Practice then Prague for Devils | NOTEBOOK

The Devils are practicing on Sunday morning before heading to Europe. On Sunday evening, they will travel to Prague to prepare to open their season at O2 Arena against the Buffalo Sabres.

Check out the notebook for the latest info, updates, interviews, videos and more from the practice session!

The Roster

After several weeks of a grueling training camp. the opening night roster, along with a couple of extra players, has been whittled down. With the team traveling to Prague Sunday evening, the group on the ice in the morning are those headed overseas.

Apart from the 23-man roster that will head to Europe and start the season against the Buffalo Sabres, there will be extra bodies traveling in the case of an injury. Among those on the ice were Kurtis MacDermid, Nolan Foote, and Shane Bowers, and the team also had nine defensemen. Notably, rookie Seamus Casey was among them and skated on a pairing with Simon Nemec. Colton White is among those headed to Europe, as is Nick DeSimone.

Brett Pesce, who is still recovering from off-season surgery, skated with the main group, but it is unlikely that he will travel with the club.

"We don’t have a great deal of practice time there and the ones that we do we’ve got to really ramp up to play and he won’t be available to play for us in Prague. So, the sense is that he’s best served staying here but we want to check in with him one more time to see how today went.”

Jacob Markstrom, Jake Allen, and Nico Daws will be the three goaltenders on Prague's roster.

Casey Makes the Cut

At just 20 years old Seamus Casey has made the roster that will head over to Prague. It's a big moment for the young man who is fresh out of college.

"It’s huge, super exciting," Casey said after practice. "Camp has been good so far, you know you always want to see your name on the roster so it’s super exciting. Just got to keep working."

Casey has played in three preseason games and head coach Sheldon Keefe, while getting to know all his new players, was impressed with what he saw.

"In terms of what he’s shown, he’s shown confidence," Keefe asserted. "When I say that, it's that he’s stayed true to himself and his game. Despite the fact that he’s coming into his first camp and all of that, he’s really gotten better each day. Each day it seems like he’s got more and more confident and comfortable.

"The games that he’s played for us, he’s made plays and advanced the puck for us nicely which is something we need and then, he also defended well. He’s got good angles, he’s cut people off, he used his body in a very intelligent way which is important if you’re going to be an undersized defenseman."

Quiet Flight

The flight to Prague is going to be a long one - close to nine hours, so getting ready for this one might look a little different than a regular road trip.

While on a normal flight there can be lots of chatter, card-playing and wandering about, the overnight flight to Prague may just be a bit quieter. When asked what they'll do to keep busy... there was one answer that connected them all.

“I will be sleeping. Hard,” Keefe said.

That's the best way to start getting used to what will be a signifcant time change. As soon as the plane lands in Prague, the team will head to the arena to practice, shaking off their legs after a long night of sleeping on the plane.

“A lot of electrolytes, obviously you try and get as much asleep as you can," Tomas Tatar said. "It’s a long flight, jsut so you feel your best the next day. I think everybody is going to get a little hit by that time change but you know, the faster you adapt, the earlier you feel better.”

And yet, Tatar might not heed his own advice, saying he doesn't want to sit next to someone on the plane who will sleep too much. He wants to be next to someone with whom he can have a bit of fun.

“Probably someone who I can play cards with and will talk," Tatar said, scowering the room for a potential seatmate. "Hopefully not someone who will fall asleep. Nico (Hischier) is a good sleeper, so maybe Pally.”