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Today the New Jersey Devils announced their next wave of cuts in effort to get down to the 23-man roster limit.
Heading to Albany are forwards Blake Coleman, Rod Pelley and Blake Pietila while defensemen Brandon Gormley, Vojtech Mozik and Karl Stollery have also been sent down.
Forward Brian Gibbons, who attended camp on a tryout basis, was also cut recently but did sign an AHL contract with Albany.
By my count the Devils still have 30 players in camp. The breakdown is as follows:
Goaltenders (4): Cory Schneider, Scott Wedgewood, Keith Kinkaid and Anders Lindback (PTO).
Defensemen (9): Yohann Auvitu, Andy Greene, Seth Helgeson, Ben Lovejoy, Jon Merrill, John Moore, Kyle Quincey, Steve Santini and Damon Severson.
Forwards (17): Beau Bennett, Joseph Blandisi, Reid Boucher, Mike Cammalleri, Vern Fiddler, Luke Gazdic, Taylor Hall, Adam Henrique, Jacob Josefson, Sergei Kalinin, Nick Lappin, Kyle Palmieri, Devante Smith-Pelly, Blake Speers, Miles Wood, Pavel Zacha and Travis Zajac.
A few thoughts:
1) As it stands I'd guess Wedgewood will remain with the team as Schneider's backup but Kinkaid hasn't really faltered during the preseason so it's tough to call which way things will go. I think Lindback will be given an AHL contract in the event Wedgewood or Kinkaid are sent down and don't pass through waivers.
2) On defense I'd expect Seth Helgeson to be one of the cuts, although Johny Hynes and co. seem to like his physicality and the Devils admittedly don't have much of it. If the Devils only keep seven I could also see Steve Santini sent to Albany as a) more seasoning wouldn't hurt and; b) Severson and Auvitu, who has been excellent thus far, are the only other defensemen who could go to the AHL without waivers.
3) Up front is where things get really interesting. Gazdic is probably a safe bet to be cut but after that there are still 16 forwards left. The bubble guys like Lappin and Wood have been solid, and Blake Speers has impressed, too. When all is said and done I expect Speers to be sent back to the Soo Greyhounds for one more year and one of Wood/Lappin - likely the latter - to be sent back to Albany. They don't require waivers and keeping them over someone like Boucher, who is not waiver exempt and would almost certainly be claimed, doesn't make much sense. Ultimately the next couple games will decide how things play out but for the first time in a while the Devils have some tough decisions to make up front. That's a good thing.
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