Devils Wrap Up Preseason Against Flyers

The New Jersey Devils will face the Philadelphia Flyers at 12:30 p.m. today in Philadelphia for their final preseason game before the puck officially drops on the 2025–26 season.

New Jersey enters the matchup with a 3-2-1 preseason record, having faced the Rangers, Capitals, Islanders, and Senators.

On Friday, the Devils made a pair of roster moves. The team acquired forward Zack MacEwen from the Ottawa Senators in exchange for forward Kurtis MacDermid, general manager Tom Fitzgerald announced.

In addition, forwards Jack Malone and Matyas Melovsky have joined the team in Philadelphia and will suit up for the final preseason game.

The Flyers enter the contest with a 2-4-0 record.

Projected Devils lineup:

Cotter – Glendening – Gritsyuk

Lachance – Rooney – Hämeenaho

Hardman – Malone – Parent

Gruden – Melovsky – Legaré

Cholowski – Addison

Edwards – Strand

Vilen – Diotte

AllenRomanov

The Flyers lineup is expected to feature key players such as Sean Couturier, Travis Sanheim, Matvei Michkov, and Trevor Zegras.

New Jersey continues to manage several injuries heading into its final preseason matchup. Brett Pesce (undisclosed), Stefan Noesen (lower body), and Seamus Casey (lower body) will all be unavailable.

Earlier this week, the Devils signed restricted free agent Luke Hughes to a seven-year, $63 million contract extension on October 1. Hughes will not be active for the preseason finale, but head coach Sheldon Keefe confirmed he will be ready for the start of the regular season.

Ahead of today’s game, Keefe spoke to NHL.com about the focus for the final tune-up.

“I think it’s just about continuing to sharpen our game,” Keefe said. “The preseason has been a little long, as it always is, but it’s given us time to evaluate and manage workloads. The key is making sure we’re healthy and ready to peak when the regular season starts.”

While the outcome won’t affect the standings, there’s still plenty of excitement, with several young players battling for roster spots.

One of those is Shane Lachance, who returned to action after missing the start of training camp due to injury.

“What I can control is just going out there and doing my thing, working as hard as I can, and playing my style,” Lachance said. “Obviously, you want to be on the NHL roster, but you just focus on what you can control.”

Another name to watch is Arseny Gritsyuk, who has impressed in his first few games at the NHL level. Gritsyuk is currently tied with Jack Hughes and Simon Nemec for the team lead in preseason points.

Keefe praised the organization’s approach to giving prospects valuable opportunities.

“You have to put them in spots where they can show what they can do,” he said of Gritsyuk and other young players. “At the same time, the NHL guys need their reps. It’s a balance, but I think we’ve managed to get the young players a good variety of looks this preseason.”

The puck drops at 12:30 p.m. at Xfinity Mobile Arena, marking the Devils’ final chance to evaluate their prospects before the regular season begins

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *