The Devils have spent the first week of the preseason looking like a team eager to leave last season behind. They opened with wins over the Islanders and Rangers, finished the exhibition slate at 3-0-1, and now turn the page to the games that actually count, starting with their home opener against the Flyers on Oct. 1.
That’s the big picture. In the short term, the roster is still getting trimmed, and there are a few key battles worth watching as opening night gets closer.
On Friday afternoon, New Jersey announced its first wave of cuts from training camp. Thirteen players were loaned to the Utica Comets in the AHL: Mikael Diotte, Ethan Edwards, Jeremy Hanzel, Etienne Morin, Anton Silaev, Josh Filmon, Lenni Hameenaho, Shane Lachance, Matyas Melovsky, Xavier Parent, Cam Squires, Ben Steeves, and Jakub Malek.
Another 13 players will report to Utica right away: DJ King, Charles Leddy, Eamon Powell, Tristan Ashbrook, Zachary Gallant, Gabe Klassen, Jack Malone, Justin Pearson, Ryan Schmelzer, Cristophe Tellier, Jeremy Wilmer, Jeremy Brodeur, and Seth Eisele.
The real intrigue sits in the fight for one of the remaining forward spots, specifically on the fourth line. Amadeus Lombardi is still in the mix alongside Jesper Boqvist and Stefan Noesen. Boqvist and Noesen have both played in more than 100 NHL games, which made them ineligible to appear in more than two preseason games.
Lombardi has kept himself in the conversation. He skated with Cody Glass and Connor Brown in camp, then delivered in a pressure moment Thursday against the Rangers by tying the game at three with less than two minutes left in regulation, sending the contest to overtime and eventually a shootout.
He followed that up against the Islanders with another noticeable showing. The Lombardi-Glass-Brown line logged 9:12 of 5-on-5 ice time, put five shots on goal, and generated 10 shot attempts in the Devils’ 4-1 win. As the week moves along, he remains one of the names to track for a possible NHL debut.
New Jersey’s preseason results backed up the eye test. The Devils beat the Rangers 3-2 on Monday night, outshooting them 31-18 and controlling the numbers in scoring chances and dangerous looks, with 28 SCF and 14 HDCF according to Natural Stat Trick. Then they closed things out Saturday night by taking down the Islanders, with Evangelista scoring twice - once on the power play in the first period and again in the second - while Arseny Gritsyuk and Dougie Hamilton also scored.
The message from the exhibition slate is pretty clear: the pieces are there. If the Devils stay healthy and settle into a rhythm, they look built to be a problem in the Metropolitan Division.
One of the last lineup questions on the back end has also started to come into focus. Johnathan Kovacevic’s return for the start of the season is still in doubt as he rehabs a knee injury from offseason surgery, and Seamus Casey, who had turned heads in camp and preseason, is now out after a lower-body injury in his second preseason game.
That has opened the door for Declan Chisholm to skate with Brenden Dillon on the third pair. The two already know each other from their time together with the Winnipeg Jets, and that familiarity has helped Chisholm settle in quickly.
“He’s a veteran guy. He’s always in the right position, so I know I can rely on him to have my back defensively while I’m hopefully jumping in the play, and then likewise with him.”
The Devils will open the regular season at Prudential Center against the Flyers on Oct. 1, then head to UBS Arena to face the Islanders on Oct. 3, looking for a third win over New York after sweeping them in the preseason.
In Other News...
Mathew Barzals Status Just Put Islanders Fans On Opening Night Watch
Mathew Barzals status has become one of the Islanders early camp storylines, and for good reason. The center has missed the preseason after not passing his physical at the start of training camp, leaving the team to manage his recovery while keeping an eye on the start of the regular season. Even so, the setup is not as ominous as it first sounds, because the Islanders still have a path to getting him back into the lineup quickly once he is ready.
Barzal is currently designated as injured non roster because of a left knee injury, a label that keeps him off the active group for now but does not close the door on a fast return. He is eligible to play the same day he is placed on the roster, which is why opening night now feels like the date to watch. For the Islanders, the hope is straightforward: have one of their most important players ready when the games start to count. [Read more 🡒]
Islanders Forward Group Sends A Clear Message About Opening Night
The Islanders locked in their opening-night roster before the 5 p.m. deadline, and the shape of the forward group says plenty about where things stand heading into the new season. The club officially carried 13 forwards, eight defensemen and two goalies, with 19-year-old Victor Eklund earning a spot out of training camp and giving the lineup a fresh look right away.
Matthew Barzals status is the other part of the picture, as he is listed as Injured Non-Roster and does not count toward the 23-player limit. There is still no timeline for his return, which leaves the Islanders with a little more uncertainty in the short term even as they head into opening night with their roster set. [Read more 🡒]
Islanders Enter The Season With One Debate Fans Cant Ignore
The Islanders wrapped up their preseason with a few final roster calls that helped clarify the shape of the group heading into opening night. Logan Stanley was signed, while Cole Eiserman and Kashawn Aitcheson were assigned to Hamilton, a reminder that the club is still sorting through its depth even as it moves from exhibition mode to the regular season under coach Pete DeBoer.
New York also closed the preseason with a loss to New Jersey, so the focus now shifts to how the lineup pieces fit once the games count. Bo Horvat, Ryan Pulock, Matthew Schaefer, Kyle Palmieri, Alexander Romanov and Semyon Varlamov are all expected to play key roles, but the bigger question around the Islanders remains how the roster settles after those last decisions and what it means for the tone of the season ahead. [Read more 🡒]