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Devils Gameday vs. Rangers + Brunner Invited To Camp On Professional Tryout

September 16, 2013, 11:41 AM ET [174 Comments]
Todd Cordell
New Jersey Devils Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
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According to multiple reports, the Devils have invited Damien Brunner to camp on a professional tryout basis.

I had heard earlier today that a nameplate was made for Brunner and that he was expected to join the team.

Brunner will practice Tuesday and I'm guessing he'll be in the lineup when the Devils play Thursday night.

I think this was a very smart move by Lou Lamoriello to bring him in for a look. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see him eventually end up signing with the team.

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Tonight the New Jersey Devils take on their biggest rival in the New York Rangers. Puck drop is at 7 p.m. ET and can be seen on MSG and MSG Plus.

Since this is a preseason game and there are no prior stats on record, this game preview will be different than what you're accustomed to seeing from me.

Here are the Devils lines tonight - credit to Rich Chere - as well as some thoughts on the game and what we may see.

Harri Pesonen - Adam Henrique - Steve Bernier
Rusty Olesz - Andrei Loktionov - Mattias Tedenby
Reid Boucher - Jacob Josefson - Mike Sislo
Krys Barch - Darcy Zajac - Cam Janssen

Anton Volchenkov - Mark Fayne
Eric Gelinas - Peter Harrold
Alex Urbom - Adam Larsson

Cory Schneider
Keith Kinkaid

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- Cory Schneider will get the nod in goal but will share time with Keith Kinkaid. The plan is for Schneider to play the first two periods and Kinkaid to play the 3rd. It'll be interesting to see how these two fare as they could very well be the Devils' goaltending duo in 2014-15 if Martin Brodeur retires.

- Arguably the Devils top forward prospect, Reid Boucher, will get his first taste of NHL action tonight. He's playing with a pretty talented and defensively responsible center in Jacob Josefson so he should have plenty of opportunities to create offense. Boucher's a bit of a long shot to make the team this season but if he scores some goals and has a strong preseason he could make it tough to send him to Albany.

- Two young roster hopefuls in Eric Gelinas and Alex Urbom will be in the lineup. The Devils only have one roster spot up for grabs on defence and there is plenty of competition for it so Gelinas and Urbom have to stand out if either of them want to make the team.

Both will be paired with an NHL defenseman against the Rangers, so DeBoer is putting them in positions to have success.

- I'm looking forward to seeing Adam Larsson tonight. The 20-year-old wasn't happy with his play last season and reportedly trained very hard in the off-season to get better. This will be the first test for him to see if the hard work paid off.

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Henrik Tallinder wasn't a fan of Pete DeBoer.

Is Martin Brodeur coming back next season? It sounds like he might be.

A look at the Devils player ratings in NHL 14.

A look at the Devils top five defence prospects.

A look at the Devils top five forward prospects.

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