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Devils Sign Jacob Markstrom To Two-Year Extension

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After New Jersey re-signed Luke Hughes at the beginning of the month, their focus shifted toward keeping one of their pending UFAs in the fold in goaltender Jacob Markstrom.  Those efforts have paid off as the Devils announced that they’ve signed goaltender Jacob Markstrom to a two-year, $12MM contract extension.

The 35-year-old is in his second season with New Jersey after being acquired from Calgary a little before the 2024 draft in exchange for a 2025 first-round pick (used on Cole Reschny) and defenseman Kevin Bahl.  The hope was that acquiring him, coupled with the addition of Jake Allen a few months earlier, would help stabilize a goaltending position that had been in some flux for a while.

Mission accomplished on that front.  After allowing 281 goals in 2023-24, the Devils cut that amount by 61 last season, allowing the fifth-fewest goals in the league in the process.  Markstrom played a big role in that success, posting a 2.50 GAA and a .900 SV% in 49 regular season starts while also putting up a 2.78 GAA and a .911 SV% in their first-round playoff exit at the hands of Carolina.  He’s not off to a great start this season, however, with a 5.13 GAA and a .830 SV% in four appearances but he’s also just coming back from a lower-body injury.

Over his 16-year career between Vancouver, Florida, Calgary, and New Jersey, Markstrom has a 243-214-63 record with a 2.72 GAA,  a .908 SV%, and 24 shutouts.  He has typically been one of the more consistent goalies in recent years, providing a strong return on his current six-year contract, one that expires next summer and also carries a cap hit of $6MM per season.  However, the Devils will be responsible for that full amount, unlike now, where the Flames are picking up $1.875MM of Markstrom’s price tag as part of the swap.

A few months ago, New Jersey signed Allen to a five-year deal, a surprising term for someone just a few months younger than Markstrom.  But the benefit in doing so was that the cap hit came in at $1.8MM, well below his market value when many expected he’d get more than twice that much per season.  Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that Markstrom’s camp appeared to be looking for something similar, a fixed sum of money but they were open to spreading it out over a longer term like Allen.  However, the Devils were firm on a shorter-term agreement, even though it means a higher AAV.

With this deal done, New Jersey now has their goalie tandem intact for the next couple of seasons at a combined $7.8MM price tag, just 7.5% of the projected $104MM Upper Limit for next season.  That’s a solid price tag for a capable and experienced tandem, giving GM Tom Fitzgerald a bit of flexibility to work with.  With this deal now done, the Devils have a little over $10MM in spending room for next season, per PuckPedia, with pending RFAs Simon Nemec, Arseny Gritsyuk, and Paul Cotter highlighting the list of players in need of new deals over the next ten or so months.

ESPN’s Emily Kaplan was the first to report the signing.

Photo courtesy of Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images.

Devils Place Cody Glass On IR, Activate Juho Lammikko

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The New Jersey Devils will have some notable center depth missing for the next little while. The Devils announced that they’ve placed center Cody Glass on injured reserve with a lower-body injury, and have activated Juho Lammikko in a corresponding roster move.

Although they didn’t mention it in the announcement, Glass’s placement on the IR is likely retroactive to October 21st, the last time he played, making him eligible for activation tomorrow. Before succumbing to the lower-body ailment, he scored two goals in six games and averaged a 40.3% success rate in the faceoff dot on the team’s third line.

Despite the low faceoff success, Glass has been relatively solid for New Jersey’s possession play and on the defensive side of the puck. Regardless, the team is off to an excellent start, winning with and without Glass.

Replacing Glass in the lineup will be Lammikko, who was placed on the IR last week to create space for Stefan Noesen’s activation. Tonight’s game against the Colorado Avalanche will be Lammikko’s first NHL appearance since the 2021-22 campaign, when he scored seven goals and 15 points in 75 games for the Vancouver Canucks. He’s spent the last few years overseas with the NL’s ZSC Lions.

Although it’s well known that the Devils have an excellent team when healthy, the third-line center position could be an area for an upgrade around the trade deadline. New Jersey already has one of the best combinations in their top six with Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier, and a prominent third-line center could put them over the top.

Devils’ Brett Pesce Out At Least One Month

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Oct. 28: Pesce’s upper-body injury will keep him out of the lineup for at least a month, according to the team’s Amanda Stein.

Oct. 26: The New Jersey Devils will head on their upcoming four-game road trip without defenseman Brett Pesce, head coach Sheldon Keefe told team reporter Amanda Stein after Sunday’s win over the Colorado Avalanche. Pesce left that game in the first period after blocking a shot. Keefe told the media that Pesce’s injury was “not great”.

