The Devils Edge

The #NJDevils announce a series of move here. The order here matters, which I have confirmed via @PuckPedia The Devils loaned Riley Tufte to Utica first. He does not need waivers because he cleared already this year and was on the roster for less than 10 games or 30 cumulative days. Then they recalled Lenni Hameenaho which gives NJ $43K in projected cap space. This will be important for the next move. Then they placed Mantha on LTIR. That means he will be out 10 games AND 24 days. The earliest he can return is 12/1 vs #SJSharks By having Hameenaho on the roster instead of Tufte this gives them a more optimal capture AND saves ~$283K in space because of Lenni's performance bonuses while in LTIR. Then they called up Stefan Noesen. He adds a $1.225M net cap hit because that's what they were burying by having him in Utica. The Devils are able to use almost all of Mantha's full $3.973M LTIR benefit and now have $2.748M in current space w/ LTIR.

The #NJDevils are recalling Riley Tufte from Utica. This move would give them ~$175K in current cap space with 22 players on the active roster. He has 2 points in 9 games for Utica this season and has played in 28 NHL games across 5 seasons.

Special appearance at 1:20 👀 @RachelMHerzog and I getting ready to eat our 4th meal of the day

The #NJDevils get right back into action tonight against the #Leafs @TheDevilsEdge The Leafs have 18 points in 18 GP, good for 7th in the loaded Atlantic. They are converting well at 5v5 (28th in the NHL at xGF/60, 10th in the NHL in GF/60, 4th in that differential). The Leafs have strong special teams. They're 7th xGF/60 on the PP (8.9) and 6th in PP% (28.6%). They're 4th in GA/60 on the PK (4.65) and 4th in PK% (86.9%). Auston Matthews is off to a hot start with 27P in 18GP. With the Leafs getting the 2nd change at home, it will be interesting to see if Jim Hiller tries to avoid Hischier line/L. Hughes pairing against 34. Morgan Rielly went down yesterday and did not return. Might miss the game today. He has 12P in 18GP with 18:45 TOI/G, something to monitor. Anthony Stolarz should get the net for the Leafs. He's 5-1-0 with a 2.67 GAA and a .910 SV%. He has +0.3 GSAx/60 which ranks 19/59 for goalies with 5+ GP. Really good start to the year for him. NJ didn't give NYI a power play yesterday. Same strategy should be in place for this game. Stay out of the box, let the strong 5v5 play dictate the game.

There was a reason Sunny Mehta and this FO brought in Anthony Mantha. The #NJDevils needed efficient finishers. He scored 25.92 Goals Above Expected (GAx) over the last 3 seasons. So far this year he has 5 goals (all at 5v5) on 3.06 ixG (+1.94 GAx). Everyone panicked when it wasn't working with 86 and 63 to start the season. Last year Mantha played 100+ 5v5 minutes with 3 different centers (Malkin, Kindel, and Novak). Relax and trust the process. Data via HockeyStats