New Jersey's defensive core continued to take injury hits on Thursday after it was announced Santeri Hatakka would be out "more than day-to-day" after leaving Thursday's preseason game. The 23-year-old had a legitimate shot of making the Devils out of training camp after Luke Hughes was announced out due to injury, but will now, unfortunately, be joining his fellow young defender. In 12 games in 2023-24, he had two assists, 12 SOG and a +5 plus/minus while averaging just 14:39 TOI/GP.

After a long offseason of negotiations, New Jersey's remaining UFA Dawson Mercer has signed a three-year, $12 million contract extension ($4,000,000 AAV) with the Devils. The 22-year-old was New Jersey's 2020 1st round pick (18th overall) and had the worst year of his three-year career in 2023-24 where he picked up 20 goals, 33 points, 134 SOG and a -26 plus/minus in 82 games played.

Nemec left and Olympic Qualifying game a few weeks ago with an upper-body injury after getting tangled up with a member of Team Kazakhstan. Luckily for the Devils, who will already be without Luke Hughes to start the season, Nemec was on the ice on Thursday and was a full participant in Day 1 of training camp.

Bad news came out of New Jersey's camp on Thursday morning as they announced their star 21-year-old defender Luke Hughes suffered a left-shoulder injury during offseason training and is expected to miss the next 6-to-8 weeks as he recovers. The sophomore defenseman is expected to return between October 24th and November 7th and will play a key role in the Devils' back end. In 2023-24, he had nine goals, 47 points, 135 SOG, 28 PIMs and a -25 plus/minus in 82 games played.

Pittsburgh added to their forward depth on Tuesday by acquiring Cody Glass alongside a 2025 3rd-round pick (MIN) and a 2026 6th-round pick from Nashville for Jordan Frasca. The 25-year-old centre carries a cap hit of $2.5 million into 2023-24 and should fit in well in Pittsburgh's bottom six after a down season last year which saw him score only six goals and 13 points in 41 games played.

New Jersey solidified their forward depth on Monday as they signed 23-year-old left-winger Nolan Foote to a one-year, two-way contract extension. The 6'3" winger was Tampa Bay's 2019 1st-round pick (27th overall) but has failed to ever truly crack the Devils roster as he has appeared in seven or fewer games in each of the Devils' last four seasons. In 2023-24, he had a goal and six SOG while averaging 10:06 TOI in four games and yet another short showing with New Jersey.

New Jersey locked up their goaltending depth for the next two seasons as they signed Nico Daws to a two-year contract with the first year being a two-way and the second being a one-way. The 23-year-old netminder was drafted by New Jersey in the 3rd round of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft (84th overall) and had a down season with his 9-11-0 record, 3.15 GAA and .894 SV% in 2023-24.

Hatakka played 12 games in his first season in New Jersey in 2023-24 and has signed a one-year, two-way contract extension on Tuesday. The 23-year-old was acquired in Febuary of 2023 in the blockbuster trade that brought Timo Meier to New Jersey and had two asssits, 12 SOG and a +5 plus/minus in 12 games played last season.

Squires was selected in the fourth-round (No.122 overall) in the 2023 NHL Draft. The 19-year-old winger has spent the last three seasons with Cape Breton (QMJHL), where he led the team with 72 points (33G / 39A) in 66 games during the 2023-24 season.

Tatar will return to New Jersey on a one-year, $1.8 million contract for the 2024-25 season where he was a fan favourite after spending two seasons with the Devils between 2021 and 2023. The 34-year-old left-winger spent 2023-24 split between Colorado and Seattle and had nine goals, 24 points and 20 PIMs in 70 games played.

Utica gained a strong defensive piece on Tuesday after New Jersey signed Colin White to a two-year, two-way deal. The 27-year-old defenseman has 10 points in 84 career NHL games but failed to make it to the big leagues in 2023-24 after collecting eight points in 53 games with San Diego (AHL).

After four seasons in the Blackhawks organization, Mike Hardman has signed a two-year, two-way deal with New Jersey. Hardman hasn't made an NHL appearance since 2022-23 with Chicago but has a goal and five points in 37 career NHL games played. In 63 games with Rockford (AHL) in 2023-24 he had 22 goals and 37 points in 63 games played.

New Jersey continued their impressive offseason by adding veteran defenseman Brenden Dillion to a three-year contract worth $12.0 million ($4.0M AAV). The 33-year-old is entering his 14th NHL season and is 108 games from the 1000 games played mark. In 2023-24 he had eight goals, 20 points, 92 PIMs and a +20 plus/minus in 77 games played with Winnipeg.

One of the biggest defensive pieces on the open market is gone early on Monday as New Jersey has signed nine-year veteran Brett Pesce to a six-year deal worth $33.0 million ($5.5M AAV). The 29-year-old has spent his entire career with Carolina and had three goals, 13 points and a +10 plus/minus in 70 games played last year.

Kovacevic is a solid two-way defenseman and penalty-killer who appeared in 62 games with the Canadiens last season. With the Devils reportedly interested in signing a couple free agent defensemen, Kovacevic could end up serving as the No.7 entering the season.

New Jersey made the first big splash of the offseason on Wednesday as they traded 23-year-old Kevin Bahl and their 2025 1st-round pick for goaltender Jacob Markstrom from the Calgary Flames. Calgary will retain 31.25% of Markstrom's salary as an add-on in the deal, and a nice cherry on top for New Jersey. In 48 games played in 2023-24 with the Flames, Markstrom was 23-23-2 with a 2.78 GAA AND a .905 SV%.

Gruden appeared in a career-high 13 games played in 2023-24 and has signed a two-year, $1.550 Million contract extension ($775,000 AAV) with Pittsburgh on Tuesday. The 24-year-old centre was drafted by Ottawa in the fourth-round of the 2018 draft (95th overall) and has appeared in a total of 16 career NHL games played and has one goal, five PIMs and nine SOG.

Pesce was a full participant in Wednesday's practice and Thursday's morning skate but skated as an "extra," and is not yet ready for game action as he will sit out Game 6 on Thursday. The 29-year-old has only been able to compete in two playoff games so far this year and has an assist, one SOG, two PIMs and a +1 plus/minus.