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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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Wedgewood Re-Signs

Today the Devils announced the re-signing of goaltender Scott Wedgewood. He signed a one-year, two-way contract. The deal is worth $825,000 at the NHL level and $375,000 in the AHL.

The 28-year-old goalie was 3-8-3 last year over 16 games – 15 of them starts according to the press release put out by the Devils. He ended 2020-21 with a 3.11 goals against average and a .900 save percentage. The presser also noted that he set a career best with two shutouts. He was ultimately named the Devils’ nominee for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy in 2021. He was chosen as such by “the New Jersey members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association.”

Over Wedgewood’s three years in the NHL, he has posted a 10-18-8 record (40 games – 36 of them starts) and a 3.07 GAA and .902 save percentage. He also has four shutouts.

In 2019-20, while with the Tampa Bay Lightning organization (spending the majority of the year with the AHL Syracuse Crunch), he won a Stanley Cup as the Bolts’ third goalie in the bubble.

Wedgewood has played in the Devils’ organization (he was picked 84th overall in the third round with New Jersey’s second choice in the 2010 Draft. He played in the Ontario Hockey League for four years with the Plymouth Whalers before moving on to the Trenton Devils of the ECHL and the Albany/Binghamton Devils of the American League.

In the AHL, he has a career 51-36-16 record with eight shutouts and a 2.45 GAA and .906 save percentage over 190 games.

He made his NHL Devils debut during the 2015-16 season and went 2-2-0 over four games with one shutout and a 1.25 GAA and a .957 save percentage.

The Brampton, Ontario-native was dealt to the Arizona Coyotes on October 28, 2017, for the ‘Yotes’ fifth-round pick in 2018 according to the press release.

Internationally, he played for Canada at the 2012 IIHF World Junior Championship, winning a bronze.

But, as one person is back in the fold for the Devils, the organization is losing another in the front office.

Director of player and team development, Aimee Kimball left the Devils back on July 2.

She announced via Twitter that she “made the hard decision to leave a great org, but I have goals that superseded available opportunities so I’m testing free agency.”

She noted in her post that she has “15 years of NHL experience, 2 Stanley Cups” which she won while with the Penguins, and “a PhD, and a strong desire to help a team go from potential to dominance.”