The New Jersey Devils will start training camp this week.
It’s been more than nine months since the New Jersey Devils took the ice as a team. Since then, Lindy Ruff took over for Alain Nasreddine on the bench, Tom Fitzgerald took over as GM, Joey Anderson was traded for Andreas Johnsson, Cory Schneider was bought out and Corey Crawford took his place, Ryan Murray was brought in to establish this defense, and the Devils are going into training camp with at least four spots open. That last point makes things interesting.
The Devils are only allowed to bring 36 forwards and defensemen to training camp this year due to the pandemic. Last year, the Devils invited 51 players (plus six goalies). That takes a lot of the major surprises off the table. It appears that long-shot players like Marian Studenic and Fabian Zetterlund aren’t even coming for training camp. This takes away some of the truly bold predictions for training camp, but with a new coach, new franchise philosophy, and this many open positions, it’s going to be a lot of fun to follow.
With no preseason games, there isn’t going to be much to evaluate. Add to that limited access to training camp for beat reporters (the ones that are left), there might not be a lot of information coming out of the next two weeks before the season at all. It takes away a lot of the fun that is training camp, but there is still a lot that could happen over the next few weeks.
The Devils are going into this season with a new division, a very strange schedule (eight games against the seven divisional opponents only), and very few expectations outside this fanbase. It all starts with the opening lineup on January 14th. What might happen once we get there?