Is it too cliché to say “another night, another injury” about the New Jersey Devils? Let’s recap. The Devils knew they were coming into the season without Johnny Kovacevic after he suffered a serious knee injury during the playoffs last season. Then, they announced at the start of training camp that Stefan Noesen would miss time with a groin injury.
Coming into training camp, both Shane Lachance and Lenni Hameenaho got hurt in the rookie tournament that preceded the professional start. That really hurt their chances of earning a spot on the NHL roster.
After training camp began, they saw Seamus Casey, Juho Lammikko, and Marc McLaughlin get injured. The array of ailments didn’t end when the season started.
Evgenii Dadonov got hurt in the first game of the season. He still hasn’t returned, and he won’t be back for a while after breaking his hand. Connor Brown, Brett Pesce, Cody Glass, Jacob Markstrom, and Zack MacEwen have all missed time this season. The injuries are heavy to start the season.
Now, the Devils are dealing with another injury, and it’s to a position they really couldn’t afford another person to go down.
Dougie Hamilton was hurt in the second period and never returned to the game. Out of seemingly nowhere, he left the bench before the second intermission, and he wasn’t back for the third period or overtime. The Devils were able to pick up a win despite his absence, but this is going to be a hard pill to swallow.
Two of the most significant injuries the Devils now face are the ones to Kovacevic and Pesce. The former is expected to be out until at least January. Pesce might be coming back a little earlier, but with so much unknown about his injury, he’s not expected back this month.
Now, the Devils lose another right-handed defenseman. That is all three starters on that side. No team could do that and still compete.
The Devils are uniquely qualified to survive this litany of injuries. They have Simon Nemec and Seamus Casey as young guys who are close to NHL-ready. They have Dennis Cholowski and Colton White, who both have a ton of NHL experience. They have Calen Addison and Topias Vilen in Utica. They can provide something to this Devils team if absolutely necessary.
Still, this is about as “worst-case scenario” as anyone is facing on the defensive injury front. The Devils are already dealing with Jacob Markstrom and Jake Allen facing slumps. They needed as great a defensive unit as possible. However, they might be without their top defenseman, and we won’t know how long until we get a proper prognosis.