New Jersey Devils Make Final Roster Cuts for Opening Night

The New Jersey Devils made their final cuts to get down to 23 for opening night of the NHL season. The roster looks similar to what I expected with some definite surprises.

The New Jersey Devils released its roster for Opening Night. The team made some interesting choices, like going with eight defensemen.

Let’s take a look at who made it, and what the opening night lineup could look like.

Forwards

With Brian Boyle unlikely to play opening night, Michael Mcleod injured, and Travis Zajac out 4-6 months, the Devils made some interesting moves. Both Blake Coleman and Brian Gibbons made the original 23 man roster over Joseph Blandisi and John Quenneville.

2017 6^th round draft pick Jesper Bratt made it past final cuts as well. While he’ll likely have a short leash and still could find himself in London after nine games, this was a huge accomplishment and a huge surprise.

My final roster projection was slightly off, but I would imagine opening night we’ll see something like this:

Taylor Hall-Pavel Zacha-Kyle Palmieri

Marcus Johansson-Nico Hischier-Drew Stafford

Jesper Bratt-Adam Henrique-Stefan Noesen

Miles Wood-Blake Coleman-Jimmy Hayes

I still think Noesen and Hayes could flip flop. I’m hoping that Blandisi gets a call up to center that 4^th line, but as the roster currently stands this is how I see it playing out.

Defense

The Devils kept eight defensemen in New Jersey. My expectation is that younger players will get heavy opportunities to start the year with Ben Lovejoy and Dalton Prout there in case they struggle early.

As for what we can expect defensively on opening night:

Andy Greene-Damon Severson

Mirco Mueller-Ben Lovejoy

John Moore-Will Butcher

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The defense is much harder to project, but I’m anticipating plenty of opportunities for the younger players early.

Goaltending

I don’t necessarily feel a need to discuss Cory Schneider and Keith Kinkaid. Schneider will start opening night. This team’s success will likely hinge on which version of Schneider we get this year.

Be Prepared for Changes

Although Bratt made the opening roster, I’m expecting a short leash. Sending John Quenneville and Joseph Blandisi to Binghamton allows them to get playing time while the Devils wait to see if their younger players are ready or not.

The same can be said for the younger defensemen. The Devils likely wouldn’t have kept them at the NHL level if they didn’t expect to play them. If they all perform as expected then sending Prout down to Binghamton with the threat of waivers isn’t really a concern.