PRE-GAME STORY
With just two tournament games left before the start of main training camp next week, the Devils rookies will have another game to make an impression on the coaching staff and management staff watching from the stands. The Devils are playing in their biggest game of this tournament on Saturday night, when they take on the host team Buffalo Sabres at 7 p.m.
There will be a couple of changes to the lineup as the coaching staff rotates their players around with forwards Jace Isley, and Kocha Delic and defenseman Igor Mburanumwe getting their first look of the tournament. Coming out of the game will be forwards Andre Ghantous and Landon Sim as well as defenseman Jackson van de Leest.
Oh the Memories
For forward Jack Malone, there's an added aura around this tournament. He grew up in New Jersey and was a Devils fan all his life. His parents are in town in Buffalo watching him put on the Devils jersey for the first time, something truly special for the hometown kid.
"It’s really cool, there’s not many other ways to put it," Malone said, "We had season tickets to Devils games as a kid and to see it come full circle like this, to put it on, compete as a Devil is really special."
Malone grew up with season tickets by the Prudential Center zamboni tunnel and said he was there for the opening of The Rock all those years ago. Zach Parise and Adam Henrique were some of his favorite players and of course he made mention that he was in attendance for the Henrique double-OT playoff goal - one of his fondest memories.
First Contract, First Impressions
For 20-year-old Mikael Diotte, being at this rookie camp with his first professional contract signed is very special. He is an undrafted defenseman that sprung onto the Devils radar this past season, his play in the Quebec Maritime Junior Hockey League stood out and earned himself his first NHL contract.
“The mindset is kind of different,” Diotte said of this past summer. “You know where you’re going to play next year. For the past three years I didn’t know even if I would be at a camp or something like that. This summer, I was able to focus on what I can do to bring to the Devils and work a lot with my upper-body strength to be able to play hard because if I want to play in the NHL that’s what I’ll need to improve.”
Diotte, who was paired with Will MacKinnon against Ottawa, will play on the Devils top defensive pairing with Topias Vilen.
