Devils’ Nathan Bastian to miss several weeks with jaw injury

New Jersey Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe announced that winger Nathan Bastian is expected to miss several weeks of action due to a jaw injury.

Bastian suffered the injury during Friday’s game against the Calgary Flames after a fight with Ryan Lomberg late in the first period. The Devils are currently on a road trip through Western Canada, which will conclude on Monday against the Edmonton Oilers, so Bastian has gone back to New Jersey to rehabilitate the injury.

Bastian was off to a solid start to the season, as he had 2 goals and 3 assists for 5 points in 12 games before the injury. Had he played all 82 games this season, that point pace would have put him at 34 on the year, well past his previous career high of 16 points set in 2021-22.

With Bastian out of the lineup, Kurtis MacDermid is projected to take his spot in the lineup as the fourth line left winger. MacDermid has been held pointless in 3 games this season. He joins Justin Dowling as recent substitutes on that line, as Dowling is replacing Curtis Lazar, who is out indefinitely with a knee injury.

Bastian was a second-round pick for the Devils in the 2016 NHL Draft, and he made his pro debut in the 2017-18 season. He spent parts of four seasons with the Devils organization, including making his NHL debut in 2018-19, before the Seattle Kraken selected him in their expansion draft in 2021. He played just 12 games with the Kraken before they placed him on waivers and he was claimed by the Devils. He’s since spent parts of the last four seasons in New Jersey.

Bastian is in the final year of a two-year contract with a $1.35 million cap hit, and is set to be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.

The Devils will look to bounce back from their 3-0 loss to the Flames when they visit the Oilers in Edmonton on Monday at 8:30 p.m. EST. New Jersey currently sits in second place in the Metropolitan Division with a 7-5-2 record.