Camp Continues | NOTEBOOK

The Devils are practicing Monday afternoon following their 5-3 loss against the NY Rangers on Sunday to open the preseason slate. The team will hit the ice around 11 a.m.

Stay tuned to the notebook for the latest info, updates, interviews, videos and more from the practice session!

Practice

The Devils are on the ice for practice. The players participating are mostly those that didn't play in Sunday afternoon's game.

Workflow below...

Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe noted that the lineup above will be close to what the team puts on the ice Tuesday night when they host the New York Islanders at Prudential Center at 7 p.m. ET.

“There will be some changes from what we saw today,” he said. “By and large, anyone that was with us last season will get their first game tomorrow.”

That includes in goal.

“(Jacob Markstrom) will start. In terms of how much and how long, we’ll get that sorted out and who his partner will be as well,” he said.

*INJURY UPDATE

Devils defenseman Calen Addison left the team's Sunday game late in the third period after taking an elbow to the head from the Rangers' Brennan Othman.

“He was feeling OK but they wanted to defer any sort of decision until later on," Keefe said. "I haven’t gotten the update. We’ll have more tomorrow likely.”

Preseason Goals

For many of the players in Devils training camp, it isn’t their first rodeo. Or second, or third, or fourth, etc. The club has a very veteran group that knows what it takes to get ready for Game 1 of the regular season. And with that comes an understanding from their head coach that each player knows their own process.

“Those guys are looking bigger picture. They want to get through the game healthy, feeling good, get their timing right,” Keefe said. “It’ll be a little bit from my biting my tongue a little bit as those guys are finding their way. But that’s because of the trust that I have in them as we start to look to peak around the time the regular season (starts) those guys will be primed and ready. It’s a combination of me being in their ear a little about the process and detail but also letting them find their game at the same time.”

Defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler discussed the players knowing what they need to be ready for the start of the regular season.

“It should come back quickly. You don’t really want to hit the guys in scrimmage. That’s why you play preseason games," Siegenthaler said. "Just to get the feeling back. Get the physicality back, get the legs moving a bit. I think it’s good to have one or two or three games before the season starts.”

Daddy-O

The Devils have deployed a triumvirate of Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt and Evgenii Dadonov so far in training camp. At some point, they’ll see action together in a preseason game. And when they do, Keefe wants to see Dadonov filling a complimentary role on that line.

“What I want to see from the line is no duplication in jobs and what they’re doing,” Keefe said. “Sometimes there’s duplication with Jack and Bratt and we can’t triple it up. We need proper spacing and someone around the net, that will earn the puck back. I’ve seen Dadonov score a lot of goals around the net front, tips, rebounds, all that sort of stuff. That’s what I’m curious to see, if that can come together to make the line whole.”

Though it’s only been a few practices and one scrimmage during camp, Keefe likes what he’s seen so far from the threesome.

“I see some trust between the three of them,” he said. “I say that in the way that they’re sharing the puck with each other. They trust each other that when they give it up, they’re going to get it back or the play is going to continue offensively. Dadonov can score. When he gets chances to score, he puts it in the net. That’s really encouraging.”

He Said It:

Casey on entering his second training camp: "I was happy with last year, but that’s last year. You want to build on it and get better. It doesn’t matter what you did the year before, you have to get better. If I played the way I did before, that’s not really good enough. You have to keep getting better and better."

He Said It 2:

Dougie Hamilton on Keefe's second camp: "It’s a lot easier having him last year and knowing his expectations and drills. It makes it easier for us. There’s less thinking about what the drill is and more on executing it. It’s been really good. I’m excited to start playing some games and moving along here."