Tuesday, the New Jersey Devils continue their preseason as they take on division rival New York Islanders. The Devils are trying to shake off a 5-3 loss vs the Rangers, while the Islanders are coming off a 3-2 Overtime loss vs the Flyers.
Lines and Pairings
Devils
Forwards
Dadonov-Hughes-Bratt
Meier- Hischier- Mercer
Palat-McLaughlin-Brown
Gruden-Melovsky-Parent
Defense
Casey- Pesce
Siegenthaler-Hamilton
Dillon-Nemec
Goalies
Markstrom
Romanov
Keys to the Game
The New Guys in Jersey
While the Devils, for the most part, stayed quiet throughout free agency they did make two notable signings. They brought in forwards Evgenii Dadonov and Connor Brown. Both are expected to make their preseason debuts Tuesday.
Brown, coming off two consecutive Stanley Cup Final appearances, put up 13 goals and 30 points in his 2024-25 campaign; his highest totals since 2021-22. Meanwhile, the veteran Dadonov, showed he can still be effective, even at 36 years old, totaling 20 goals and 40 points last year. He was playing partially in a top-six role with Dallas.
The Young Guns on the Island
One year ago the Islanders had a bottom-five prospect pool in the NHL. Over the last six months it has become one of the most star studded groups in the league. How did they do it? Well, winning the draft lottery certainly didn’t hurt, but good drafting and an awesome return for both Brock Nelson and Noah Dobson has done a lot of heavy lifting as well.
Let’s start with the obvious. Matthew Schaefer, after being drafted first overall by the Islanders in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft, made his preseason debut on Sunday. He looked dominant on both ends of the ice and caught everyone’s attention when he tracked down Matvei Michkov on a breakaway.
On top of him, the Islanders were able to grab Victor Eklund and Kashawn Aitcheson at picks 16 and 17, respectively. The two were ranked fifth and 17th, respectively, in our draft rankings from June.
However, new general manager Mathieu Darche shouldn’t get all the props as it was Lou Lammorello who was able to snag top Avalanche prospect Cal Ritchie in return for Brock Nelson at this past year’s trade deadline. The former Devils general manager also drafted highly-rated prospect Cole Eiserman, who is now coming off an excellent freshman year at Boston University where he led the team with 25 goals.
More of Marky?
At general manager Tom Fitzgerald’s season opening press conference on Thursday he noted that contract extension talks with starting goaltender Jacob Markstrom have already begun. Markstrom, going into his age-35 season, is still a productive goalie when healthy. Before his injury on January 22, Markstrom ranked 12th among goalies in goals saved above expected (GSAx) with a mark of 12.67. After returning from an injured reserve stint, the veteran netminder was eighth worst among 80 qualified goalies with a GSAx of -4.87. However, after a stunning playoff performance the hope is that we see a Markstrom more like his first half self throughout this season.
Where to Watch
Tuesday night’s game can be viewed on MSG SportsNet. Puck drop is 7:00 pm ET.