3 things we expect to learn as New Jersey Devils training camp opens

The New Jersey Devils are opening training camp on Wednesday, and it’s a time of much rejoicing. After four and a half long months without Devils hockey, the players are putting on the red and black. We expect to see many new faces in the building, including Jacob Markstrom, Brett Pesce, and Brendan Dillon. We also welcome back a few faces in Stefan Noesen and Tomas Tatar. 

Beyond the players, the Devils are starting Day 1 with new heard coach Sheldon Keefe. He’s implementing a new system after a few mostly-failed years under Lindy Ruff. It wasn’t that Ruff is solely responsible for the last few years, and especially last year where everything went wrong, but most would argue that Keefe is a coach on the rise who should bring the Devils to the next level. 

Now, with the Devils reporting to Newark today, what should we learn from the start of a new era of Devils hockey?

1. Devils Training Camp Roster

The Devils' roster is pretty much set in stone, but there are always some fun surprises that come up at the last moment. It can be a prospect we didn’t expect to make it, a PTO that hasn’t been announced, or a college free agent who is trying to make the Utica Comets roster. We will learn about all of these things tomorrow.

The Devils' current listed roster includes 26 forwards, 14 defensemen, and five goalies. That doesn’t include the four PTOs, including Kevin Labanc and Jakob Zboril. In all, we see the Devils with 49 players on the roster. Last year, the Devils went into camp with 57 players. We expect at least some new names that aren’t listed yet.