The New Jersey Devils held their final full practice of the 2024-25 regular season on Saturday afternoon in Newark.
Below are your news and notes and everything you need to know before the Devils host the New York Islanders on Sunday afternoon.
Practice Lines & Defensive Pairs
Stefan Noesen - Nico Hischier - Jesper Bratt
Erik Haula - Dawson Mercer - Timo Meier
Paul Cotter - Cody Glass - Daniel Sprong
Ondrej Palat - Justin Dowling - Tomas Tatar
Luke Hughes - Brett Pesce
Brian Dumoulin - Johnathan Kovacevic
Brenden Dillon - Dougie Hamilton
Jacob Markstrom/Jake Allen
Extras: Nathan Bastian, Nolan Foote, Curtis Lazar, Kurtis MacDermid, Seamus Casey, Dennis Cholowski, and Simon Nemec.
Lineup Notes vs. Islanders
During his media availability, head coach Sheldon Keefe confirmed a change on his blue line. Simon Nemec will draw back into the lineup, and Seamus Casey will come out.
Dougie Hamilton Update
The Devils appear to be getting a reinforcement back ahead of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
“We are getting Dougie Hamilton up to speed here," Keefe said on Friday. "We expect him to be available for us. We will be hopeful that Dougie will be good to go, looks like he is, but we have to ramp him up."
Hamilton has been skating on his own in full gear for a bit, but on Saturday afternoon, he rejoined his teammates for the first time since sustaining an undisclosed injury in early March against the Dallas Stars.
The 6-foot-6 blueliner joined some of his teammates on the ice ahead of the team's scheduled 12:00 noon practice. The following group of players spent time working on the power play: Dougie Hamilton, Luke Hughes, Simon Nemec, Jesper Bratt, Nico Hischier, Timo Meier, Dawson Mercer, Stefan Noesen, Ondrej Palat, Daniel Sprong, and Tomas Tatar.
The defenseman remained on the ice for the duration of the team's 40-minute practice at RWJBarnabas Health Hockey House, participating in all drills.
"It was great to see him out there," Keefe said. "It was an important step in his rehab process. He ended up doing a bit more than we anticipated, which is a positive sign that he was feeling good. Very encouraging. We will just have to take it from here. How he feels post-skate and how he feels tomorrow is going to be a big indicator of where he’s at.”
"Just (taking it) day by day, so just try to keep getting better one day at a time,” Hamilton said to NJD.TV. "See where I am at whenever I am ready. I will work as hard as I can every day (until then), do it the next day again."
Keefe confirmed Hamilton will not be in the lineup against the Islanders.
Arseni Gritsyuk Update
There have been many reports that Arseni Gritsyuk, New Jersey's 129th overall pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, will sign his entry-level contract with the Devils.
The Hockey News contacted Gritsyuk's agent, Shumi Babaev, for an update. Babaev stated, "He will sign soon."
The 24-year-old winger collected 44 points (17 goals, 27 assists) in 49 KHL regular-season games. He led SKA with a +22 rating this season. In six playoff appearances, he earned five points (one goal, four assists).
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