.
I wouldn't read too much in the fact he didn't return. It's just because there's so little time left, but also, doesn't mean he won't miss time necessarily.
We just don't know at this point."
Sheldon Keefe, Devils head coach
That uncertainty is where things get tricky for New Jersey. If Mantha is out for less than three weeks, he can only go on regular injured reserve, which would not create any salary-cap relief. If the absence stretches beyond three weeks, the Devils could place him on long-term injured reserve and free up most of his cap hit to bring up a forward.
Even then, the next move isn’t simple. The obvious name would be Stefan Noesen, but his recall would cost the Devils a little more than $1.2 million in cap space. Lenni Hameenaho would be the cheaper option, coming in at less than $1 million.
If Mantha can’t go, the Devils could be looking at 11 forwards and seven defensemen - a setup that would be a tough sell for Keefe, who wants to roll four lines every night. In the past, Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier have stepped in with double shifts, and a rotation involving the fourth line of Cody Glass and Amadeus Lombardi would be worth watching.
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