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Scott Wedgewood Placed On Waivers

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The New Jersey Devils have placed Scott Wedgewood on waivers according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. The team activated Mackenzie Blackwood off injured reserve yesterday and no longer require three goaltenders on the roster.

Wedgewood, 29, has played in three games for the Devils this season but allowed nine goals on 75 shots for an .880 save percentage. The minor league veteran has been a strong performer in the past at the minor league level, but shouldn’t be relied on for more than a handful of appearances at the NHL level each season.

There’s perhaps a chance he’s claimed by a team dealing with injury, but Wedgewood doesn’t represent much of an upgrade for most teams around the league. Should he clear, the Devils will likely send him to the minor leagues where he will serve as a part-time option as they continue to develop their younger netminders.

Minor Transactions: 10/30/21

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The NHL’s got a busy schedule today as the Florida Panthers attempt to maintain their undefeated record today on the road against a strong Boston Bruins team. Yet still, there are still many minor moves to keep track of across the AHL and ECHL on this busy Saturday. We’ll keep a record of those right here:

  • The AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights have added a pair of forwards to the roster in Lynden McCallum and Colt Conrad, per a team release. McCallum signed a one-year contract after spending five games with the team on a professional tryout contract, impressing with a goal and three assists in those games. Conrad joins the team on a PTO after spending the 2020-21 campaign with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies, scoring four points in 22 games. The Golden Knights organization faces a thin forward group at the NHL level due to injury, which has cost the Silver Knights some players early on that they expected to be important contributors.
  • Per a team tweet, the AHL’s Stockton Heat released forward Ryan Francis from his PTO, assigning him to the QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs. Francis went pointless in four games with the Heat before being released from the PTO. A fifth-round pick of the Flames in 2020, Francis was old enough to spend the entire season in the AHL, but the team has decided that his development would be better served with an overage season in the QMJHL.
  • The AHL’s Belleville Senators recalled defenseman Xavier Bernard from the ECHL’s Atlanta Gladiators today and signed forward Kameron Kielly to a PTO, per a team tweet. Bernard was a 2018 fourth-round pick of the New Jersey Devils but was never signed and now finds himself in the Senators organization playing his first professional season. He has no points and a +1 rating with the Gladiators this season. Kielly is a 24-year-old entering his second professional season looking to play his first AHL game. He totalled 19 points in 39 ECHL games last season, split between the Allen Americans and Indy Fuel.

Injury Notes: Penguins, Golden Knights, Avalanche, Wood

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The Pittsburgh Penguins received some extremely welcome news today, as head coach Mike Sullivan says centers Sidney Crosby and Jeff Carter are game-time decisions for tomorrow’s contest against the New Jersey Devils as they begin the journey to full health. That’s only 40% of the key contributors they have currently out of the lineup, however, as Kris Letang remains in COVID-19 protocol and Evgeni Malkin and Bryan Rust are on injured reserve. Still, seeing one of the best players in the world close to full health again and nearly ready to make his season debut is always promising news. The return of Carter shouldn’t be overlooked either, as the veteran forward had four points in four games before entering COVID-19 protocol.

More injury notes from around the league:

  • The Golden Knights, along with the Penguins, have been one of the most injury-affected teams in the NHL this season. The Athletic’s Jesse Granger issued updates on the health of many Golden Knights today, as the team has six regulars currently sitting out with injury. The most notable of those updates is Mark Stone, who is still out indefinitely but skated today for the first time since suffering a lower-body injury on October 15. However, it could potentially become seven regulars out of the lineup for tonight’s game as William Carrier suffered an injury Wednesday night against Dallas and is a game-time decision.
  • Colorado Avalanche winger Mikko Rantanen is day-to-day with a lower-body injury per head coach Jared Bednar, but defenseman Devon Toews is expected to make his season debut during the next two games. Rantanen was scratched from Thursday night’s game against the Blues. Toews’ return will give Colorado a fully healthy defense core for the first time this season, as Samuel Girard is also ready to go.
  • Devils head coach Lindy Ruff gave an update today on forward Miles Wood, who he calls “the furthest away” from returning out of all the Devils’ injuries. Considering Jack Hughes was issued a five-week timeline today, that’s not promising news. Wood has not played this season after suffering a lower-body injury just prior to the start of the campaign.

