Devils 'NHL Group' Back to Work | NOTEBOOK

The Devils are practicing on Friday afternoon with their "NHL Group." Those players had a day off on Thursday and will play Saturday night on Long Island in the preseason finale against the New York Islanders. 

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

Round of Cuts:

The Devils have made cuts to their training camp roster Friday afternoon.

New Jersey has loaned the following players to Utica of the American Hockey League:

Defensemen: Mikael Diotte, Ethan Edwards, Jeremy Hanzel, Etienne Morin, Anton Silaev

Forwards: Josh Filmon, Lenni Hameenaho, Shane Lachance, Matyas Melovsky, Xavier Parent, Cam Squires, Ben Steeves

Goaltenders: Jakub Malek

The following players will report to Utica after being released from the Devils training camp roster:

Defensemen: DJ King, Charles Leddy, Eamon Powell

Forwards: Tristan Ashbrook, Zachary Gallant, Gabe Klassen, Jack Malone, Justin Pearson, Ryan Schmelzer, Cristophe Tellier, Jermey Wilmer

Goaltenders: Jeremy Brodeur, Seth Eisele

Practice Details

The only NHL players missing from practice was goalie Nico Daws, who was given a scheduled day off with having played in last night's game at MSG against the Rangers. 

The rest of the workflow is below...

Preseason Finale

The Devils will play their final preseason game on Long Island against the New York Islanders on Saturday night. The lineup that was used at practice will be the lineup for the game and will (likely) the lineup that the team will open with to begin the regular season.

So, in many ways the contest against the Islanders is the beginning of this particular group of players starting to work together and build chemistry.

“It’s the first time we’ll all be out there together,” forward Connor Brown said. “My view is we just have to look to get better. Third period better than the first and even into the beginning of the season. It’s about establishing the foundation of our game, the way we want to play, our identity and building upon it.”

Each forward line will feature a new addition – Luke Evangelista, Anthony Mantha, Evan Rodrigues, Amadeus Lombardi. So, there will be a lot of kinks to work out as they try to get on the same page.

“We’re excited to get back into our full lineup,” forward Jesper Bratt said. “It’s really exciting. Get the routine more dialed in. Get on the road for us and be out playing. I love that everything is starting for real.”

Gellin'

With the shortened training camp, the Devils have used every practice and game to build each line. It will still take time and possibly several games into the regular season for lines to gel, but patience is required.

“I think everything will come more naturally now,” Bratt said. “We have one more game, one more practice together. A line doesn’t get built in one or two games. That’s where the poise and trust in our team will come.”

Bratt is trying to mesh with new linemate Anthony Mantha. Bratt and Jack Hughes have played together for several years and are totally on the same page. Now it’s getting Mantha to align with them.

“(Jack and I) been playing with each other for a long time, we know our game. But it’s a three-man line,” Bratt said. “We want him to be equally involved and feel equally involved in everything that we’re doing. He’s a really big threat on the ice. He has a lot of skill and areas of his game that we want to add to and make all of us better.”

Mantha has his own personal attributes that can help compliment the skillsets that Hughes and Bratt have. He’s a finisher (33 goals last season), a big body (6-5, 240) and highly creative.

“His shot, his goal scoring, his strength,” Bratt said. “Taking guys wide and holding off guys. There were a lot of zone entries that we have we’re he had really good touches, really good poise with the puck and then kicked it out to Jack and me with speed. That was just a small part of it.”

He Said It

Brown on the competition in the room: “There are a lot of weapons in this room. A lot of guys with different skillsets. That’s a good problem to have as a group. We’re all working together with the same goal.”