Jack Hughes Misses Devils Morning Skate Ahead of Rangers Tilt, AHL Recalls Present

Ahead of the New Jersey Devils’ tilt with the New York Rangers on Monday evening, there was a bit of a roster shake up.

READ: How to Watch Devils Game vs. New York Rangers (12/02/2024); Projected Lines, Notes, & More

The Devils recalled forwards Mike Hardman and Nathan Légaré from the Utica Comets and reassigned Shane Bowers to their American Hockey League affiliate, the Utica Comets.

In 10 games with the Comets, Hardman’s scored five goals and eight points, with a bulk of those points earned recently amid Utica’s five-game winning streak.

As for Légaré, he’s potted three goals in 18 games. Tonight will be his NHL debut.

It appears the Devils won’t be icing forward Kurtis MacDermid Monday night. The Rangers loaned Matt Rempe to the Hartford Wolfpack, therefore, it doesn’t appear there will be any fireworks—at least between those two—tonight.

Tomas Tatar—day-to-day with a lower-body injury—remained absent and is unlikely to be available on Monday night. However, what wasn’t expected was the absence of Jack Hughes, who did not participate in morning skate before the Devils’ tilt with their rivals.

According to the Devils, Hughes is expected to play against the Rangers despite his absence Monday morning.

Monday’s Devils Workflow

Forwards

Timo Meier–Nico Hischier–Stefan Noesen

Ondrej Palat–Nathan Bastian*–Jesper Bratt

Paul Cotter–Erik Haula–Dawson Mercer

Mike Hardman–Justin Dowling–Nathan Légaré

Defensemen

Brenden Dillon–Dougie Hamilton

Jonas Siegenthaler–Johnathan Kovacevic

Luke Hughes–Brett Pesce

Goaltenders

Jacob Markstrom

Jake Allen

*Placeholder for Jack Hughes, expected to play vs. NYR

Jacob Markstrom worked in the starters crease at Devils morning skate. He’s expected to start in the first rivalry matchup of the 2024-25 season.

Markstrom has a career 9-4-2 record vs. the Rangers, accruing a .916 SV% and 2.43 GAA in 16 contests. It will be the Swedish net minders first appearance in the rivalry matchup, however.

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