The Devils made a trio of roster moves before Friday’s freeze. The team announced that winger Timo Meier has been activated off the non-roster list while winger Xavier Parent and defenseman Calen Addison were assigned to AHL Utica.
Meier had been away from the team for a little more than a week due to a family health matter. The 29-year-old is a key cog in New Jersey’s attack and got off to a strong start this season with 11 goals and 12 assists in 30 games while averaging a little under 19 minutes per game of playing time. Considering that the Devils are without five forwards at the moment (headlined by Jack Hughes and rookie Arseny Gritsyuk), his return will certainly be a significant one.
As for Parent, he received his first career NHL promotion earlier this month. The 24-year-old got into five games with the Devils while on recall but was held off the scoresheet while recording two shots and seven hits in 8:34 of ice time per night. Parent has been fairly productive in the minors with the Comets though, chipping in with six goals and six assists through 20 appearances so far.
Addison, meanwhile, received his first recall of the season last weekend but didn’t see any game action. A veteran of 152 career NHL appearances over parts of four seasons, the 25-year-old has gotten into 21 games with Utica, picking up two goals and seven assists. He and Parent will have to play in at least one game with the Comets before becoming recall-eligible again.
As a result of these moves, New Jersey now has one vacancy on its 23-player roster. That spot could be filled before long by one of their players currently on IR or a recall later on from the Comets.