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Injury Notes: Devils, Canadiens, Sabres

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New Jersey Devils head coach Lindy Ruff shared that winger Timo Meier will be a game-time decision for the team’s Thursday night matchup, after sustaining an injury in the team’s recent win over the Winnipeg Jets. Ruff also added that Jack Hughes is progressing but isn’t ready for a return just yet.

These are tough updates to a Devils team that’s already suffering because of injuries. Meier is one of three healthy Devils forwards with 10 or more points through the team’s first 14 games. His absence would mark yet another blow to the team’s top six, which is currently missing Hughes and Nico Hischier. The Devils have taken a committee approach to replacing their top two centers, giving Michael McLeod, Dawson Mercer, and Erik Haula more ice time as a result. Haula has been the most productive of the trio, netting five goals and eight points in 13 games, while McLeod has managed six points in 14 games of his own. Mercer is the odd-man-out, with three goals serving as his only scoring this season.

Other injury notes:

Hischier Not Expected Back For Roadtrip

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Being outscored by a margin of six goals in their last four games, the New Jersey Devils have been without some of their top-quality players for the last several games. A reporter for the team, Amanda Stein, even went as far as to report that team captain, Nico Hischier, will not be joining the team on their upcoming road trip to take on the Winnipeg Jets and Pittsburgh Penguins. However, Stein did clarify that although he will not be in the lineup against the Jets, Jack Hughes could return against the Penguins.

Hughes, on the other hand, has been desperately missed by the Devils. Truly coming into his own as a former overall selection, Hughes got off to one of the hottest starts in the league, scoring five goals and 15 assists in the team’s first 10 games of the season. After taking a hard crash into the boards during the team’s regulation loss against the St.Louis Blues only 10 days ago, the Devils have performed at a 1-3-0 clip in his absence.

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Colin Miller Returns To Devils Practice

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TSN 1200 out of Ottawa is reporting that Ottawa Senators head coach D.J. Smith told reporters this morning in Sweden that defenseman Artem Zub is day-to-day and didn’t practice with the team. The 28-year-old only just returned from an injury on November 9th in a loss against the Vancouver Canucks. He then dressed in the Senators victory over the Calgary Flames on Saturday night.

Smith said that Zub was more sore today and that was why he didn’t practice. He also added that the team would wait and see how he is for practice on Wednesday as tomorrow is a day off for the group.

Zub has dressed in just six games so far this season for Ottawa and has been very productive in that time with two goals and two assists. The expectations for Zub this season were quite high after he signed a four-year $18.4MM extension last December to remain with the club. Normally a defensive specialist, Zub is almost halfway to last season’s point total of ten in just six games.

In other injury notes:

  • New Jersey Devils reporter Amanda Stein is reporting that defenseman Colin Miller was a full participant in team practice this morning after being on the IR since October 19th with an undisclosed injury. Miller has yet to make his debut with the Devils after being acquired on July 1st from the Dallas Stars for a 2025 fifth-round draft pick. Miller practiced on the fourth defensive pairing alongside extra forward Maxwell Willman. No timetable for Miller’s return has been released yet.
  • The Tampa Bay Lightning tweeted this morning that star goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy has returned to practice with the team. The news sparked curiosity as to when the former Vezina Trophy winner might return to the lineup. The Lightning have been without Vasilevskiy for the entire first six weeks of the season but have kept their heads above water going 6-5-4 in their first 15 games. The Lightning currently sit tied for fifth in the Atlantic Division but are just two points out of a playoff spot with a lot of season left.

New Jersey Devils Reassign Max Willman

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According to the AHL’s official transactions wire, the New Jersey Devils have reassigned forward Max Willman to their AHL affiliate, the Utica Comets. In a corresponding move, the Comets have reassigned forward Erik Middendorf has been reassigned to the Devils organization’s ECHL affiliate, the Adirondack Thunder.