This is yet another blow to the Devils’ blue line. They are already missing reliable depth defender Johnathan Kovacevic, who is still recovering from a knee injury sustained during the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs. New Jersey has avoided major lineup changes in light of Kovacevic’s injury, largely thanks to young pro Simon Nemec, who has seven assists in nine games this season. But Pesce’s absence will force the Devils to reach into their depth chart. Dennis Cholowski is currently on the NHL roster as an extra defenseman and should receive the first chance to step into a nightly role. New Jersey could also lean on AHL prospects, and collegiate teammates, Ethan Edwards and Seamus Casey.

Even with the promising upside of their young prospects, New Jersey will struggle to fill Pesce’s role entirely. The 11-year pro has recorded three points and a plus-two in eight games this season, while averaging the second-highest ice time on the team (21:21) behind Dougie Hamilton (21:53). Pesce has spent almost all of his even-strength minutes next to top youngster Luke Hughes. Now in their second year playing together, the two have managed to outscore their opponents four-to-one at even-strength. They lead the team’s blue line in Goals-For percentage (80 percent) and Expected-Goals-For percentage (63.1 percent) per MoneyPuck.

Pesce and Hughes were plenty effective together last year as well. They were outscored 31-to-38 at even-strength, but generated a lofty 953 shots across the full season – over 100 more than any other Devils pairing. New Jersey averaged over one shot on net for every minute Hughes and Pesce were on the ice. They won their Expected-Goals battle as a result of the volume shooting, posting a 53.1 xGF% across 70 games together.

Pesce’s absence could push Nemec into an important, top-pair role next to Hughes, which would preserve the high-firing pairing of Hamilton and Jonas Siegenthaler. Nemec received the third-most ice time on New Jersey’s defense (23:35) in Sunday’s overtime matchup. It’s the fourth-most he’s ever played in a regular-season game, and he vindicated it with three assists, two shots, and five blocked shots. That kind of performance will be exactly what New Jersey needs as they face the absence of a 700-game pro.

Devils Recall Seamus Casey

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The Devils didn’t waste much time filling the roster spot created by their assigning of Nico Daws back to AHL Utica earlier today.  The team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled defenseman Seamus Casey from the Comets.

The 21-year-old broke camp with New Jersey last season and had three separate stints with them over the course of the year.  In those games, he was certainly productive offensively for a blueliner, tallying four goals and four assists in 14 appearances despite fairly light playing time at just 12:39 per night.  In between, he was similarly productive in the minors with the Comets, picking up 18 points in 30 appearances with them.

This season, Casey started on season-opening injured reserve due to a lower-body injury.  He was activated earlier this week and sent to Utica.  He played in one game down there, collecting an assist.

It appears that Casey will be taking the place of Brett Pesce in New Jersey’s lineup after it was revealed following their game today against Colorado that the veteran won’t be going on their four-game road trip.  Dennis Cholowski is also on the roster but he may remain the seventh defender as it seems unlikely that they’d recall Casey to merely keep him around as a healthy scratch.

Daws Assigned To Utica

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  • The New Jersey Devils reassigned goaltender Nico Daws to the AHL after Sunday’s overtime win over the Colorado Avalanche. Daws did not dress for the matchup. He’s served as the team’s de facto backup while starter Jacob Markstrom recovered from injury. Daws made his season debut on Wednesday, and managed an impressive 30 saves on 31 shots to lead New Jersey to a 4-1 win over the Minnesota Wild. Now, Daws will return to the top role for the Utica Comets. He’s so far only played in one game for Utica, where he saved 26 of 27 shots in a close-fought loss. He posted an .893 save percentage and an 11-20-3 record on a dismal Utica lineup last season. New Jersey’s assignment of Daws will push Jakub Malek into a backup role, and could push Jeremy Brodeur to an ECHL loan.

Afternoon Notes: Pesce, Hintz, Finnie

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Amanda Stein, team reporter of the New Jersey Devils, shared mid-game that Brett Pesce did not return for the second period of the team’s matinee tilt vs Colorado. The defenseman notched 6 minutes in the first but missed his final shifts of the period and did not return. 

Especially given the Devils’ hot start, currently atop the league, and their consistent stream of injuries, it is certainly the hope that Pesce’s injury is not serious, and many will keep a watchful eye on further updates today. 