Jack Hughes Out With Dislocated Shoulder

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Oct 29: The Devils have announced that after a re-evaluation, it has been determined that there were no unforeseen issues with his shoulder injury. His recovery will be evaluated again in five weeks. That means the Devils will be without their young center for quite some time, but it appears as though surgery is still not on the table.

Oct 21: Jack Hughes will be out indefinitely after suffering a dislocated shoulder, but that’s actually good news for the New Jersey Devils. The young forward will not require surgery and has begun to rehab the injury. Hughes will be re-evaluated next week, meaning he will still miss a good chunk of time, but there was fear that surgery could take away a huge chunk of the season. He has been moved to injured reserve for the time being, which comes with a minimum of seven days.

Hughes, 20, looked like a wholly different player in his first game of the season, scoring two goals and dominating play whenever he was on the ice. He suffered the shoulder injury in his second match, when Seattle Kraken defenseman Jeremy Lauzon sent him sprawling into the boards.

If he has avoided major injury it’s a huge win for the Devils, who are off to a 2-0 start as they try to show the rest of the Metropolitan Division that the playoffs are not out of the question. One of the youngest teams in the league, New Jersey has just three regulars–Tomas Tatar, P.K. Subban, and Jonathan Bernier–over the age of 30. The latter, Bernier, is also dealing with a lower-body injury and will not dress tonight. The team has recalled Nico Daws from the AHL to serve as backup tonight.

P.K. Subban Fined For Dangerous Trip

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New Jersey Devils defenseman P.K. Subban has avoided suspension for his trip on Calgary Flames forward Milan Lucic last night, earning a $5,000 fine instead. That’s the maximum allowable fine under the current CBA, given the Department of Player Safety deemed the incident not suspendable.

Partway through the first period, as Subban was approaching Lucic in the corner, he appeared to stick out his left leg and slew foot the Flames forward. It caused Lucic to fall dangerously backward, though he did not suffer a serious injury on the play. The call from many fans for Subban to be suspended comes from his history in these events, including an eerily similar play in the preseason against Ryan Reaves of the New York Rangers.

Subban, 32, is averaging fewer than 20 minutes a night for the first time in his career and played just 17:45 for the Devils on Tuesday night. He has yet to record a point through five games after scoring a career-low five goals last season. In the final season of his eight-year, $72MM contract, the 2013 Norris winner has been moved down the lineup since the arrival of Dougie Hamilton in New Jersey.

Ty Smith Returns, Nico Daws Makes First Career Start For New Jersey

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The New Jersey Devils will get some reinforcement on the defensive end tonight as second-year ’D’-man Ty Smith will make his season debut tonight after missing the first week-and-a-half with injury, per the team. A move prefaced by the waiving and subsequent assignment of Colton White to the AHL’s Utica Comets, Smith likely makes his season debut on a pairing with Damon Severson. The Devils are now at full strength on defense for the first time this year, and the new-look group that also includes Ryan Graves and Dougie Hamilton will get a real chance to shine tonight at home against the Buffalo Sabres as the team looks to improve to a 3-1-0 record. Smith finished seventh in Calder Trophy voting last season, scoring two goals and 21 assists in 48 games.

  • Netminder Nico Daws is making his NHL debut tonight for the New Jersey Devils, the team announced this morning. With Mackenzie Blackwood still on injured reserve and Jonathan Bernier still day-to-day with a lower-body injury, a tandem of Daws and Scott Wedgewood will have to do it for now in Jersey. Wedgewood allowed four goals in a loss to the Washington Capitals on Thursday, so the team will give Daws a chance tonight to show what he can do. The 20-year-old was drafted 84th overall in 2020.

