Miller Returns to Devils Practice | NOTEBOOK

The Devils practiced in Newark before leaving for a two-game road trip with stops in Winnipeg and Pittsburgh.

Devils head coach Lindy Ruff shared that Colin Miller will be on the road trip following his team practice since he was injured in October. Nico Hischier will not be on the trip, and Jack Hughes may join the team in Pittsburgh.

Below is the latest info, updates, interviews, and videos from the practice session!

Miller's Return to Practice

Colin Miller returned to practice on Monday after missing several weeks due to a lower-body injury.

“Excited to be back with the guys,” Miller shared. “Always kind of feels longer than it is when you’re away from the team, so it was fun to finally get back out there.”

As a new piece in the d-core, Miller used some of this time rehabbing to continue familiarizing himself with the Devils systems.

“I think when you can see it a little bit more, obviously it looks very easy from where people sit up top,” Miller explained. “It’s nice to kind of see that and try to put yourself in those positions.”

As for next steps, Miller is unsure of when he’ll be back but happy with how today went.

“I don’t know, I think let’s see what the coaches think,” Miller shared. “Today was a good step forward and take it day by day.”

Notes from Practice:

The Devils had full attendance from all healthy players and saw the return of Colin Miller to on-ice team activities. Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier are both out with upper-body injuries and did not participate in Monday's practice.

There were several changes to the Devils workflow in Monday's practice. With the forward group, Alexander Holtz joined the second line with Tyler Toffoli and Dawson Mercer while Ondrej Palat moved to the third line with Erik Haula and Curtis Lazar. 

There were changes with every defensive pairing at practice as Luke Hughes moved to play with Dougie Hamilton, Jonas Siegenthaler paired up with John Marino and Kevin Bahl and Brendan Smith reunited for the third pair. Max Willman skated as an extra defenseman and joined Colin Miller. 

Monday's workflow:

Meier - McLeod - Bratt

Toffoli - Mercer - Holtz

Palat - Haula - Lazar

Nosek - Tierney - Bastian

L. Hughes - Hamilton

Siegenthaler - Marino

Bahl - Smith

Willman - Miller

Monday's Power Play Units:

PP1: L. Hughes, Toffoli, Meier, Bratt, Palat

PP2: Holtz, Haula, Hamilton, Mercer, Bastian

Adjusting the Lines

Coach Ruff discussed changing up the lines at Monday's practice and what he's hoping to achieve from some of the changes:

"We're still without (Jack) Hughes and Hischier," Ruff explained. "We're still kind of in a phase where we're trying to put some pieces together and just see how it looks and what the opportunity looks like and can they create opportunities and be a good offensive line for us and play well away from the puck."

In addititon to adjusting the lines, the Devils are looking for the forwards playing to step up with the increased playing time. Tyler Toffoli and Jesper Bratt discussed the opportunities they have to continue to contribute with two key forwards missing from the lineup.

"It's not easy losing our two best players," Toffoli explained. "It's an opportunity for guys to step up and step into a bigger role. I think at times we've done a good job as a group and we've played hard and found ways to stay in games but at the same time, losing the skill of those two guys, we have to work a little bit harder."

"There's a lot of other ways we can create offense," Bratt said after practice. "That's going to come from puck management, hunting down pucks, winning pucks, creating second and third scoring chances ... we're just going to have to play to the strengths that we have in the room."

New Partners

There were some shakeups with the d-pairings at Monday’s practice. Luke Hughes joined Dougie Hamilton in the top pairing with Jonas Siegenthaler and John Marino pairing up. Kevin Bahl and Brendan Smith were the third pairing while Max Willman filled in with Colin Miller as the extra set of defensemen.

"You can take a look at Siegenthaler and Marino being more of a shutdown pair and with Hughes and Hamilton together, you're looking at an offensive pair that can help create. I think anytime we've got down, we've gone to them and we've had pretty good success creating and (generating) play in the offensive zone."

Marino discussed playing with Siegenthaler following Monday's practice as well.

“I think we complement each other well,” Marino shared. “We’re both kind of stronger guys defensively so hopefully just be able to shut the other opponent down.”

Next Home Game

Following this two-game road trip, the Devils will host the New York Rangers on Saturday. Tickets are available here!