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The New Jersey Devils will play their first preseason game today at 1 p.m. against the New York Rangers.

Team reporter Amanda Stein released her projected lineup for the contest, which closely mirrors the roster head coach Sheldon Keefe is expected to use. While not official, here is Stein’s predicted lineup:

Forwards

• Cotter – Glass – Gritsyuk
• Crookshank – Lammikko – Legare
• Gruden – Glendening – Halonen
• Hardman – Rooney – Bordeleau

Defense

• Chowolski – Casey
• Edwards – Strand
• White – Addison
• van de Leest – Osipov

Goaltenders

• Daws
• Romanov
• Malek

If these lines hold, the Devils’ first power-play unit would feature Casey, Gritsyuk, Glass, Cotter, and Bordeleau.

Sheldon Keefe confirms this is pretty close to what the #NJDevils roster will look like for the first preseason game tomorrow against the Rangers.

Might be a slight tweak or two, but very close to this: https://t.co/t1u9m6RbkB

— Amanda Stein (@amandacstein) September 20, 2025

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Players to Watch

Arseny Gritsyuk The highly anticipated Russian forward will make his Devils debut today. Drafted 129th overall in 2019, Gritsyuk spent the past several seasons in the Kontinental Hockey League before joining New Jersey this fall. After an impressive showing at training camp, today’s performance will be an early indicator of where he might fit in the lineup.

Nico Daws A reliable depth option in recent years, Daws has stepped in multiple times when the Devils’ top goaltenders were sidelined. With Jacob Markstrom and Jake Allen ahead of him, his NHL role likely won’t change this season, but his preseason play will show how much progress he’s made during the offseason.

Juho Lammikko Lammikko last played in the NHL during the 2021–22 season with Vancouver. Known for his two-way game, he has an opportunity to earn a role in New Jersey’s bottom six.

Angus Crookshank After leaving the Ottawa Senators and testing free agency, Crookshank signed a two-year deal with the Devils on July 2. He’s looking to prove he belongs on the NHL roster and could use today’s game as a showcase.

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Keefe’s Emphasis

Coach Sheldon Keefe made it clear what he expects from his players in the preseason opener:

“We’re at the portion of the program here where I want to see effort, speed, pace—it’s a very fast league. Tomorrow isn’t going to be the NHL in terms of speed, but it’s a good way to stand out. That’s been the emphasis for us from our very first meeting: ability to skate, pressure the puck, and do all the things when the puck isn’t on your stick, which is a very large percentage of the game.”

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The puck drops at 1 p.m. The official lineup will be confirmed closer to game time.

The fact that the Montreal Canadiens were looking for a second-line center this summer was one of the worst-kept secrets in the NHL, and as a result, it’s been a summer of speculation in town. While there were rumours about a potential move for Mason McTavish, an RFA who has yet to sign with the Anaheim Ducks, and about Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, Research Group’s Jimmy Murphy published an article Saturday in which he explains that the Canadiens have also shown interest in Evgeny Malkin in the past.

Could Malkin be the center the Habs are keeping close tabs on? It’s not unlikely, after all, as Murphy says in his article, what’s going on in Pittsburgh is pretty obvious for all to see, and for an aging star, the prospect of a rebuild is not exactly thrilling. The big center has even told the media after Friday’s practice that he would be open to waiving his no movement clause to get a chance with a Cup contender.

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The 39-year-old has had some great years in Pittsburgh, and he does have three Stanley Cup rings to show for it. Even though he’s now a bit long in the tooth, at least in hockey terms, he still managed to put 50 points in 68 games last season, and 67 in 82 games the year before. Still, as talented as he is, the center has dealt with numerous injuries throughout his career. He only played 82 games in four of his 19 seasons with the Pens.

Of course, getting some veteran leadership couldn’t hurt the young Canadiens, especially not a veteran who has won it all and knows what it takes, plus, as Demidov revealed back in April, Malkin was his idol growing up.

While I can understand why the Canadiens have enquired about his availability, I firmly believe that Crosby would be a better option. However, I’m still not convinced that the captain will eventually want to move. Besides, with his contract expiring at the end of the season, Malkin could be a rental, and the price tag would be considerably lower than for Crosby, who still has another year left on his contract.

If Malkin remains healthy and things go according to plan for the Canadiens, it certainly wouldn’t be a bad option for a playoff run, unless the veteran doesn’t see Montreal as a contender yet…

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If the first few days of training camp are anything to go by, the Philadelphia Flyers could have a new-look defense under first-year head coach Rick Tocchet.

Through three days, Tocchet has done nothing short of glow about Cam York, who was the recipient of a five-year, $25.75 million contract extension from the Flyers this offseason.

The potential for the 24-year-old defenseman, and the hope, perhaps, is that he can "carry his own pair," in the words of Tocchet.

That would certainly imply far less minutes with frequent defense partner Travis Sanheim, the Flyers' de facto No. 1 defenseman and leader on the back end.

York has spent most of his training camp reps alongside prospect defenseman Helge Grans, a young player of similar age who is looking to finally establish himself as an NHL regular after playing six NHL games for the Flyers last year.

Grans, 23, is no longer waivers-exempt, so this training camp is functionally a now-or-never thing for him in a Flyers uniform.

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It says a lot about the Swede that he's playing with York, who has been talked up so much by Tocchet and the organization this summer.

It should also be noted that Grans, a right-shot, makes sense as a natural 1:1 replacement for the injured Rasmus Ristolainen as a tall, rangy defender.

So, while someone like Emil Andrae might have played more NHL games and played better in most of those games (including on a pair with Sanheim), the 5-foot-9 size and left-handedness will work against him. Fortunately, Andrae is still waivers-exempt for 34 more NHL games or until the end of this season.

As for Sanheim, it's been a little harder to get a read on his role this early into training camp.

The 29-year-old has spent time so far with prospect Spencer Gill, who, while impressive, is still too young and has virtually no chance of making the team this year, and veteran Noah Juulsen, who has struggled mightily and already profiled as a No. 7 or No. 8 defenseman if and when Ristolainen is healthy.

"I think I've already played with two different partners here through three days, so I'm not quite sure whether I'm playing left or right or who I'm with," Sanheim said Saturday. "I think I have the capability of being able to play with a lot of different guys, so whatever they do with me and my pair, I feel comfortable being able to play with whoever back there."

During Saturday's training camp scrimmage, Sanheim also featured on the second power play unit, which consisted of himself, Tyson Foerster, Owen Tippett, Noah Cates, and Bobby Brink.

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York and center Christian Dvorak rotated in for Sanheim and Cates at times.

So, while this isn't all to be taken as gospel at this stage, it's a potential new role for Sanheim, and a departure from the days of Ristolainen and Egor Zamula getting valuable power play minutes.

"I think there's more offense to my game," added Sanheim. "I think you saw I was on the power play today, and if that's something I'm asked of this season, I think that excites me."

As for Zamula, he was interestingly paired with Jamie Drysdale on Saturday, swapping places with Nick Seeler, who was next to Gill.

Zamula and Drysdale did spend some time together last season, though not nearly enough to draw conclusions one way or another on their chemistry and performances.

What is clear, though, is that Tocchet recognizes that he may not be able to get the most out of York and Sanheim when they're on the ice playing together at the same time.

How York rises to the challenge remains to be seen, but if the Flyers can manage to give themselves two legitimate top-four defense pairs, it lightens the load on everyone and should allow other guys, such as Grans, to step up and play more comfortably.