Vancouver Canucks goaltender Thatcher Demko saw his teammate skate off the bench toward him to celebrate a 2-1 victory in the first game after their captain, Quinn Hughes, got traded to the Minnesota Wild. On the other side of the ice, the New Jersey Devils players skated off in silence as they suffered their sixth loss in eight games.
“This is a little more disappointing than that Tampa game the other night where they got blown out,” former Devils goaltender Cory Schneider said during Sunday’s MSG Networks post-game show. “That happens. You will get blown out against a good team. This is the worst team in the League that just traded their best player and captain coming into your building. You have to find a way to at least get points. It wasn’t for a lack of trying. (The Devils) outplayed them, obviously, but didn’t have that extra gear tonight where they needed to win that game.”
The Tampa game that Schneider referenced was an 8-4 loss on Thursday night in Newark. New Jersey’s goaltender, Jacob Markstrom, was pulled within the first 10 minutes of the opening period as the Lightning steamrolled past the Devils. After that game, the players held a closed-door meeting, delaying the media from beginning post-game availabilities.
In the following game, the Devils celebrated a 4-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks. It was perhaps a sign that the worst of this stretch was behind them and that the closed-door meeting helped get the team back on track. Well, the Canucks came to the Prudential Center the next afternoon, and the game left head coach Sheldon Keefe and his players with that familiar feeling of disappointment.
“You need to have the meetings, but if everything is said, then what do you do?” Mike Rupp said on the Tri-State Hockey Podcast. “That’s where it gets to a breaking point when you start looking around. When you have closed-door meetings, and you talk about it, and nothing changes, there’s nothing else left to be said. As a player, that is a weird place because now you are waiting for something to happen. Could be a trade. It could be some sort of shake-up in some way, shape, or form. Or it could be waiting for a player to come back from injury. Regardless, waiting is the enemy.”
If there is one thing Devils players are all too familiar with, it is waiting for a player to come back from injury. In fact, one of the positives surrounding the team is the knowledge that reinforcements are on the way. Defenseman Brett Pesce, who has been a massive and sometimes understated loss on the blue line, is working towards his return, as is star forward Jack Hughes. The team’s leading goal scorer, Timo Meier, has taken a personal leave of absence to tend to a family health matter and will eventually return.
There are additional players sidelined with injuries, but the three above are impact players, whose absences have been glaring.
The good news? Help is, in fact, on the way.
Brett Pesce Returns to Practice
With that signature smile that he is always sporting, Pesce skated onto the ice at Prudential Center minutes before the official start of the team’s Tuesday practice.It was the first time he joined his team since sustaining an upper-body injury against the Colorado Avalancheon Oct. 26, 2025. He has missed the past 24 games.
"Pesce helps the energy of the group,” head coach Shelddon Keefe said. “It will be a lot more energetic on the plane. The guys will welcome him back and feel good about his presence. It is not just the on-ice piece. That will take some time to get going. It helps the mood of the team. The mood of the team, the vibe, and morale of the group is very important. We are approaching the dog days here now as we are approaching Christmas. It is nice to see him back.”
Keefe confirmed that Pesce will join the team for their upcoming two-game road trip to Vegas and Utah.
“There is nothing else to do in Vegas, so we will try to get him in a game," Keefe said with a smile.
Pesce reunited with Luke Hughes during drills and participated in the team’s penalty kill work.
In addition to Pesce’s return, a group of young players has been providing the team with an extra boost of energy.
New Energy Injected Into The Lineup
The Devils currently have five players on their roster who began the 2025-26 season with the Utica Comets of the American Hockey League (AHL): Calen Addison, Angus Crookshank, Nathan Légaré, Xavier Parent, and Colton White.
While it is a testament to how decimated the Devils' roster truly is, I asked some players and Keefe whether having those guys injects any positivity into the room during a difficult stretch, like New Jersey is currently experiencing.
Veteran Brenden Dillon spoke about White and the positive attitude he’s had since his call-up in early November.
“He is just always smiling and having fun, which is good when you have tough spots like this. You forget sometimes,” he said. “You know you are in the NHL, and we are a couple of points out of the playoffs, but it is not like the sky is falling and we are completely out of it.”
It goes beyond their positive approach; Connor Brown notes that their energy can be infectious.
“Crookshank and (Parent) came in and played on our fourth line, and they had a jump in their step,” he said. “That kind of attitude is definitely contagious, you know, especially a group that's maybe going through it a bit.”
“It brings you fresh legs (and) fresh energy to the lineup,” Keefe said. “A little bit kind of the inverse of what I was talking about with Pesce. They play with lots of energy, and they are excited to be here. That shows in the play, especially when I look at Parent and Crookshank. Those guys are energy players. They are skaters. They are workers. I think that has brought a little bit of juice to the lower part of our lineup, and that has been welcome at this time.
“They are not walking into the room and turning the music on real loud,” Keefe continued. “I think they just go about their business, kind of keep to themselves. The longer they are here, I think they get comfortable, and then a little bit more of their personalities come out. Probably a lot to ask for a guy coming up from the minors to try to inject energy into the room, but certainly we should do it on the ice.”
White leads that group with three assists, while Crookshank scored his first goal as a Devil against the Lightning.
The Devils will lean heavily on their call-ups on Wednesday night when the team visits the Vegas Golden Knights to begin a two-game road trip.
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