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Devils News Roundup

I wanted to get to some news that has come along that I did not want to roll into the post for tonight’s game recap against the Los Angeles Kings.

First, the big piece of news. Forward prospect Alexander Holtz was recalled from AHL Utica yesterday and will most likely play in tonight’s game against the Kings. He joined the team in California yesterday and practiced with the team in Anaheim before they moved on to LA.

Congrats to him as he makes his highly anticipated NHL debut!

Two players the Devils will be missing will be defenseman Dougie Hamilton, who coach Lindy Ruff said is day-to-day with a lower body injury and goalie Scott Wedgewood, who was claimed off of waivers yesterday by the Arizona Coyotes.

For Hamilton, he is not expected to play tonight versus the Kings as per Ruff. In Wedgewood’s case, this is his second go around with the Coyotes.

He was traded to Arizona from the Devils on October 28, 2017. He previously appeared in 20 games for the Coyotes before signing as a free agent with the Buffalo Sabres in 2018. He signed with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2019 and then with the Devils in October of 2020. (All of this information comes from his player profile on HockeyReference.com.)

In other news, the Devils’ PR announced today that there were some “promotions and new hires affecting scouting, athlete care, analytics and team operations.”

First, Scott Litwack has been promoted to Director, Hockey Operations/Assistant General Manager of the Utica Comets. He will now work with Devils’ “Assistant General Manager Dan MacKinnon to manage the hockey operations for the Utica Comets American Hockey League team.” He had previously managed “the team’s cap and transactions.”

Nick Blackman will now take on the role of Senior Manager, Team Operations/Hockey Communications. He will now “serve as a day-to-day contact for the players, coaches, management and locker room staff to coordinate availability, scheduling and events for the Hockey Operations Department.”

Caela McLoughlin was promoted to Manager, Player, Family & Alumni Initiatives. She will help “contribute to family onboarding, player community endeavors, alumni programming and PR efforts.”

Craig Lewis is new to the organization and will serve as Software Developer. He “will work on projects and programming within the Analytics Departmart.”

Al Santilli joins the organization from the Pittsburgh Penguins (winning two Stanley Cups while in Pittsburgh) as Head of Free Agent Scouting/Recruitment. He worked ten years with the Pens, where he served in the scouting department as an Amateur, Pro and Global Crossover Scout.

Former Devil Sergei Nemchinov rejoins the organization as a European Scout. He won the Cup with the Devils in 2000 as a player. He also played for the New York Rangers, Vancouver Canucks and the New York Islanders over 11 NHL seasons.

Anders Nilsson joins as a European Goalie Scout. Nilsson played seven NHL seasons with the Islanders, Edmonton Oilers, St. Louis Blues, Buffalo Sabres, Canucks and the Ottawa Senators. Over his career, according to the press release, he was 59-74-15 and had a 3.06 goals against average and a .907 save percentage over 161 games in the NHL.

Michael Sdao joins the organization as an Amateur Scout. He previously worked as an Assistant Coach for the Lincoln Stars of the United States Hockey League.

Ian Greenwald was promoted to Video Coach while Lucas Hurtt was named as the new Video Coordinator. Both men joined the staff last season according to the press release and Greenwald had been with the Binghamton Devils of the AHL previously as the video coach. Hurtt was in his first season in season in pro hockey last year according to the press release.

JT Podell will now be the Head Athletic Trainer after previously serving as an Assistant Athletic Trainer.

Mike Coyne will join the organization as a Physical Therapist/Assistant Athletic Trainer.

And that is your Devils news roundup for today, Friday, November 5, 2021.

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Brodeur Leaves Blues Front Office

Devils legend Martin Brodeur has left the St. Louis Blues organization to “pursue new opportunities” according to NHL.com.

Marty had been with St. Louis since 2015. He had left the Devils in 2014. He played the final seven games of his career with the Blues and then moved into their front office after officially retiring from the NHL on January 29, 2015.

He was named a senior advisor to GM Doug Armstrong following his retirement and then was promoted to assistant GM for 2015-16.

Bill Armstrong will succeed him as assistant GM.

Marty had this to say about his time in St. Louis: “I want to thank Tom Stillman, Doug Armstrong, Chris Zimmerman and the Blues organization for giving me the opportunity to continue my playing career and begin my career off the ice in hockey operations. I am looking forward to the next chapter of my career.”

Brodeur, who won three Stanley Cups, four Vezina Trophies and the Calder Trophy as a member of the Devils, as well as becoming the all-time NHL wins and shutouts leader, has been the subject of rumors to be returning to the Devils organization by TheAthletic.com. However, nothing has been confirmed and Brodeur has stated that he wanted to take some time to spend with his family as of now.

My best guess is that he will not end up with the Devils in any position. Marty is serious about working in hockey operations. He will likely end up being hired by a Canadian Hockey League team, cutting his teeth as a GM in the major junior ranks. He could even take a job with a NHL team and work with their AHL or ECHL affiliate. Most likely, a team is not going to hire him this close to the start of the season, but next offseason will have vacancies and Brodeur might just fit a team’s bill.

In my opinion, a return to the Devils at this time would be a lateral move from the Blues. The Devils already have a GM (a very good one too) and there is little opportunity for Marty in New Jersey right now. I could even see him taking a job with the Islanders to become Lou Lamoriello’s “apprentice” and take over there when Lou does decide to hang them up.

That being said, hopefully he does come back into the Devils fold down the line. It would simply have to make sense for Marty’s career and right now there is no room at the inn for him here.

Regardless of what he ends up doing, we all know that Marty will always be a Devil and that does not need to be confirmed by where he is employed. Good luck to Marty wherever he does end up.