Pucks and Pitchforks
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5 Observations From New Jersey Devils Final Roster Cuts

By Nick Villano

NEWARK, NEW JERSEY - JANUARY 07: Blake Coleman #20 of the New Jersey Devils and the rest of the bench smile after teammate Nico Hischier scored in the second period against the New York Islanders at Prudential Center on January 07, 2020 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
NEWARK, NEW JERSEY - JANUARY 07: Blake Coleman #20 of the New Jersey Devils and the rest of the bench smile after teammate Nico Hischier scored in the second period against the New York Islanders at Prudential Center on January 07, 2020 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
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New Jersey Devils
Mackenzie Blackwood – New Jersey Devils (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /

Devils Are Happy With Goalie Tandem

The New Jersey Devils found out on Saturday that their big free-agent signing Corey Crawford was going to retire before playing a game. While it saved the Devils $3.9 million over the next two seasons on the salary cap, now the Devils have a glaring hole in net. The first move they made was to sign Jeremy Brodeur to the AHL squad. He’s the son of Devils legend Martin Brodeur and gives the Devils at least a body in the AHL to make sure the Devils are compliant with NHL rules.

That means the Devils have Mackenzie Blackwood, Scott Wedgewood, and Gilles Senn on the main roster. They added Eric Comrie off waivers on Tuesday. He’s also on the roster, but his role is still very unclear. One of those players is required to go to the taxi squad, and it’s almost definitely Senn. He’s eligible for waivers and Wedgewood was playing like a backup the entire training camp.

Ruff has been saying good things about Wedgewood’s performance even before we learned about Crawford’s decision to retire. He hasn’t played in the NHL for two seasons, but that doesn’t seem to bother the Devils’ brass. He went on a run with the Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning last season, so at least he has ice time over the last 10 months.

Blackwood is clearly going to carry this group. We talked about the possibility he could play 50 games. The Devils will play him like they used to play Brodeur. If Blackwood plays less than 85% of their games this season, it will be a surprise.

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