It’s a bit unusual for a team to have as many as 32 players remaining in camp on the day of the final preseason game, but that is still where the New Jersey Devils find themselves, barely three days before the NHL deadline to cut rosters down to 23 by 5 PM Tuesday.  While perhaps some of that was neccessitated due to minor knocks that kept Andy Greene, Bryce Salvador and Scott Gomez out of Thursday’s preseason game against the Islanders – all are expected to play tonight, though there’s no official lineup yet – the fact is there are still plenty of bubble guys and unsigned guys around to keep up the suspense.  In fact, the Devils’ defense on Thursday night consisted of five defensemen 25-years old and under, and Peter Harrold (fellow vet Marek Zidlicky got the night off as the Devils took another look at rookies Damon Severson and Seth Hegelson).  When asked whether he was working with unsigned forward Ryan Carter as if he’s a part of the team, coach Pete DeBoer answered simply:

“The guys we have right now, we’re working with everybody as if they’re on this team,” DeBoer said. “That’s where the competition is at. The reason we’re still at this number is because everybody that’s still here has played well enough that they look like they can help us to start the season and that’s where the tough decisions have to be made.

“There’s not one guy left here that we don’t feel could potentially help us. It’s great that we have that kind of depth.”

If you want to be cynical perhaps some of the competition is due to the fact few players have stood out.  However, bubble guys like Damien Brunner (who I expected to be shipped out by now) and unsigned Gomez have been among the better players in camp.  Forward is still where the picture is the cloudiest with no fewer than 20 guys remaining in camp – with a likely max of 14 to be left by Tuesday afternoon.  Gomez and Jordin Tootoo are still in camp on tryout deals and Carter’s still hanging around…though in his latest comments admitted he wasn’t optomistic about getting a contract.  Sparkplug Cam Janssen’s still around because he’s a good locker room presence (as well as jockeying with Tootoo for an energy presence), but he’ll likely be waived and go to Albany after tonight’s game.  Youngsters Reid Boucher and Stefan Matteau are also still around as well but will probably be the victim of a numbers game to start.  As DeBoer has said throughout camp though, the Opening Night roster isn’t the whole story.  Without explicitly saying it, clearly there’ll be chances for players like Boucher and Matteau throughout the season even if they’re not on the team as of Tuesday.

On defense, I wasn’t overly impressed with Severson the one game I saw him on TV at MSG but clearly he has the tools to be an NHL player in the near future.  Even as far back as last year, former color guy Chico Resch was signing his praises.  And Hegelson is clearly slotting up as the physical/stay-at home D callup in case of injury to a guy like say, Salvador – who’s certainly no lock at age 38 to make it through 82 games unscathed.  I do still expect both to go down and the Devils to go with the ‘expected’ seven-man defense to start the season but obviously they’ve seperated themselves from everyone else not in the NHL and will probably be here at different points this season as well, where they’ll get their chance.  Last year Jon Merrill was a AHL guy not expected to be on the big-league roster as anything but a short-term callup and he wound up being one of the most trusted defensemen on the Devils by the end of the season.

Within these forward and defense battles are also battles within the roster jockeying for playing time as well.  Just making the 23 won’t tell the whole story as we know two forwards and one defenseman will be healthy scratches every night.  And there’s also still a question mark as to who the backup goalie will be.  If you were going strictly on the preseason games Keith Kinkaid’s outplayed vet Scott Clemmensen – not by much though.  And Clemmensen has far more experience at handling the backup role at the NHL level than Kinkaid, though clearly by now Kinkaid has done enough at the AHL level to earn a promotion.  Both guys are still around and obviously that’s going to be a last-minute decision as well.  Clemmensen or Kinkaid might even play part of the game tonight, although I can’t really fathom how thirty minutes in a preseason game is going to uncloud the picture more than camp plus the game and a half each has played to this point.

Along with the on-ice roster suspense, tonight we also finally get to see the new-look Devils broadcast for our one home preseason telecast on MSG+, with Ken Daneyko taking over Chico’s old role full-time as the color guy and stunningly John MacLean taking over Daneyko’s old role as the sideline reporter/studio host.  Stunningly not just because MacLean was last seen around here as an infamous head coach flameout in 2010, but because the MacLean I saw that year really had little in terms of media presence.  Perhaps in a more relaxing job with former teammate Daneyko around, maybe you’ll see a different side of Johnny Mac though.  If nothing else clearly Lou Lamoriello’s loyal to his former players.  Plus it would be nice if Johnny Mac was remembered by the younger generation as something other than the 2010 Titanic-like disaster (clearly the older one’s memories of him as a player trump those of him as a coach).

UPDATE: Well, part of the mystery’s been solved, the Devils sent Kinkaid, Boucher, Matteau and Hegelson down to Albany whittling the roster down to 28.  None of them had to clear waivers and Kinkaid being sent down means Clemmensen wins the backup job.  For whatever that means looking at the first month of the season, there’s no obvious game Clemmensen has to play in until November (only one back-to-back and there’s two days off before and after it).