The New Jersey Devils’ young defensemen have stepped up in the absence of injured veterans.
The Devils’ blue line was hit hard by injuries early in the season. Both Brett Pesce and Dougie Hamilton are currently out of the lineup. Pesce was placed on injured reserve on November 6 after missing several games with an upper-body injury.
Hamilton was ruled out for at least a week on November 8 with a lower-body injury suffered Thursday against the Montreal Canadiens.
Ahead of Saturday’s matchup, head coach Sheldon Keefe provided an update to the media, including The Hockey News’ Kristy Flannery.
“Minor injury. It will be probably a minimum of a week for him, and then from that point it will just be a matter of how he’s feeling in terms of when he will come back,” said Keefe.
In their absence, all of the defensemen have been asked to step up. Two young players in particular, Luke Hughes and Simon Nemec, have taken on expanded roles.
In Saturday’s game against Pittsburgh, both saw significant amounts of time on the ice. Nemec logged 26:37, while Hughes had 29:37. Hughes recorded two shots and one block, while Nemec added one block.
The 22-year-old Hughes and 21-year-old Nemec both played key roles in helping the Devils secure a 2-1 shootout victory over the Penguins.
Another notable change came on the back end: the Devils added Colton White to the game-day lineup on Saturday. White was in the lineup yesterday, making his first NHL appearance since he played for the Anaheim Ducks during the 2022–23 season.
With the injuries, the defensive pairings were adjusted as follows:
Jonas Siegenthaler – Simon Nemec
Brenden Dillon – Luke Hughes
Dennis Cholowski – Colton White
White, paired with Cholowski on the third unit, logged 9:55 of ice time and recorded one shot on goal. Both Hughes and White, typically left-handed defensemen, played on their off side for the game.
Despite the changes, the Devils continue to find a way to win. The team now looks to extend their home-game win streak tomorrow night when they face the New York Islanders.