The 2025-26 season has just begun, and there are already injuries plaguing the New Jersey Devils. This morning, the Devils announced they have placed forward Zack MacEwen on injured reserve (IR). In addition to this, they have also recalled goaltender Nico Daws from their American Hockey League (AHL) team, the Utica Comets.
MacEwen was a recent addition to the Devils team. Right before the start of the season, the Ottawa Senators traded him to the Devils in exchange for forward Kurtis MacDermid. MacEwen only laced up the skates for one game with the Devils on Oct. 11 against the Tampa Bay Lightning. He spent a total of 7:12 on the ice and exited the game in the third period. He played on the fourth line alongside Paul Cotter and Luke Glendening.
Against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday, Oct. 13, Jake Allen started in net. After two periods, he exited the game due to cramping. Jacob Markstrom came into the net for the final period and was quick to exit the ice, clearly in discomfort. While there is no update on Markstrom or Allen, there is likely some injury since Daws was called up to New Jersey.
Daws has played in one game for Utica this season. Although the game resulted in a loss, he earned a save percentage (SV%) of .963 and a goals-against average (GAA) of 1.03.
Already, the Devils have had several injuries to start the season, and we are just a week in. During the offseason, Johnathan Kovacevic underwent knee surgery for an injury he sustained in the playoffs. Stefan Noesen was injured during offseason training. Both Seamus Casey and Marc McLaughlin were injured in preseason games. Evgenii Dadonov was injured earlier this season in the team’s season opener against the Carolina Hurricanes. Forward Brian Halonen was recalled from Utica to add more depth to the forward group.
With injuries running rampant on the Devils team, here’s hoping all the players recover quickly. The additions of Halonen earlier in the week and now Daws will help alleviate some of the stress on the forwards group and goaltending, respectively.
The Devils will play their home opener on Thursday, Oct. 16, when they host the Florida Panthers.
