The New Jersey Devils opened their 2025 training camp on September 18 with 61 players: 35 forwards, 19 defensemen, and seven goaltenders. They’re off on Monday, however, cuts are expected to come soon. So, who is waiver eligible, and waiver exempt?
For starters, there’s an expected roster. The Devils certainly have locks to be among the 23 players the Devils name for opening night on Oct. 9th. Although there are some who are waiver exempt, we’ll indicate, and loop them in with the shoo-ins.
Projected Opening Night Devils Roster Locks
The following players are expected to be on the NHL roster to open the 2025-26 season:
Jack Hughes
Nico Hischier
Jesper Bratt
Timo Meier
Ondrej Palat
Dawson Mercer
Evgenii Dadonov
Connor Brown
Stefan Noesen (injured)
Cody Glass
Paul Cotter
Dougie Hamilton
Brett Pesce
Brenden Dillon
Jonas Siegenthaler
Simon Nemec
Johnathan Kovacevic (injured)
Luke Hughes (unsigned, RFA)
Jacob Markstrom
Jake Allen
Of the aforementioned projected to play at the varsity level, Luke Hughes and Simon Nemec are waiver exempt. The rest require waivers, but are unlikely to be placed.
The Devils have 14 additional waiver exempt players in training camp.
Devils Waiver Exempt
The following Devils are exempt from waivers, and can be assigned to the Utica Comets:
Tyler Brennan
Seamus Casey
Mikael Diotte
Ethan Edwards
Josh Filmon
Arseny Gritsyuk
Lenni Hameenaho
Jeremy Hanzel
Shane Lachance
Jakub Malek
Xavier Parent
Cam Squires
Topias Vilen
Dylan Wendt
The expectation is that Arseny Gritsyuk will make the NHL roster. Players such as Seamus Casey and Ethan Edwards also have a chance to earn a spot thus far. Regardless, all do not require waivers to be sent down to the Utica Comets.
Devils Waiver Eligible
The following Devils are eligible to be claimed on waivers:
Kurtis MacDermid
Juho Lammikko
Thomas Bordeleau
Marc McLaughlin
Angus Crookshank
Nathan Legare
Mike Hardman
Ryan Schmelzer (waived on Sunday)
Jonathan Gruden
Brian Halonen
Colton White
Dennis Cholowski
Calen Addison
Nico Daws
There are whispers that Devils goaltender, Nico Daws, is a candidate to be claimed by a team seeking goaltending.
Devils on PTO
The following players won’t require waivers, unless they sign an NHL contract:
Luke Glendening
Kevin Rooney
Georgii Romanov
AHL Contracts Attending Training Camp
The following players won’t need to pass through waivers, as they are not on NHL contracts:
Matyas Melovsky
Tag Bertuzzi
Jack Malone
Alexander Campbell (ATO)
Brian Carrabes (ECHL)
Dmitri Osipov
Jackson van de Leest
Luke Reid
Austin Strand
Jimmy Dowd Jr. (ECHL)
Jeremy Brodeur
