"I don't know what the odds would have been, but I'm sure no one was [picking] us last year to drop that banner down," said center Derek MacKenzie, who was named Florida captain on Sunday. "We proved a lot of people wrong. We opened a lot of eyes. The banner is going to drop and it's going to feel great, and then reality is going to set in. Every other team that comes in here is going to see that hanging there and they're going to be gunning for us. The days of teams coming in here and taking us lightly are gone. We're going to have to be ready."
The Panthers have nine new players on their opening night roster, including forward Jonathan Marchessault, who will skate on the top line with Aleksander Barkov and Jaromir Jagr in place of Jonathan Huberdeau, who is expected to miss 3-4 months with an Achilles injury.
Marchessault signed a two-year contract with the Panthers on July 1 after playing the past two seasons with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Huberdeau was injured in the first period of Florida's preseason finale against the Devils last Saturday. Panthers coach Gerard Gallant said Huberdeau had surgery on his Achilles on Wednesday, but the timetable for his return remains the same.
Florida has two players each making his NHL debut; center Denis Malgin, 19, and 27-year-old right wing Shane Harper.
Left wing Taylor Hall, the Devils' biggest offseason acquisition, will be among nine players making their debuts with New Jersey. Hall was acquired from the Edmonton Oilers for defenseman Adam Larsson on June 29, and led the Oilers in scoring three of the past four seasons.
Another veteran newcomer playing his first game with the Devils will be forward PA Parenteau, claimed off waivers from the New York Islanders on Tuesday.
"He's a seasoned, veteran player," Devils coach John Hynes said earlier this week. "He's been in training camp, he's played games. It just hasn't been with us. As long as he brings his work habits and his compete level is high, he's a smart enough player and an experienced enough player where some of the systematic things, we'll figure out pretty quick."
Parenteau is expected to skate on a line with Jacob Josefson and Pavel Zacha.
Veteran defenseman Kyle Quincey will make his Devils debut after being activated from the injured list. Quincey, who signed a one-year contract Sept. 28, had been sidelined with a lower-body injury.
The group of newcomers also includes forward Blake Speers, 19, and defenseman Yohann Auvitu, 27, who played the past six seasons in Finland.
The Panthers defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 7-1 in their season opener last season when Vincent Trocheck, Nick Bjugstad, Reilly Smith and Jussi Jokinen scored in the game's first 6:46 for a 4-0 lead and set a modern-day NHL record for the fastest four goals to start a season.
