Projected Lineups for Devils vs Blue Jackets – 12/31/25

The New Jersey Devils take on the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena tonight. Here are the projected/expected lineups sourced from NHL.com staff writers, independent correspondents, and others.

DEVILS (20-17-2) at BLUE JACKETS (17-15-6)

7 p.m. ET; FDSNOH, MSGSN

Devils projected lineup

Timo Meier — Nico Hischier — Dawson Mercer
Ondrej Palat — Jack Hughes — Jesper Bratt
Arseny Gritsyuk — Cody Glass — Connor Brown
Paul Cotter — Luke Glendening — Stefan Noesen

Jonas Siegenthaler — Dougie Hamilton
Luke Hughes — Brett Pesce
Brenden Dillon — Colton White

Jake Allen
Jacob Markstrom

Scratched: Dennis Cholowski, Juho Lammikko

Injured: Zack MacEwen (lower body), Jonathan Kovacevic (knee), Evgenii Dadonov (wrist), Simon Nemec (lower body)

Status report

The Devils did not hold a morning skate following a 4-0 loss at the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday. … Allen could start after Markstrom made 26 saves at Toronto. … Hamilton left the game with 31 seconds to play after being slashed by Maple Leafs center John Tavares; if Hamilton can’t play, Cholowski, a defenseman, would replace him.

Latest for THW:

Blue Jackets projected lineup

Mason Marchment — Adam Fantilli — Kirill Marchenko
Dimitri Voronkov — Cole Sillinger — Kent Johnson
Boone Jenner — Charlie Coyle — Mathieu Olivier
Miles Wood — Brendan Gaunce — Zach Aston-Reese

Ivan Provorov — Dante Fabbro
Denton Mateychuk — Damon Severson
Jake Christiansen — Dysin Mayo

Jet Greaves
Elvis Merzlikins

Scratched: None

Injured: Zach Werenski (lower body), Erik Gudbranson (hip), Isac Lundestrom (lower body), Sean Monahan (undisclosed), Brendan Smith (lower body)

Status report

Werenski will miss his fourth straight game but Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason said the defenseman could he could be available against the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday. … Mayo will go in for Smith; the defenseman was injured in a 4-1 loss at the Ottawa Senators on Monday and Evason said he will be out “for a while.” … Monahan, a center, will miss a second consecutive game.

Latest for THW:

Substack Subscribe to the THW Daily and never miss the best of The Hockey Writers Banner