Devils Masterton Nominee Could Miss Remainder of Season

NEWARK — On Sunday afternoon, the New Jersey Devils recalled forward Shane Bowers from the American Hockey League.

There was a reason for that.

New Jersey’s interim head coach Travis Green explained that Devils forward Curtis Lazar might miss the remainder of the 2023-24 season.

Lazar was seemingly injured at some point during the Devils’ second period against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night. He only played three shifts in the middle frame and ended the contest against Ottawa with just 6:38 of ice time.

On his last shift of the game, Lazar threw a hit against Senators forward Parker Kelly that forced him out of the contest.

“Yeah, not great,” Green responded when asked about Lazar’s status. “So, I don’t know if we’ll see (Lazar) for the rest of the regular season.”

Green further explained Lazar is dealing with an upper-body injury.

It was a busy week for Lazar who was at the forefront of the line brawl in Manhattan. The Devils forward got the party started, jumping at New York Rangers forward Jimmy Vesey as soon as the official dropped the puck in the opening draw.

Ironically, Lazar was nominated by the PHWA’s New Jersey chapter for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy just two days after the brawl.

Therefore, Lazar’s season has likely come to an end. In 71 games in the 2023-24 season, Lazar potentially ends the year scoring a career-high 25 points, collecting seven goals and 18 assists with a team-leading 10 plus-minus.

Bowers will dress in Lazar’s place on Sunday evening when the Devils face the Nashville Predators on home ice. In three games with New Jersey this season, Bowers has three shots on goal in an average of 6:26 of time on ice.

In 40 games with the Utica Comets this season, Bowers collected nine goals and 13 points.

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