Devils Open 2026 Training Camp | NOTEBOOK

The Devils open 2026 Training Camp on Thursday with their first on-ice sessions of the 2026-27 season. 

The players will be split into three groups (with one group comprising mostly of prospects). The two main groups will hit the ice at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. respectively. 

General manager Sunny Mehta and head coach Sheldon Keefe will address the media around 3 p.m. (ish). 

At the outset of camp, the team made a few roster moves. 

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

Group 1

Forwards: Jack, Bratt, Brown, Glass, Mantha, Lombardi, Boqvist, Lachance, McLaughlin, Noesen, Schmelzer and Squires.

Defensemen: Dougie, Siegenthaler, Dillon, Chisholm, Diotte, Vilen, Leddy and Hanzel

Goalies: Allen and Malek.

The Devils workflow is below. Some notables that jump out immediately...

• Anthony Mantha gets the early look on a line with Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt. 
• Amadeus Lombardi is working with Cody Glass and Connor Brown, meaning he's getting a serious look on the bottom-6
• Dougie Hamilton is reunited with Jonas Siegenthaler. 
• Declas Chisholm is working with Brenden Dillon, an indication that he may could start the year in the lineup on the back end

Group 2

Forwards: Nico, Timo, Grits, Evangelista Rodrigues, Mercer, Hämeenaho, Tufte, Melovsky, White, Parent and Steeves

Defensemen: Luke, Pesce, Kolyachonok, Silaev, Casey, Edwards, Powell and Morin

Goalies: Daws and Rittich

The Devils workflow is below. Some notables that jump out immediately...

• Luke Evangelista gets the early look on a line with Nico Hischier and Timo Meier
• Evan Rodrigues slides to center with Dawson Mercer and Arseny Gritsyuk as his pivots
• Brett Pesce is reunited with Luke Hughes

'A' Bratt

After the players finished their medical testing and media demands on Wednesday, the group gathered together for the first team meeting of the season. GM Sunny Mehta and head coach Sheldon Keefe addressed the players. At the end, Keefe announced which player would wear the 'A' as alternate captain this season. Much deserved, it was Jesper Bratt. 

More here.

jesper brAtt

Here are some comments from Bratt's teammates on him being named alternate captain for the season...

Keefe: I think it obvious if you’re around the team and you’re around Bratt. First the tenure, he’s been through a lot here. That’s part of it. The other piece is how he conducts himself. How he prepares himself off the ice to be able to perform on the ice. His ability on the ice to impact the game and impact our team. It’s also reflective of where we want to go as a team. We think Bratt can help us get there. He can take a step in his leadership, take a step in the ownership of the situation. Working together with Jack and Nico not only in our captain group but our leadership group. … Identifying him as that and giving him that responsibility empowers him to take that step that he’s ready for.  

Jack Hughes: It's not surprising if you're in that locker room. I think that people probably expect a leader as like a vocal, rah-rah guy, but I mean, the epitome of a leader is probably what Bratter does, and every day he shows up. He's focused, he's dedicated to what he does. He's got an unbelievable routine. He just continues to get better every year. So, he's the epitome of a leader, and obviously he's been a great leader for a lot of years and he'll continue to be now with even more respect with an A on his jersey. 

Hischier: Not surprising for me. I’m very happy for him and well deserved. Bratt is a guy, he’s a leader. People look up to him. Probably more than he thinks. Now he takes on this role and I’m sure he’ll do great.

Dillon: I'm just so happy for Bratter. I think for any team, but for us and the Devils and what we represent, the only team truly like New Jersey-based, like I should say New Jersey on our jersey. We want people to be prideful to be here and represent, and it's so unbelievable to be a Devil. Like, I've said that from the... Like, we get treated so well. It's such an awesome place to play and the history we have. And when guys like Scott Stevens walking around and Ken Dano, when these guys come through, it should mean a lot to us. And I think Bratter drafted here, late round pick, nothing given to him. The way he's even played, here I was thinking he was this little water bug, and now go against him in practice, he's competitive, he plays hard. He's got some jam to his game along with tons of speed and skill. So, Bratter's a guy more of a lead by example, but when he speaks in the locker room and talks to the guys, your ears perk up, and nobody that wants to represent and have more success for the Devils than a guy Jesper Bratt. 

Meier: He's very committed. Takes care of himself. He's a leader. Guys love him. He leads by not just saying the right things but leading by example. He's a pro. Probably the biggest pro I've played with, how he takes care of his body, how he trains. He's definitely a guy that everybody can look up to. 

Allen: Yeah, I mean, it's a no-brainer. I think we all would have agreed, or if he asked us, we probably would have said the same thing. No one knew until the media availability yesterday, but I mean, he's so deserving. He's one of the most dedicated athletes that I've played with in my career. He does everything on and off the ice to dedicate himself wearing that jersey. He takes great pride in it. I don't think people realize behind the scenes how much he puts into the game. By far the most in our group. And I definitely put him right up there at the top of the league. I've seen a lot of guys that way, but he's deserving of that and more, so happy for him.

Brown: Yeah, earn the honors, I think, is a really good way to put it. Bratt is one of the hardest working guys that I've had the pleasure of being around. Never satisfied with his game, always trying to get better, always trying to improve. And being a sixth-rounder myself, I always call him, he's the GOAT of sixth-rounders. So, he's an incredible, incredible player and a great teammate, and such a team-first attitude. So, it's been great to be his teammate and his friend over the last year. So, yeah, it's a great honor for him.

Shortened Camp

One adjustment the Devils are making this year is the truncated training camp and limited preseason games. Camp will now only 10 days with four preseason games. Veterans (with over 100 NHL games played) are only allowed to participate in two of the preseason games.

That is a radical change from when camp would run nearly three weeks and include seven to eight preseason games.

“Usually in the seven or eight games, the first two or three, just trying to stay healthy and not have the young, crazy yahoos buzzing around, trying to bury guys from behind, and you're just kind of trying to get your touches,” defenseman Brenden Dillon said. “So, I feel like with four, I'm not sure what the exact is, over 100 games or however many you're only playing two, but you watch the NFL, some of these starter guys play like four reps in four games. I think for us in hockey and the speed and stuff, we want those touches, we want those skates, getting your gaps, getting your timing.

“You go to the last two, three months where you're just messing around with your buddies and there's nobody yelling or blowing a whistle at you. So I think to get some preseason, I think two is going to be a good number for most guys and should be good.”

With less runway to get ready for the season, there is some urgency in the players to get rolling right from the start.

“For us that's been around playing six, seven, eight games sometimes in exhibition, it's a longer time. Obviously, you have more games to prepare,” Mantha said. “Now it's going to be nice and short, quick intra squad tomorrow. Vets, I think the rule is over a 100 games, you could only play two games, so you'll have to make them count because this season's going to be around the corner in a heartbeat.

“You kind of need to take practices like they're super important, like it's game time, and try to find that chemistry, find your regards on the ice, and just go with it.”

5 Questions for Camp

Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt and Timo Meier are likely safe in their positions in the top-6. That leaves two slots open for the likes of Dawson Mercer, Mantha and Evangelista. However it shakes out, one of those players will bump down to the bottom-6. Any time you have top-6 talent in the bottom-6, you’ve got yourself some serious depth.

Full read here.