New Jersey Devils trim 2 prospects from NHL roster, but they'll be back soon

After a series of transactions Tuesday, the New Jersey Devils are officially two forwards lighter on the active NHL roster.

Prospects Shane Lachance and Lenni Hameenaho, two of the team's best forward prospects and preseason and training camp standouts, were assigned to the AHL Utica Comets, but they will be back with the Devils at some point in the future.

"As we move forward you're going to see those two players get sort of a combination development path in Utica & NJ," Comets GM Dan MacKinnon was quoted as saying of the two Devils prospects by Kristy Flannery of The Hockey News. "Probably more in Utica in the earlier part of the season."

Injuries are, unfortunately, a part of life in the NHL, and the Devils have learned this harsh truth the hard way over the last two seasons.

Veteran winger Stefan Noesen is already starting the season on the injured non-roster list alongside defenseman Johnathan Kovacevic, and the 36-year-old Evgenii Dadonov isn't getting any younger.

Plus, there's the specter of the Devils needing to clear cap space at some point this season; Kovacevic going on LTIR will make the Devils cap-compliant in the short-term, but when he comes back, they'll be $3.995 million over.

That could make players like Ondrej Palat, Dougie Hamilton, and, potentially, Dawson Mercer trade bait ahead of the NHL trade deadline, with Palat and Mercer obviously clearing the way for a Lachance or a Hameenaho in the lineup.

The Devils are more highly regarded for the defensemen in their prospect pool these days, which includes the likes of Seamus Casey and Anton Silayev. However, Lachance and Hameenaho, combined with the presence of Arseny Gritsyuk, give the Devils and Devils fans a little more excitement up front than they've had from prospects in a few years.