The New Jersey Devils have announced the roster they have submitted to the NHL for the 2021-22 regular season. The team had to get down to 23-men prior to today at 5 PM, Sam Kasan mentioned in his article on the Devils’ official app.
The roster includes forwards Andreas Johnsson, Nico Hischier, Jimmy Vesey, Yegor Sharangovich, Dawson Mercer, Michael McLeod, Pavel Zacha, Freddy Gauthier, Janne Kuokkanen, Jesper Bratt, Marian Studenic, Jack Hughes and Tomas Tatar. That is 13 forwards.
The seven defensemen the Devils will go into the season with include: Colton White, Dougie Hamilton, Ryan Graves, Mason Geertsen, Jonas Siegenthaler, PK Subban and Christian Jaros.
Mackenzie Blackwood, Scott Wedgewood and Jonathan Bernier will be the team’s three goaltenders.
Kasan reports that forwards Tyce Thompson and Miles Wood and defensemen Ty Smith and Damon Severson will be eligible to come off of injured reserve on Friday, prior to the Devils season opener against the Chicago Blackhawks.
In addition, Amanda Stein mentioned in a second “Inside the Devils Blog” post that forward Alexander Holtz was assigned to the Utica Comets of the American Hockey League this morning. She said that this likely came down to “a logjam on the current roster” and that, while “management and coaches … are pleased with his level of talent,” the subject of ice time would be a problem.
In Utica, she said, he should be able to “play an important role for [the] team” and get playing time. She continued that he “is a player that it [sic] better suited to a top-6 role that includes power play time, and minutes that reflect his capabilities as a developing top-6 winger.”
And with that, the Devils’ 2021-22 journey gets underway. I mistakenly thought the 15th was Wednesday and was preparing as such. Unfortunately, we have to wait until Friday to get our Devils fix, but it should be worth the wait! I simply cannot wait to see the team in action this year.