After losing both their games to the Ottawa Senators and Washington Capitals, respectively, in the split-squad games on Monday, the New Jersey Devils will take on the New York Rangers in a preseason game Thursday night at Madison Square Garden.
The Devils are expected to roll their NHL regulars tonight, according to Amanda Stein. Thursday night’s lineup gives us a better idea of who we’ll see on the NHL roster out of camp. The Rangers will also roll out most of their regulars, but J.T. Miller remains out of the lineup and is day-to-day after a practice injury.
Lines and Pairings
Devils-
Forwards
Dadonov-Hughes-Bratt
Meier-Hischier-Mercer
Palat-Glass-Brown
Cotter-Glendening-Gritsyuk
Defense
Siegenthaler-Hamilton
Dillion-Nemec
Casey-Pesce
Goalies
Markstrom
Allen
Extras
Cholowski
MacDermid
Rangers-
Forwards
Perreault-Zibanejad-Laffraniere
Panarin-Trocheck-Cuylle
Sheary-Parssinen-Raddysh
Edstrom-Laba-Rempe
Defense
Gavrikov-Fox
Soucy-Borgen
To be determined
Goalies
Shesterkin
Quick
Keys to the Game
Forward Group Takes Shape
Thursday’s group consists of the Devils’ NHL regulars, meaning that it is likely close to the final roster minus two extra forwards and Luke Hughes. The Devils made their first round of training camp cuts ahead of their split-squad games on Monday. We could expect to see another round of cuts soon, though, we won’t have a final roster until at least this weekend.
Luke Glenndening, who signed on as a professional try-out contract, is a member of group one and will likely break camp with the team. That leaves two extra forwards not in tonight’s lineup who will break camp with the team. Any combination of Kevin Rooney, Juho Lammikko, Nathan Legare, and Shane Lachance are viable candidates for those final forward spots.
Hughes Signing Solidifies Defense
The Devils signed restricted free agent Luke Hughes to a seven-year, $63 million contract Wednesday, ending the months-long saga surrounding the youngest Hughes brother. This signing gives us a better idea of what the final defense will look like. Seamus Casey, Dennis Cholowski, and Kurtis MacDermid are the extra defenders in the first group.
With Hughes signed, we will likely see Cholowski fill the final roster spot as the seventh defenseman, with Casey being sent to Utica. Head coach Sheldon Keefe put Casey on the third pair at Tuesday’s practice with Cholowski and MacDermid as extras, but the Devils would probably rather see Casey get top-pair minutes in Utica instead of riding the bench with the main club.
Where to Watch
Thursday night’s game can be seen on MSG locally and ESPN+ out of market at 7:00 pm ET.