The New Jersey Devils went on a little bit of a spending spree this offseason. The team added Dougie Hamilton, Ryan Graves, Tomas Tatar, Jonathan Bernier, and Christian Jaros through trades and free agency signings. That’s a lot of talent to add in one offseason that filled some major needs.
There are still open spots on this Devils roster. Maybe they will add another name like Vladimir Tarasenko or another winger to add to the top six. That obviously changes the availability of roster spots for Devils prospects. The Devils prospect pool is still deep, and depending on how much they worked this season, some in Devils management got a good look at them since the AHL team played with no fans in Newark. Now, the Devils AHL team is going to Utica next season, but there will be some great players who never make the trip with them.
For now, it appears there are three available spots on the NHL roster. The spots are one place on the third line. That can either be a center or a winger. There’s another spot for a winger. That player could play on literally any line. There is no line that is perfectly intact. Even the Youths Line with Jack Hughes, Yegor Sharangovich, and Janne Kuokkanen isn’t safe. Then, there will be one spot as an “extra” on the 23-man roster. It would be someone to be an injury replacement or someone to provide a shot of adrenaline into the lineup if they fall into a losing streak.
Some prospects are already considered “the favorites” to take these spots. These are the players that people are mentioning on social media or even Devils writers have talked about in length. They include Dawson Mercer (people seem to love him in that 3C position), Jesper Boqvist, Nolan Foote, and Marian Studenic. They will not be on this list. This is trying to find those players who could have a huge training camp and sneak their way in the opening night lineup. Let’s start with a player who already had a shot but didn’t exactly impress on the NHL stage.