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The New Jersey Devils are back in action tonight with a pair of split-squad road games against Ottawa (in P.E.I., Canada) and the New York Islanders.
Following tonight's games, the Devils will have just one more contest before opening the season October 7th vs Colorado so this will be the last time for several players to showcase themselves in hopes of cracking the roster.
Let's take a look at the Devils' rosters for tonight:
vs Ottawa
Taylor Hall - Pavel Zacha - Kyle Palmieri
Marcus Johansson - Nico Hischier - Drew Stafford
John Quenneville - Adam Henrique - Jesper Bratt
Ryan Kujawinski - Blake Coleman - Nathan Bastian
Andy Greene - Steve Santini
Will Butcher - Viktor Loov
Mirco Mueller - Dalton Prout
Cory Schneider
Mackenzie Blackwood
vs New York
Forwards – Joseph Blandisi, Jimmy Hayes, Bracken Kearns, Brian Gibbons, Blake Pietila, Michael McLeod, Stefan Noesen, Miles Wood, Nick Lappin, Kevin Rooney, Blake Speers, Austin Cangelosi, Ben Thomson, Brandon Baddock.
Defense - Damon Severson, John Moore, Michael Kapla, Yaroslav Dyblenko, Ben Lovejoy, Brian Strait, Joshua Jacobs, Colton White.
Goaltenders - Keith Kinkaid, Scott Wedgewood, Ken Appleby.
Five things to watch in tonight's games:
1) If Bratt puts forth another strong performance, the Devils may have no choice but to keep him around for at least a nine-game tryout. He's looked great in every game he's played dating back to the Prospect Challenge in Buffalo.
2) This is a big game for Prout. He may not make the Devils but a positive showing could help him land on his feet elsewhere should he be waived.
3) It'll be fun to see how Johansson and Hischier mesh because, if the plan is to play Henrique at center instead of Johansson (it seems like it is), Johansson won't be on the top line and could very well end up with him when the games are meaningful.
4) Michael McLeod and Blake Speers have been disappointing thus far. Both were expected to seriously contend for jobs and, to this point, neither player has done anything that suggests they should be on the team come October. This could very well be their last chance to make an impression.
5) If the Devils don't carry 14 forwards, and Bratt starts with the big club, the final roster spot up front will probably come down to Blandisi vs Hayes. Both have had strong camps so the final game or two could determine which guy sticks around.
Devils vs Senators begins just after 6 p.m. Eastern and can be seen on SN1 (Canada) and the NHL Network (U.S.) while Devils vs Islanders begins just after 7 p.m. and can be seen on MSG+.
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