The Devils have announced their 2017-18 slate of preseason games and things are going to be a little bit different this coming year. The team will not face the Flyers as they traditionally do in the preseason warmup. They will, however, be facing the Washington Capitals twice.
The warmup begins with a home game at Prudential Center on Monday, September 18 against the Caps. The Devils will then travel to Madison Square Garden on Wednesday, September 20 to take on the Rangers. The next night will see them going to the Bell Centre in Montreal to face the Canadiens (they played the Habs last year in a split squad preseason game if I am not mistaken, so this is not unprecedented) before finishing out the week on Saturday, September 23 at home against the Rangers.
That is their second and final home game of the preseason, as the next three will be on the road. Monday, September 25 takes the Devils to O’Leary, Prince Edward Island to take on the Ottawa Senators. This is part of the Kraft Hockeyville promotion that O’Leary won. This is the Devils’ first Kraft Hockeyville game appearance in the competition’s eleven years of existence. They will be the visiting team in this neutral site game. This will actually be a spilt squad game for the Devils, as the rest of the roster will be playing at Barclays Center in Brooklyn against the Islanders that same night.
The preseason ends on Wednesday, September 27 at the Verizon Center in Washington, DC with a game against the Capitals.
This marks the first time in recent memory that the Devils will not face Philadelphia during the preseason, but I guess that the Kraft Hockeyville game in PEI kind of messed with the traditional schedule a little bit. It is a nice trade off, however, as the Devils will get some exposure by playing in that game.
After that, it will be time for the 2017-18 regular campaign to begin and all of the hope that comes with a new season will be in full effect.