Elsewhere across the league:

  • Lia Assimakopoulos of the Dallas News wrote earlier today that Stars forward Roope Hintz will miss tonight’s game in Nashville. Given the club’s activation of Oskar Bäck earlier today, it appears the 6’4” center could appear tonight for his season debut. Meanwhile, Hintz was shaken up last night from a big hit into the boards from Taylor Hall, one which gave Hall a charging minor. Further details of Hintz’s injury have not been disclosed, but Dallas will cross their fingers that their star, currently at a point a game pace, is not out long-term. 
  • Kevin Allen of Detroit Hockey Now shared earlier today a story on Red Wings rookie Emmitt Finnie, a former seventh-round-pick who has burst onto the scene. Finnie first earned a spot on the Wings’ roster which was impressive enough, but now he is featured on the team’s top line, with 8 points in 9 games. As mentioned by Allen, few seventh-rounders even make the NHL (20 since 2019) but zero have made an immediate impact like Finnie, who is right among the league’s best rookies so far in 2025-26. His contributions have helped Detroit to a great start as they aim to finally take a step back into the playoffs. Whatever may happen, Finnie’s all-around-game is showing to be an absolute steal from the Wings at 201st overall in the 2023 draft, a franchise no stranger to such throughout their history. 

 

Latest On Juho Lammikko, Cody Glass

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  • New Jersey Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe issued updates today on two injured players: Juho Lammikko and Cody Glass. As relayed by team reporter Amanda Stein, Lammikko will travel with the Devils on their current western road trip, while Glass will not travel. We previously covered how Lammikko had returned to practice and was nearing a return to the ice, as well as news that Glass would be out “multiple weeks.” Lammikko signed a one-year, one-way $800K deal with New Jersey to return to North America after spending three seasons with the ZSC Lions of the Swiss National League. He hasn’t yet made his Devils debut, but Lammikko could very well slide into Glass’ vacated bottom-six center role once he’s healthy. While Lammikko doesn’t have the pedigree as a scorer that Glass has, he does bring over 150 games of NHL experience to the table as well as a 51% faceoff win rate in his most recent NHL campaign.

Devils Notes: Bordeleau, Markstrom, Lammikko

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The New Jersey Devils acquired depth winger Thomas Bordeleau in a trade for center Shane Bowers in early July. In reflecting on that trade on Saturday, Bordeleau told Kristy Flannery of The Hockey News that he requested a trade from San Jose before the 2025 Trade Deadline. He explained that he didn’t feel he got a fair opportunity after coming back from an injury sustained in the 2023-24 training camp. With the path blocked ahead of him, he felt it was time for the fresh start.

After a full year with the San Jose Barracuda last year, Bordeleau hasn’t yet found a way to break out of the AHL in the Devils’ organization. He has two points, six penalty minutes, and a minus-four through five games with the Utica Comets this season – far below the scoring pace that led him to 38 poinnts in 59 games with the Barracuda last year. Bordeleau split time between the NHL and AHL lineups for three years before last season, ultimately totaling 18 points in 44 games in the Sharks’ lineup. With a quiet start to the 2025-26 season, Bourdeleau likely sits behind a few AHL teammates on New Jersey’s call-up chart.

Other notes out of New Jersey:

  • Starting goaltender Jacob Markstrom returned to the Devils’ practice on Saturday, per team reporter Amanda Stein. He will travel with the team on their upcoming road trip to the west coast, which spans matchups against the Colorado Avalanche, San Jose Sharks, Los Angeles Kings, and Anaheim Ducks. Markstrom has already missed five games with a lower-body injury sustained in October 13th’s win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. He has a meager .845 save percentage through parts of three games this season – far below the .900 he posted in 49 games last year. A return to practice will put Markstrom on pace to soon return to the crease, and begin working on improving those numbers.
  • Stein also shared that depth forward Juho Lammikko participated in practice in place of top center Nico Hischier, who sat out for a maintenance day. Lammikko is not yet ready to return to the lineup, though he’s continuing to progress from a lower-body injury sustained before the start of the season. Lammikko has had intermittent stints in the NHL. He played in 40 games, and recorded six points, with the Florida Panthers in 2018-19 – then spent one season in both Finland’s Liiga and Russia’s KHL. He returned to the NHL for 119 games, combined between the Panthers and Vancouver Canucks between 2020 and 2022. He scored 20 points in those appearances. Lammikko has spent the last three years in a starring role for Zurich SC in Switzerland’s National League. His hot scoring – 112 points in 144 games – helped lead Zurich to back-to-back championships in 2024 and 2025. Now, Lammikko is nearing his first chance to crack into the Devils’ lineup.

Devils’ Cody Glass Out Multiple Weeks

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Devils center Cody Glass will miss a significant chunk of time with the upper-body injury that held him out of Wednesday’s win over the Wild. Head coach Sheldon Keefe told reporters today, including Amanda Stein of the team’s website, that it’s “not a day-to-day situation” and that he hopes his absence is “no more than a couple of weeks,” though it could be longer.

