Luke Hughes Happy to Get a Healthy Start | NOTEBOOK

The Devils are practicing today on the heels of back-to-back preseason games with two sessions once again.

For a full recap on all the activity from camp check out our notebooks for Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3.

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

Rookie Vet Split Continues

Two groups will skate again today and with a game last night that was veteran heavy, it's no surprise that a majority of the younger players comprised the early session:

Up front: Tufte, White, McLaughlin, Schmelzer, Melovsky, Parent, Lachance, Steeves, Squires, Hameenaho, Klassen, Pearson 

Blue line: Leddy, Silaev, Diotte, Morin, Vilen, Powell, Kolyachonok, Hanzel

Goal: Malek, Rittich

Noon Practice Workflow

When the rest of the squad took the ice at noon, this is the lineup they went with: 

Mantha – Hughes – Bratt 
Meier – Hischier – Evangelista
Gritsyuk – Rodrigues – Mercer
Lombardi – Glass – Brown

Hughes – Pesce
Siegenthaler – Hamilton
Dillon – Chisholm
Edwards – Casey

CAMP PHOTO GALLERY

Healthy Start for Hughes and Pesce

Luke Hughes is getting something out of this training camp that has been difficult to come by in recent years: a healthy start.

“Yeah, I feel great. First time going into training camp healthy for a bunch of years, and feel like my game's in a really good spot and excited for the year,” Hughes said.

Hughes said having his procedure earlier in the year gave him more time to train and prepare. His first preseason appearance provided another opportunity to get comfortable with contact and game situations.

For head coach Sheldon Keefe, seeing Hughes move confidently was an encouraging sign.

“He looked confident offensively. He skated well,” Keefe said. “The skating, as we've come to expect, looks exceptional and is exceptional.”

Keefe noticed how quickly Hughes could join the rush or recover defensively. After the injuries and recovery time Hughes has dealt with, the coach sees his health as an important part of the Devils' outlook.

“So his continued progression, and most importantly at this point, health, is really important for our group,” Keefe said.

Hughes is also looking forward to working alongside a healthy Brett Pesce after both defensemen dealt with injuries last season. Keefe said Pesce has been strong throughout camp and looked like himself battling through his preseason appearance.

For Hughes, Pesce's defensive game and stick work make him an easy partner to play with and someone he can continue learning from.

“I'm really fired up to play with him again,” Hughes said.

Glass Likes Lombardi's Fit

Amadeus Lombardi's speed has made an early impression on Cody Glass, who sees a player capable of helping his line put opponents under pressure.

Glass has been working with Lombardi and Connor Brown during camp. With one preseason game together, he likes the combination of skill, skating and shooting Lombardi brings.

“He's speedy. That's what we need on this team if we're going to be on the forecheck and just kind of hounding teams,” Glass said. “He has a lot of the stuff that we need, so he's looked really good so far.”

The group is still building familiarity, and Glass expects that chemistry to develop with more time together.

“It's been a great time playing with him, and obviously you can build chemistry the more you play with each other and whatever happens throughout camp,” he said.

Glass already has a level of comfort with Brown from last season. Whether his assignment is on the third or fourth line, he expects his own responsibilities to remain familiar, particularly in the defensive zone and on face-offs.

“I'm not going to change who I am as a player on this team,” Glass said.

That consistency in his role gives Glass a clear focus as the combinations take shape around him.

“And yeah, whatever role we're in, we want to roll four lines and anybody can produce,” he said.

Depth Brings Decisions for Keefe

The Devils' deeper forward group gives Sheldon Keefe more options. Finding the right balance of ice time will be part of putting those options to use.

The head coach sees depth as an asset in handling both the pace of an NHL game and the demands of the schedule. Within each game, though, he also has to make sure players receive appropriate minutes and remain engaged.

“NHL pace of the game and NHL pace of schedule is one which depth is certainly an asset,” Keefe said. “So we've got to be able to utilize that.”

Cody Glass sees the value after the injuries New Jersey dealt with last season. With a longer regular season ahead, he believes the entire group will need to be prepared to contribute.

“Obviously last year we were struggling a lot with a lot of injuries, so a lot more depth now, which is nice,” Glass said. “And it's an 84-game season, so a lot of things are going to happen throughout the year and everybody needs to stay ready, and I think that's the lineup we kind of have right now.”

For Keefe, sharing the workload could mean adjustments to individual usage. He expects it to take time to find the right mix.

“Some guys maybe take a step forward, some take a step back, in order to utilize the depth appropriately,” he said. “So that's going to take a little bit of time to just kind of calibrate everything as we really get into it.”

Another Preseason Look for Silaev

Anton Silaev is in line for at least one more preseason appearance as he continues adjusting to North American hockey.

Head coach Sheldon Keefe said the defenseman worked with a different group Tuesday to give him another look, with a return to the NHL group planned for Wednesday.

“He's going to get another preseason game in here, at least one more,” Keefe said.

The coach was encouraged by Silaev's movement during practice.

“I thought his skating looked really good,” he said.

For Keefe, the daily experience is giving Silaev something to build on as he makes the transition.

“I think with every day that passes, he's learning,” Keefe said. “He's pulling one thing out of it that's going to help his game going forward here as he's making the adjustment to North America.”