Curtis Lazar was absent from Thursday's practice session, the only player who played on Wednesday night that did not practice today. Coach Lindy Ruff confirmed that Lazar took a maintenance day but will be traveling with the team to Columbus.
Hatakka Recalled
Joining the Devils at practice today was defenseman Santeri Hatakka, who was recalled by the club earlier in the morning. Hatakka is the latest depth defenseman to join the Devils ranks with a slew of injuries piling up.
Hatakka was a part of the trade between the Devils and Sharks that sent Timo Meier to New Jersey. Hatakka has nine games on NHL experience with San Jose, appearing in games late during the 2021-22 NHL season.
"It was just a big thing for me to get a lot of ice time and games after last year, it was short for me" Hatakka shared, "Just for my overall game, I think I have improved this year and having some success with that too."
The Devils locker room, having dealt with so many injuries, is currently full of players from the Utica Comets of the American Hockey League. That breeds a lot of familiarity for players who are venturing into the Devils room for the first time. For Hatakka, that means knowing he had somewhere to keep his dog. When he traveled from Utica to New Jersey last night he brought his dog with him and Simon Nemec's girlfriend will be looking after the dog while the team travels to Columbus this afternoon.
Although this is Hatakka's first go-around with the NHL club, Ruff has some familiarity with the type of player being brought up from seeing him play during the preseason.
"I thought he played well, I thought as camp went on he played better," he said, "The game he played on Long Island, the last game, was something that really gave us a lot of encouragement because he really skated well, he got up with the play well. I just thought his reads were really good in that game,"
Lefty/Righty
At practice today, Hatakka was on a rotating pair with Kevin Bahl, subbing in and out with Cal Foote.
"We're a group that has the extra right shot, I’ve always been a pretty big fan of having D play their own side and I think with the pressure you’re under in today’s game it makes it easier," Ruff said, "We’ll try to get him up to speed. I thought that Cal played well, he did what was asked of him so he gives us some depth. You never know if somebody is going to be sick or you’re looking for a lefty/righty combination."
On Wednesday night, with Smith missing, John Marino was swapped to his off-side in order to make room for Foote to enter the lineup. Hatakka joins Luke Hughes and Kevin Bahl as the three left-shot defensemen on the current roster. Having a little more flexibility will help in the long run.
Playing defensemen on their off-side isn’t always ideal, says Lindy Ruff, so bringing in Hatakka, a left-hand shot, helps balance out the depth available.
"You're on your off-side going back for pucks, it's not as easy when your partner is making a pass. When you turn up ice you're on your backhand, it's hard to make a quicker pass. There are small details that make it a little tough and there's a lot of times, the guy you're putting over there really isn't familiar with playing the off-side."
