It's safe to assume that Hughes will miss at least the first 15 games of the season, and he could miss 20+ games if he doesn't return for seven weeks. With Hughes sidelined it looks like Seamus Casey could make his NHL debut in the Devils' season opener. Casey has been running the Devils' second power-play unit in practice recently, indicating that he'll play on Friday.
With New Jersey taking part in the Prague Global Series that starts on October 4th, it appears they will be without one of their big off-season acquisitions after it was announced Brett Pesce is still recovering from surgery for a fractured fibula and is considered week-to-week. Pesce signed a six-year contract to join New Jersey in the offseason after nine successful seasons on Carolina's blueline. In 70 games in 2023-24, he had three goals, 13 points, 20 PIMs and a +10 plus/minus while averaging 20:17 TOI/GP.
New Jersey's defensive core continued to take injury hits on Thursday after it was announced Santeri Hatakka would be out "more than day-to-day" after leaving Thursday's preseason game. The 23-year-old had a legitimate shot of making the Devils out of training camp after Luke Hughes was announced out due to injury, but will now, unfortunately, be joining his fellow young defender. In 12 games in 2023-24, he had two assists, 12 SOG and a +5 plus/minus while averaging just 14:39 TOI/GP.
San Jose's offensive depth took a hit on Tuesday as they announced forward Thomas Bordeleau would be out "for weeks" and is at risk of missing the Sharks' season opener. The 22-year-old is entering his fourth season with San Jose but has still yet to amass more than 27 games played in a single season. In 2023-24, he had six goals, 11 points, 18 PIMs and 48 SOG in 27 games played.
After a long offseason of negotiations, New Jersey's remaining UFA Dawson Mercer has signed a three-year, $12 million contract extension ($4,000,000 AAV) with the Devils. The 22-year-old was New Jersey's 2020 1st round pick (18th overall) and had the worst year of his three-year career in 2023-24 where he picked up 20 goals, 33 points, 134 SOG and a -26 plus/minus in 82 games played.
Nemec left and Olympic Qualifying game a few weeks ago with an upper-body injury after getting tangled up with a member of Team Kazakhstan. Luckily for the Devils, who will already be without Luke Hughes to start the season, Nemec was on the ice on Thursday and was a full participant in Day 1 of training camp.
Tampa Bay's opening season forward depth took a hit on Wednesday as it was announced Luke Glendening will be limited at training camp due to an undisclosed injury and hopes he'll be ready to start the season. The 35-year-old center filled in Tampa Bay's bottom six admirably in 2023-24, with 10 goals, 11 points, 39 PIMs and 57 SOG in 81 games played.
Bad news came out of New Jersey's camp on Thursday morning as they announced their star 21-year-old defender Luke Hughes suffered a left-shoulder injury during offseason training and is expected to miss the next 6-to-8 weeks as he recovers. The sophomore defenseman is expected to return between October 24th and November 7th and will play a key role in the Devils' back end. In 2023-24, he had nine goals, 47 points, 135 SOG, 28 PIMs and a -25 plus/minus in 82 games played.
Pittsburgh added to their forward depth on Tuesday by acquiring Cody Glass alongside a 2025 3rd-round pick (MIN) and a 2026 6th-round pick from Nashville for Jordan Frasca. The 25-year-old centre carries a cap hit of $2.5 million into 2023-24 and should fit in well in Pittsburgh's bottom six after a down season last year which saw him score only six goals and 13 points in 41 games played.
New Jersey locked up their goaltending depth for the next two seasons as they signed Nico Daws to a two-year contract with the first year being a two-way and the second being a one-way. The 23-year-old netminder was drafted by New Jersey in the 3rd round of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft (84th overall) and had a down season with his 9-11-0 record, 3.15 GAA and .894 SV% in 2023-24.
Cholowski spent the entire 2024 season in Bridgeport (AHL), where he had 31 points (7G / 24A) in 68 games. Since signing with the Islanders prior to the 2023 season, Cholowski has appeared in just two NHL games but has eight goals and 61 assists (69 points) in 135 AHL games. Expect him to continue to provide offence at the AHL-level and be one of the first names the Islanders consider when they need help on their NHL blueline.
Bordealeau set career highs in 2023-24 in games played (27), goals (6), assists (5), points (11), PIMs (18) and SOG (48) and earned himself a one-year, $875,000 contract extension with San Jose. The 22-year-old was the Sharks' 2020 2nd round pick (38th overall) and has six goals and 18 points in 43 games played across three NHL seasons.
Hatakka played 12 games in his first season in New Jersey in 2023-24 and has signed a one-year, two-way contract extension on Tuesday. The 23-year-old was acquired in Febuary of 2023 in the blockbuster trade that brought Timo Meier to New Jersey and had two asssits, 12 SOG and a +5 plus/minus in 12 games played last season.
Squires was selected in the fourth-round (No.122 overall) in the 2023 NHL Draft. The 19-year-old winger has spent the last three seasons with Cape Breton (QMJHL), where he led the team with 72 points (33G / 39A) in 66 games during the 2023-24 season.
Boston brought back a staple of the Providence Bruins (AHL) on Tuesday as they resigned Marc McLaughlin to a one-year, two-way contract extension. The 24-year-old centre only appeared in one game for Boston in 2023-24 but had his first career goal. In 68 games with Providence in 2023-24, he had eight goals and 14 points in 68 games played.
Tatar will return to New Jersey on a one-year, $1.8 million contract for the 2024-25 season where he was a fan favourite after spending two seasons with the Devils between 2021 and 2023. The 34-year-old left-winger spent 2023-24 split between Colorado and Seattle and had nine goals, 24 points and 20 PIMs in 70 games played.
Utica gained a strong defensive piece on Tuesday after New Jersey signed Colin White to a two-year, two-way deal. The 27-year-old defenseman has 10 points in 84 career NHL games but failed to make it to the big leagues in 2023-24 after collecting eight points in 53 games with San Diego (AHL).
After four seasons in the Blackhawks organization, Mike Hardman has signed a two-year, two-way deal with New Jersey. Hardman hasn't made an NHL appearance since 2022-23 with Chicago but has a goal and five points in 37 career NHL games played. In 63 games with Rockford (AHL) in 2023-24 he had 22 goals and 37 points in 63 games played.
New Jersey continued their impressive offseason by adding veteran defenseman Brenden Dillion to a three-year contract worth $12.0 million ($4.0M AAV). The 33-year-old is entering his 14th NHL season and is 108 games from the 1000 games played mark. In 2023-24 he had eight goals, 20 points, 92 PIMs and a +20 plus/minus in 77 games played with Winnipeg.
