Thoughts On the First Two Days of Training Camp

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NEWARK, NJ - SEPTEMBER 13: New Jersey Devils Seamus Casey #24 skates during a game between the New York Islanders and New Jersey Devils at RWJ Barnabas Health Hockey House at Prudential Center on September 13, 2026 in Newark, New Jersey.(Photo by Andrew Mordzynski/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Good morning, Devils fans. Happy Saturday: the Preseason starts tomorrow.

On Thursday, veterans of the New Jersey Devils reported to training camp. Over the two group days of camp, Sheldon Keefe has run the following lines:

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Group One:

Mantha-Hughes-Bratt
Lombardi-Glass-Brown
Boqvist-McLaughlin-Noesen
Lachance-Schmelzer-Squires

Siegenthaler-Hamilton
Dillon-Chisholm
Vilen-Diotte
Hanzel-Leddy

Allen/Daws

Group Two:

Meier-Hischier-Evangelista
Gritsyuk-Rodrigues-Mercer
Tufte-White-Hameenaho
Steeves-Melovsky-Parent

Hughes-Pesce
Silayev-Kolyachonok
Edwards-Casey

Rittich/Malek

Overall, those lines fill me with a genuine sense of optimism. If you take the top two lines from each group and make that your one-to-four, it still leaves multiple forwards who I feel can be positive contributors in the NHL this season. But before we go further, let’s discuss the injuries and how they affect the early season outlook.

Long-Term Injury: Nick Bjugstad

Per the New Jersey Devils, Nick Bjugstad tore his left pectoral muscle just a couple of weeks before camp began. Due to his surgery, his estimated return time is between January and March. This is an area where an injury makes the Devils’ competition feel a bit thinner, though it may prove to provide extra depth in the homestretch. Both Amadeus Lombardi and Jesper Boqvist could be shifted to center (as well as Dawson Mercer), so it’s not too bad. But we can pretty much assume that Glass and Rodrigues will both be centering to start the season, rather than one being moved to wing. For Bjugstad, this injury probably prevents a waiver move for the Devils, as I would not have projected him to make the roster with Lombardi’s rise. He will be an early long-term injured reserve candidate, and perhaps he will be walking into a situation in February or March where he can fill in for a later injury. These things tend to work themselves out.

Short-Term Injury: Johnny Kovacevic

Per the same report by the Devils:

Kovacevic: Defenseman Johnathan Kovacevic will be a limited participant in training camp as he rehabs from a minor off-season procedure in his right knee.

While this does provide an avenue for Anton Silayev, Vladislav Kolyachonok, and Seamus Casey a chance to steal an early-season roster spot, the most likely solution is that Keefe lined up in practice: a third pairing of Brendan Dillon and Declan Chisholm. What is a bit unclear right now is how long Kovacevic remains out. He struggled a bit in his return from his ACL repair last season, and I never felt he quite looked like himself even if his underlying numbers were passable. For what it’s worth, Dougie Hamilton also re-injured his knee last season after sustaining a less severe injury at the end of the 2023-24 season, and it also took him awhile to look and produce like himself despite having good underlyings in the early portion of the season.

I know people will be inclined to argue that this is another albatross contract signed by Fitzgerald because of the sudden uptick in injuries, but all indications really pointed to Kovacevic’s deal being a fair one when he had signed it. Of course, there were roster building concerns (too much money committed to right-handed defensemen, namely), but Kovacevic has been a good player when healthy and I still want to see what the Kovacevic-led shutdown pairing would look like on a Mehta-Keefe team. For now, the injury is providing easier minutes for Dillon and Chisholm while giving the three hopefuls a path to the seventh spot.

A More Confident Group

One of the big things I noticed from camp interviews is that Sheldon Keefe appears to be much happier to start this season. Throughout Tom Fitzgerald’s last season, he regularly seemed like something was bothering him. Now, Sheldon is a vocal supporter of the moves Sunny Mehta has made, casting last year’s depth as inadequate for an entire season of play.

Mood invariably impacts performance, and Keefe’s energy is going to affect everyone working under him. Dougie Hamilton noted in his interview that there is a “lot of positive energy and optimism” in the group. And as Evan Rodrigues explained, answering a question about his role in the locker room, that teams need to have energy and fun to get through the season: “you can’t be miserable throughout it, or it gets worse and worse.” I’m hoping this early energy carries through the first half of the season and does not come crashing down like last year.

Slight Youth Injection?

Needless to say, the talk of camp so far has been Amadeus Lombardi. He scored a couple of goals in the scrimmage yesterday, playing with Cody Glass and Connor Brown. If Lombardi made the team, it would be very likely that he is the youngest forward on the team, as he is only 23 years old, older than Luke Hughes by just three months. Right now, it looks like he is on track to make the roster as the 12th or 13th forward, as I suspect he will be battling Stefan Noesen for minutes. Sunny Mehta rather likes him. Along with Luke Evangelista, the Devils will be going into the season with two new under-25 forwards.

Then, of course, is Nico Daws. Amanda Stein did a feature on Daws yesterday, where Daws said that he wants to grab the reins of the net. I don’t think this is a guy who is going to be happy to just be a third goalie in the rotation: he wants to prove that he permanently belongs in the NHL. Kristy Flannery noted that Mehta called Daws right after he traded Jacob Markstrom away, and Mehta put it very well when discussing the roadblocks in front of Daws over the years:

Right now, Daws is the Devils’ best bet for a 45 or 50-game starter, given his age. But I have a lot of confidence that Jake Allen plays very well, whether he plays 35, 40, or 45 games over the season. I continue to be more optimistic about this set up, perhaps, than the average onlooker.

Who Are You Most Excited to See?

I am posing this question to all of you. When you look at those lines at the start of this article, who sticks out to you?

Personally, it’s close between having Mantha with Hughes and Bratt and having Evangelista with Hischier and Meier. But I lean towards being more excited by the latter. I remain of the opinion that Gritsyuk may deserve that second-line role, but Mantha should be a huge goal scorer for the Devils, and he has already proclaimed his desire to play for a contract extension in New Jersey. His motivation is music to my ears.

Stylistically, though, Evangelista just seems a perfect fit for Hischier and Meier, who love to drive the net. If Luke can feed them left and right like he was feeding guys like Stamkos and Forsberg in Nashville, we will be in for a good season. I am sticking with that as the line I am most excited to see in Preseason and early October regular season games.

Your Thoughts

I will not ramble on for too long. So far, I am really happy with what I am seeing, but what do you think of the developments in camp so far? Leave your thoughts below, and thanks for reading.

And happy Saturday, everyone. It’s the last Saturday of astronomical Summer: enjoy it.

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