Glass sustained the injury at some point during his last appearance on Tuesday against the Maple Leafs, but played through it, Keefe said earlier in the week. It’s been an otherwise fine start to the season for the 26-year-old, who signed a two-year, $5MM contract with New Jersey this summer after rumors he might not receive a qualifying offer. He’s got a pair of goals in six games while logging a plus-one rating with good possession impacts, ranking eighth on the team with a 52.5 CF% at even strength. He’s averaging 12:34 per game, has factored in on the Devils’ second power play unit, and has won 40.3% of his faceoffs while factoring in as their third-line center, most often slotting in between Connor Brown and Arseny Gritsyuk.

Another long-term injury puts the Devils in a crunch. Even with Evgenii Dadonov, Johnathan Kovacevic, and Zack MacEwen on long-term injured reserve, they don’t have the cap space to make a corresponding recall if they place Glass on IR. As a result, the Devils might be forced to dress 11 forwards and seven defensemen if there’s another injury to their forward group and, in an extreme situation, could play a skater short for a game before being granted an emergency exception by the league to recall a player with a cap hit of $875,000 or less.

In addition to those three, New Jersey also has depth center Juho Lammikko on injured reserve and goaltender Jacob Markström unavailable with a lower-body issue, although he remains on the active roster. They also just got Stefan Noesen back in the lineup after he missed the first six games while recovering from groin surgery. Despite all that adversity, the Devils are 6-1-0 – rattling off six wins in a row – and sit atop the Eastern Conference. Only the Golden Knights are scoring more than New Jersey’s four goals per game, and both their special teams are top-five in the league.

With Glass out, Dawson Mercer shifted over to center the third line against Minnesota and will presumably stay there for the foreseeable future. While he’s spent most of his time in the NHL on the wing, he’s a natural center and has done better in the faceoff dot (56.0%) this season than Glass. He’s also off to the best start of his five-year career with three goals and seven points in seven games.

Devils Notes: Markstrom, Hamilton, Glass

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It’s been an active day for the New Jersey Devils, as they’ve not only made a few roster moves, but the team’s general manager, Tom Fitzgerald, spoke on a variety of topics with The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun. One of those topics was the status of starting netminder Jacob Markstrom, who is currently out with an injury. Fitzgerald expressed confidence that Markstrom would eventually return from his injury this season, stating “Marky is on the ice. He’s skating,” while adding that the team “won’t rush him back.” LeBrun noted that the team’s “hope is to extend Markstrom,” who is playing out the final year of a $6MM AAV deal.

Fitzgerald said that Markstrom’s agent, Newport’s Pat Morris, and he “have been talking for a long time,” and will have another talk this week. LeBrun noted that “term will be the most delicate part of that negotiation” of Markstrom’s next deal, as he is set to turn 36 before next season. Markstrom has certainly lined himself upfor a healthy next contract over the course of his most recent deal. He was the runner-up for the Vezina Trophy as a member of the Calgary Flames and helped the Devils reach the playoffs last season. Markstrom has made 51 starts in his Devils career, going 28-17-6 with a 2.56 goals-against average and .898 save percentage.

Other notes from Newark:

  • LeBrun’s interview also covered the status of top blueliner Dougie Hamilton, who is now one of two Devils blueliners making $9MM per year thanks to the recent signing of Luke Hughes. LeBrun noted that “there are certainly other NHL front offices keeping a close eye” on Hamilton’s status now that Hughes has signed, “in the event Hamilton becomes available at some point.” Fitzgerald downplayed the impact of Hughes’ signing on Hamilton’s future in New Jersey, though. The Devils’ GM indicated that the team feels having each defenseman capable of quarterbacking a power play is an asset, not an inefficiency in need of correction.
  • The Devils announced today that center Cody Glass will miss their game against the Minnesota Wild as he manages an upper-body injury. Glass lined up as the Devils’ third-line center yesterday against the Toronto Maple Leafs, and head coach Sheldon Keefe re-structured his team’s lines to account for Glass’ absence. Dawson Mercer moved down from the second-line right wing spot next to Nico Hischier to center the third line and was replaced by rookie Arseni Gritsyuk, whose own third-line spot was filled by Paul Cotter. Cotter was elevated from the fourth-line and replaced by Stefan Noesen, who will make his 2025-26 debut tonight. Glass, who has dealt with persistent injury troubles throughout his NHL career, got off to a decent start to the season in New Jersey, scoring two goals in six games.

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