Colton White Clears Waivers

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Saturday: White has cleared waivers, Friedman reports.  No one was placed on waivers today.

Friday: With Ty Smith set to come off injured reserve this weekend, the New Jersey Devils have placed Colton White on waivers according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.

White, 24, was a fourth-round pick of the Devils in 2015 that has never been able to establish himself as anything more than an injury call-up. He’s played a handful of games in each of the last four seasons, including two early on for New Jersey this year. Averaging just over 12 minutes a night in those games, his play was adequate for the role he was in. White even recorded a point–the first of his career–on a Jimmy Vesey goal a few nights ago.

There seems little risk of him being claimed, given the acquiring team would need to keep him in the NHL, but even if he does the Devils have some other options to fill that depth role. Already they were carrying eight defensemen after claiming Mason Geertsen earlier this month, though they’ve been using him as a forward through the early part of the season. Should White clear, he’ll likely return at some point this year if the team deals with any other injuries on the blue line.

Mackenzie Blackwood Working Towards Getting Vaccinated

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Each country participating in the upcoming Olympics had to submit their long list of 50 skaters and five goalies by last Friday.  While those lists weren’t made public, Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reported in the latest TSN Insider Trading segment that Canada was granted a special exemption to add a sixth goaltender to their list in Canadiens netminder Carey Price who is currently out indefinitely after entering the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program.  The other five goalies are Darcy Kuemper, Carter Hart, Marc-Andre Fleury, Jordan Binnington, and Mackenzie Blackwood.  Canada’s Olympic committee recently announced a vaccination mandate in order to participate which makes Blackwood’s presence on here noteworthy as he is believed to be one of the four NHL players currently not vaccinated.  LeBrun mentions that the Devils’ goalie is working through the process of getting that done which should make him eligible to participate in the tournament in February if selected.

Hughes, Devils Have Preliminary Extension Talks

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  • LeBrun also touches on Jack Hughes, whose camp has also had preliminary talks with the New Jersey Devils on an extension. The young forward suffered a dislocated shoulder and will be out indefinitely for the Devils, but that doesn’t mean he’s any less a key part of their future. The first-overall pick from 2019 had 31 points in 56 games last season and appeared to be taking another step forward this time around, with three points in the game and a half he was able to finish. The scribe believes the Devils will try to sign Hughes to a long-term deal, as they did previously with captain Nico Hischier.

Injury Notes: Boeser, Severson, Perron, Hoffman

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While Vancouver fans are relieved to see Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes back in action after they signed new contracts to stay with the team, they’ll have to wait a bit longer to see one of their young core members debut this season. Head coach Travis Green said Friday morning that it’s doubtful Brock Boeser plays in that night’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers. Boeser has been on the shelf with an undisclosed injury since October 2. He was expected to only miss one week, but that timeline has passed and his status is now day-to-day. In his absence, it appears rookie Vasily Podkolzin will now get a look on the second line with Pettersson and J.T. Miller.

Some other injury notes from around the league:

  • New Jersey Devils head coach Lindy Ruff notes that defenseman Damon Severson is progressing and could play in New Jersey’s game next Tuesday against the Seattle Kraken. The Devils play their season opener tonight, meaning Severson might only be on the shelf for one game. Severson suffered an undisclosed injury on October 4 and has been listed as day-to-day since then.
  • The Montreal Canadiens could see a big free-agent addition make his debut soon. Head coach Dominique Ducharme says that winger Mike Hoffman could be ready for the team’s Tuesday or Thursday night games next week, but he’ll miss Saturday’s tilt against the New York Rangers. That’s about right on time for Hoffman, who was projected to miss four weeks with a lower-body injury suffered in late September.
  • With the St. Louis Blues’ season opener looming Saturday in Colorado, they could be without forward David Perron, per the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Jim Thomas. Perron was absent from the Blues’ practice today but was seen at the facility wearing street clothes. Head coach Craig Berube called it a “maintenance day” for Perron, who’s questionable for the game with an undisclosed injury.

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