New Jersey Devils: 5 Takeaways From Final 23-Man Roster
The New Jersey Devils waited until Monday evening to announce their final 23-man roster, and there are some interesting takeaways from who they chose over who they decided to let go to the Utica Comets. The roster is a nice mix of players who were fighting for contracts and young players who are ready for a breakout year.
There are surprises on the roster, injuries to deal with, and a lot of first-time New Jersey Devils looking to make a name for themselves. As far as takeaways go, don’t expect “Dougie Hamilton makes the roster with Ryan Graves” to make this list. These are surprising takeaways from the final roster. This is something we might not have known or expected when we woke up on Monday morning. We have a final roster, and now it’s time to prepare for Friday.
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Now that the New Jersey Devils finished their final roster, what are the biggest takeaways from their decisions?
1. Dawson Mercer makes it, Alex Holtz does not
We covered Alexander Holtz’s setback earlier on Monday. The Devils announced Holtz would be sent down to the AHL to continue his career with the Devils, which meant they decided he was not going to be starting out with the big club. There were moments where he seemed like a fixture on this roster, but as the preseason and training camp dragged on, he seemed to fall further and further down the lineup.
The Devils are right. Holtz should not start on the NHL roster playing 8-12 minutes per night and getting held off the power play. He needs to play on as many units as possible to get used to the North American style. He is clearly very close, and we should expect to see him with the big club at some point this season, but this was the move to make.
The one player who never showed anything but an ability to push him to play to the NHL level was Dawson Mercer. The Devils came into training camp playing Pavel Zacha at center, giving Jesper Boqvist hard looks with NHL players, and forcing Mercer to prove he was the right fit on the third line. Mercer was awesome in preseason.
Mercer scored two goals on three shots in three games. He added a primary assist while playing more than 16 minutes per night.
2. Devils keep three goalies
The New Jersey Devils have three goalies on the roster right now. None of them are on injured reserve despite the fact that Jonathan Bernier has been missing from practice. Bernier’s absence is a little concerning, but it’s not the only issue when it comes to Devils goalies. Mackenzie Blackwood had a scare over the weekend dealing with his unvaccinated status, and it could have cost him his opening night start. He’s fine, thankfully, but it was a close call.
Likely because of these two factors, the Devils have decided to keep Scott Wedgewood on the roster. His overall numbers last season weren’t great, but when looking at his year up close, he was fine for what he needed to be. The Devils needed someone out of desperation after Corey Crawford decided he’d rather retire than play in New Jersey.
Wedgewood is clearly the third option, but he’s better than most teams third options. The Devils then have Nico Daws and Akira Schmid to start the season in Utica, which is exactly what they need. Daws and Schmid need time, and Wedgewood takes that away from them. Who knows how long the Devils will keep Wedgewood on the roster, but don’t be surprised if this is a long-term plan. We can see the Devils going with one goalie, one forward, and one defenseman as their extras on a nightly basis.
3. The Injuries Are Still Up In The Air
The Devils announced a 23-man roster with 27 names. That’s because they have four players on temporary injured reserve. The NHL rules state that the Devils have to put out the roster today, but they can put players on IR and they are still eligible to play opening night. So, the Devils took advantage of the rule and kept extra players on the roster.
The defensemen’s injuries stand out the most. Damon Severson and Ty Smith are very important to the roster. In fact, they are important together since they are likely going to be the Devils second line. Smith seems like his injury is more significant and he’s probably not going to make it for opening night unless something drastic changes. Severson has been practicing before the main practices to test out his lower-body injury. He reportedly fell on a puck, so it seems like a fluke injury. Hopefully, it’s just something the Devils are being cautious with.
The other two injuries are Miles Wood and Tyce Thompson. Wood is clearly making this roster, so when he comes back some people are leaving. However, Thompson is still a question mark. He can go straight to Utica without passing through waivers, but the Devils have really liked him. He could play on the penalty kill if needed, and he does a lot well on the ice. His underlying numbers were actually really good last season, and the analytics heavy Devils might want to give him a chance to prove he can be a finisher.
4. Defensemen Are Not Who We Expected
Coming into training camp, it seemed like defenseman was going to be the easiest position to predict. Dougie Hamilton, Ryan Graves, and Christian Jaros’ arrival paired with the loss of Will Butcher seemed to solidify who was making the roster. P.K. Subban, Ty Smith, Damon Severson, and Jonas Siegenthaler were locks to make it, and the new guys fit the other three positions.
There was a possibility that a Kevin Bahl could really impress in camp and steal a spot as an eighth defenseman, that didn’t happen. However, another younger guy stole a spot. Colton White had a really good preseason after he had a fun training camp last season. This is twice in a row he came in and impressed Lindy Ruff, and now he’s getting a shot to start with the team.
Obviously, injuries are the reason for the extra names, but Smith and Severson might not make the opening night roster, so White has a chance to stick around. The other name fans might not expect is Mason Geertsen. The Devils claimed him on waivers from the New York Rangers, and he seemed like a long shot to play in the NHL. He has 297 games in the AHL and 0 games in the NHL. It looks like that might change if the Devils can’t get healthy by opening night. Geertsen is a fighter who can protect the guys playing either defense or forward, so this gives Ruff some flexibility with the roster on a nightly basis. It also gives him the opportunity to go 11 forwards and 7 defensemen since Geertsen can fill in on both.
5. Freddy Gauthier Surprisingly Makes Roster
The New Jersey Devils signed Frédérik Gauthier to a two-way deal after he earned a contract based on his PTO. We didn’t think he had much of a chance to make the roster, but this isn’t the first time we’ve been wrong with our predictions (my fantasy football predictions are going spectacularly bad). We predicted Gauthier had a 10% chance to make the opening night roster. Whoops!
Gauthier is clearly here because of the injuries to Wood and Thompson. He’s already passed through waivers in case the Devils need to send him to Utica on the fly, but the fact that he’s here is definitely significant.
Gauthier and Jimmy Vesey make the roster out of the gate, and it gives the Devils an interesting perspective on PTOs. They signed four of them, and Mark Jankowski was released from his tryout last week. Still no word on Tyler Wotherspoon, but he did not make the final roster.
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This is about Gauthier, however. The former 1st-round pick is looking to revitalize a career that never got off the ground. The 26 year old has played in 131 NHL games, but he only has 31 NHL points. On the other hand, in 177 AHL games, he has 56 points. He’s not going to add a ton offensively, but to the Devils, he’s worth a shot.