Willman is a 28-year-old center who signed a one-year, $775k contract with the Devils in the offseason. After his five-year collegiate career ended, Willman, a former Buffalo Sabres draft pick, began his pro career in the ECHL with the Reading Royals. He scored 25 points in just 20 games, earning a quick call-up to the AHL with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

Willman would go on to establish himself as a regular player for the Phantoms over the next few years, even earning a total of 50 NHL games with the Philadelphia Flyers.

He was signed by the Devils over the summer to bolster the organization’s forward depth, and he has played a heightened role for the Comets than what he normally received with Lehigh Valley. He’s responded to getting first-line minutes with production, as he’s posted seven points in seven games.

The Devils rewarded his hot start with an NHL call-up, and he played in two games for the club. He played 11-12 minutes in each contest and even scored a goal against the Chicago Blackhawks before settling in as a healthy scratch.

With the Devils optimistic that Colin Miller will be able to return to the lineup on their two-game road trip, sending down Willman clears a spot on the Devils’ roster that can go to Miller when he is able to be activated off of injured reserve.

With Willman back on Utica’s roster, Middendorf was returned to Adirondack. The 23-year-old former Michigan State Spartan is in his first full season as a professional player, and he has gotten off to a good start for the Thunder. He’s scored three goals and four points in five games, and was rewarded with an AHL call-up. He registered one shot on goal during the Comets’ loss against the Rochester Americans on November 10th, and now he’ll return to the Thunder having gotten a taste of AHL hockey.

Devils Hope Colin Miller Can Return On Upcoming Road Trip

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The Wolves had been the Hurricanes’ AHL affiliate since the 2020-21 season, but the independently-owned squad opted to sever their ties with the Hurricanes this summer and act as the AHL’s only non-NHL-affiliated team in 2023-24 (and for the foreseeable future). It was not an amicable split between the two teams, and Wolves GM Wendell Young inferred over the summer that the team would not accept any Hurricanes prospects on loan once the season started. That practice has broken with Ponomarev here, though, who becomes just the second NHL-affiliated player on the Wolves roster, joining New Jersey Devils-contracted netminder Keith Kinkaid. The remainder of the Wolves roster is filled out by players on AHL contracts.

  • The New Jersey Devils are hopeful that defenseman Colin Miller can join the team on their upcoming road trip, head coach Lindy Ruff said today. Miller sustained an undisclosed injury in practice that has kept him out of the last ten games, although he’s still yet to make his Devils debut after sitting as a healthy scratch for the team’s first three contests. The 31-year-old, currently on injured reserve, joined New Jersey via trade this summer from the Dallas Stars, with whom he registered 21 points and a +23 rating in 79 games last season.

Injury Notes: Markstrom, Nosek, Zegras, Whitecloud

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Calgary Flames head coach Ryan Huska shared that starting goaltender Jacob Markstrom is day-to-day with an upper-body injury. He will sit out of the team’s Friday night game, with Daniel Vladar taking over the starting role.

This is timely news, as the Flames just recalled back-to-back AHL Goalie of the Year winner Dustin Wolf to the NHL club. Wolf has yet to carve out an NHL presence but the 22-year-old goaltender has more than proven his capability, going as far as winning the AHL’s Les Cunningham Award last season, given to the league’s most valuable player. Calgary plays Toronto on Friday and Ottawa on Saturday, which could give Wolf a chance to relieve Vladar.

The team will hope that their backups getting added opportunities can turn into some sort of spark in net. Markstrom has struggled through the early season, recording a .896 save percentage and 2-6-1 record across nine games played. Vladar has managed better outcomes in his appearances, earning a 2-1-0 record in his three games, but carries a .844 save percentage.

Wolf has recorded a .924 save percentage and 5-1-0 record in six AHL games this season.

Other injury notes from around the league:

Devils Assign Cal Foote To AHL

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The New Jersey Devils assigned defenseman Cal Foote to the AHL’s Utica Comets on Friday, a team announcement states.

Foote, 24, had been on the Devils’ roster since getting recalled from Utica on October 23 but hadn’t played in a game. The 2017 first-round pick was a healthy scratch for eight straight games after clearing waivers preseason.

