Injuries Becoming A Major Problem For New Jersey Devils

The New Jersey Devils have been dealing with injuries since literally day one of training camp. We learned that assumed starting goalie Mackenzie Blackwood, on top of being the one unvaccinated player on the team, was also dealing with a heel injury that he got surgery on in the offseason. Devils fans were hoping he’d be ready by the start of the season, but it’s apparent he suffered a setback and hasn’t been on the ice in more than a week.

The injuries have not stopped. Ty Smith and Damon Severson were injured in training camp, leaving a major hole on the second line of the defense. Severson has since come back, but Smith is not yet ready to play. Miles Wood also got hurt in training camp and hasn’t made his season debut just yet.

Things went from bad to worse in game two. Jack Hughes, who has been electric in two games so far this season, was demolished in the corner by a Seattle Kraken defenseman. Carson Soucy ended up putting extra weight on the follow-through of the check, and that led to Hughes’s shoulder coming out of the socket. That’s bad, but it could be worse we suppose. He won’t need surgery, but the prevailing wisdom is he’s out for a few weeks, and a worst-case scenario has him out more than a month. That one hurts in more ways than one.

More bad news came on Thursday morning as the Devils were preparing for their game against the Washington Capitals. Jonathan Bernier was not going to make the game due to the aggravation of an injury he also suffered in the preseason. The Devils were down to Scott Wedgewood and Nico Daws as the two goalies who would be suiting up on Thursday night against a team they lost all eight games against last season.

The Devils are now down three of the five players we profiled this preseason in terms of players the team couldn’t afford to lose. Also, Michael McLeod is expected to play in Hughes’s position on a line with Yegor Sharangovich and Janne Kuokkanen. That takes him out of his normal position, so the only Devils player still playing where we need him to from that list is Dougie Hamilton.

The Devils need Hamilton to step up along with the Zacha-Hischier-Bratt line if they have any chance against the Capitals. If Wedgewood has a heroic performance, that could help, too. It’s going to be a rough go of it now that the Devils know Hughes is out a few weeks. Hopefully, their goaltender situation isn’t as dire.