Devils Prepare for Next Preseason Game | NOTEBOOK

Training camp continued for the Devils today, just under two weeks away from the 2023-24 season opening night. 

The team has a record of 3-0-0 in its first three preseason games and will go for a fourth win tomorrow night in Philadelphia. 

The first practice group should mostly be the players headed to Philadelphia, most of which did not play in New York on Thursday. With the Utica Comets AHL training camp only two days away, this could be a last opportunity to leave an impression for some players. Utica's camp opens on Monday. 

But in the meantime, the focus is on Saturday night's game in Philadelphia, facing the Flyers for a second time this preseason after a dominant 6-0 win earlier this week at Prudential Center.

Erik Haula looks forward to experiencing his line gel in a preseason game, he, Ondrej Palat, and Dawson Mercer have yet to play together in a game scenario this preseason. Haula quipped: 

"Merc is a little bit of a younger guy, me and Pally we just try to do the right things, we try to battle and work hard. Somebody’s got to puck the puck in the net, so it’s a good thing we got Merc there. I’m excited to play together, we haven’t played together yet, we’ll play with each other tomorrow and see how it works out.”

Dawson Mercer shared his thoughts on his line as well:

"It's been going great. Obviously I played a lot with [Haula] last year and it went really good, you know with [penalty killing] and everything. Pally works so hard and he came back so strong in his performance in the playoffs, so I'm really excited. We've had a lot of chemistry. We're all working hard, we're all on the same page and so far in practice time and scrimmages, it's been going really well for us. Tomorrow night [against the Flyers] is going to be a good opportunity."

Devils Cut 13

This afternoon the club announced they have trimmed the roster by 13 players. You can see the full list of players here. 

The team has 42 players remaining at training camp, with 23 forwards, 12 defensemen, and 7 goalies who remain.

A Nervous Moment

During one of the early drills in practice, Kyle Criscuolo, who was signed to a two-way contract in July, went heavily into the boards. It was a concerning moment as he lay on the ice and the team trainer attended to him, with the rink having a hushed silence come over it. 

After several minutes, Criscuolo was able to get up off the ice on his own and spent some time in the locker room before being able to return to practice. 

Criscuolo has had one of the more stand-out camps from players on two-way contracts and the Devils coaching staff has certainly taken notice. It was evident, for when Criscuolo was able to return to the practice session, he immediately jumped into a power play drill, replacing Curtis Lazar who was on the second power play unit as a place-holder for Criscuolo in the bumper slot.

In Case You Missed It

WRITTEN:

• GAME STORY: Devils Pick Up 3-2 Win Against Rangers
• FEATURE: Holtz Faster, Mentally Stronger this Camp
• FEATURE: Green's Goal is Improvement
• FEATURE: Devils Enter Camp with Lofty Goal

WATCH:

• DEVILS NOW:\ A Big Opportunity for Holtz
• REWIND: Devils Take Manhattan
• RECAP: Devils at Rangers
• RAW INTERVIEWS: Nemec | Schmid | Bratt | Ruff