This will likely get Foote some playing time over the weekend – after tonight’s game against the Capitals, the Devils are out of action until next Tuesday, when they take on the Winnipeg Jets. With Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes still sidelined, Foote was the only extra healthy skater on the active roster.

It could also mean that forward Tomáš Nosek, who’s missed ten games with a lower-body injury, could be ready to return by the Winnipeg game. Nosek, currently on injured reserve, returned to practice yesterday and would need a roster spot cleared to be activated from IR.

Regardless, this continues a tough go of things for Foote, who’s failed to find his footing in the NHL and settled for a two-way deal on the open market after being cut loose by the Nashville Predators. He was slated to be a restricted free agent last summer after Nashville acquired him from the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Tanner Jeannot trade. However, the Predators opted not to issue Foote a qualifying offer after he recorded four points in 24 games post-trade and middling possession numbers.

Now in the same organization as his brother Nolan, Cal is making $800K in the NHL this year with a minimum guaranteed salary of $450K. He’s again slated to be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights next summer with a qualifying offer of $840K.

Devils Interested In Extending Tyler Toffoli

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New Jersey Devils forward Tyler Toffoli has been an exceptional fit with the team through his first 12 games, scoring eight goals and 13 points. It comes as no surprise, then, that the Devils would be interested in reaching an agreement on a contract extension for the forward, whose $4.25MM AAV contract is set to expire July 1st. Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald told NJ Advance Media’s Ryan Novozinski that he and Toffoli’s agent talk “all the time” regarding a contract extension, and while they’re “nowhere near that point of committing to term or dollar signs,” there appears to be mutual interest in finding a way to get a deal done.

Toffoli, 31, doesn’t exactly fit in the age bracket of the rest of the Devils’ stars, but he may still have some years of his prime remaining. The issue for the Devils could be cost, as another season with over 30 goals and 70 points would likely make Toffoli’s extension an expensive one, especially if the Devils don’t want to commit significant term. With Michael McLeod and Dawson Mercer pending RFA’s, cash could be tight for the Devils this summer. But when a front office and a player appear aligned on a desire to find a way to get a deal done, the possibility of a contract extension can never be ruled out.

Jack Hughes Sustained Right Shoulder Injury, Remains Week-To-Week

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The upper-body injury keeping New Jersey Devils star forward Jack Hughes out of the lineup is a right shoulder ailment, Ryan Novozinsky of NJ.com reports. Hughes, who remains tied for the NHL’s points lead with 20, remains out on a week-to-week basis after crashing into the boards in the first period of Friday’s loss to the St. Louis Blues.

Notably, this is not an aggravation of the upper-body injury Hughes sustained during the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Novozinsky adds. It’s great news for the Devils, who have relied heavily on their offense and power play to stay afloat this season. The 2019 first-overall pick is averaging over 20 minutes per game and has 15 assists in ten games, including nine power-play assists.

New Jersey Devils Recall Max Willman

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Joining the team shortly before the start of the regular season, the New Jersey Devils announced they have recalled forward Maxwell Willman from their AHL affiliate, the Utica Comets, and he will join the team as they take on the Chicago Blackhawks in their next game. Willman is likely getting this call up due to the recent injury to star forward for New Jersey, Jack Hughes.

Over the last two seasons, Willman had spent his time less than 100 miles from the Prudential Center, suiting up for the Devils’ division rival, the Philadelphia Flyers. Joining the team as a college free agent in 2021, Willman played in 50 games for the Flyers, scoring four goals and two assists.

Playing in Utica to start this season, Willman has already broken his point production over two years in Philadelphia, scoring four goals and three assists for the Comets in seven games. Although he will be joining the team on their trip to Chicago, depth forward Chris Tierney will likely get the nod in the lineup over Willman.

Nevertheless, it is detrimental for the Devils to lose a player of Hughes caliber even for a game or two, given how much they rely on his talents on the ice. However, when a star player goes down, it always becomes an opportunity for another player to prove his worth at the NHL level.

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