Although it may seem a little bit early to be talking about the NHL’s 2016-17 preseason, considering the 2015-16 postseason is not even officially over yet, the Devils have gone ahead and released their schedule for next season’s exhibition slate.
Instead of the usual Rangers/Islanders/Flyers-only setup, the schedule has a few wrinkles thrown into it.
The Devils will kick off the preseason on September 26 when they take on the Flyers at Prudential Center. They will be playing a split-squad game that Monday, as part of the team will travel to the Bell Centre to take on the Montreal Canadiens that same night.
Wednesday, September 29 will see the Devils play the Flyers again at Allentown, Pennsylvania’s PPL Center. PPL Center is the (relatively – it opened last year) new home of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, the Flyers’ AHL affiliate.
The Devils then settle into a predictable group of preseason tilts. Thursday, September 29 sees them travel to Madison Square Garden to play the Rangers. The Rangers then come to Prudential Center on Saturday, October 1.
The next two are against the Islanders, Monday, October 3 the Devils are in Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. Then, on Wednesday, October 5, they play the Isles at the Rock.
The Devils wrap up the preseason with a Saturday, October 8 game at the Tate Ice Rink at West Point, New York’s US Military Academy. The rink is home to the Army Black Knights hockey team and the Devils will face the Florida Panthers there.
All games are 7 PM Eastern, except for the games in Montreal and West Point, which are at 7:30 PM.
Kind of a unique schedule for the Devils this year, with two games (well, one and a half) out of division and the choice to play a game in the very cool setting of West Point. I have seen the Black Knights play there and it is a nice rink. If any Devils fans are able to, make the trip up to see the team in West Point, it will be well worth it.