Miles Wood is healthy and recovered from a hip injury that caused him to miss all but three games for the Devils last season.
"It feels great right now," the forward said after a scrimmage Friday. "Last year was certainly a long year for me, but I was very fortunate enough to work with great people to get my hip back to where it is now. I'm here to just play my style of hockey. Don't change anything. Just keep being me and good things will happen."
Wood, who had hip surgery Nov. 8, 2021, tied for the Devils lead in goals (17) with Pavel Zacha in 55 games in 2020-21.
"I thought, right off the bat (in the scrimmage), he delivered a pretty big hit," Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. "He's in on a couple scoring chances. I thought he skated well and was looking at the type of chemistry that line could have (Wood, Erik Haula, Dawson Mercer)."
Goalie Jonathan Bernier said he's day to day after playing in the scrimmage Friday. The 34-year-old. who signed a two-year contract July 28, 2021, played 10 games before going on injured reserve Dec. 10 because of a season-ending hip injury.
"It was good to get out there, get in a game, get your timing and your reads back," Bernier said. "That was probably the hardest part for me, but it was good to get the first one out. It's not pain free but as long as it doesn't get [to be] too much and I just manage the inflammation in there, we're good." -- Mike G. Morreale