Recent New Jersey Devils trade acquisition already suffered a significant injury

Immediately after losing forward Evgenii Dadonov to a hand fracture, the New Jersey Devils are already down another forward with an injury to his replacement. On Monday, Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe revealed to the media that recent Devils trade acquisition Zack MacEwen, who arrived in New Jersey in the Kurtis MacDermid deal,

According to Keefe, via Devils team reporter Amanda Stein, the 29-year-old forward will miss an "extended" amount of time after making his Devils debut against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night.

“He sustained an injury in the last game later in the third period. He’s going to miss an extended period of time,” Keefe said. “The length we won’t know until later on. That’s the situation with him.”

The latest addition to the Devils played 7:12 against the Lightning on Saturday night, primarily featuring on the fourth line and recording two shots on goal.

One of those shots, according to NHL EDGE, is the hardest recorded shot in the NHL this season, though MacEwen doesn't have much of a history as a scorer in the role he plays. The 29-year-old has just 17 career goals in 238 NHL games, including a career-high of four in a single season with the Philadelphia Flyers back in the 2022-23 season.

With MacEwen and Dadonov out of the picture for the foreseeable future, Arseny Gritsyuk is primed to take on a bigger role, and winger Brian Halonen has been recalled from the AHL Utica Comets to finally get that first real look at the NHL level.