Yes, it’s the preseason only, and yes these games don’t mean much in the long run. There is still however, never a bad time to beat the Rangers, if you’re a Devils fan. Read ahead for a preview of the penultimate preseason game for the 2025-2026 Devils.
- The Matchup: New Jersey Devils @ New York Rangers
- The Time: 7:00pm EST
- The Broadcast: MSG, Devils Hockey Radio
Last Devils Game
On Sunday, 9/28/2025, the Devils lost both of their split squad games against the Ottawa Senators and Washington Capitals. The Devils also lost their first preseason game this year against the Rangers at The Rock on 9/21/2025, so expect maybe a little bit of extra motivation to return the favor against the NY home crowd tonight.
The Daily Luke Hughes Signing Watch Is Over!
Per the official Devils press release on Wednesday morning, the incessant complaining “Luke Hughes Daily Signing Watch” is officially over! This will most likely be “old news” by the time you read this, but the short version is that A) Luke Hughes is signed for 7 years/$63m/$9m AAV. B) Per the press release, “He will join the club for practice Thursday.
Regular Season Squad(s)?
Per Amanda Stein on Twitter X on Tuesday afternoon, it looks like the Devils will be icing a lineup that should be pretty close to what you’d expect to see on game 1 of the regular season. Now that Luke has put pen to paper on his contract, there is the possibility that he plays on Thursday. As mentioned previously, he is expected to practice with the team on Thursday. However, Amanda Stein is leaving to attend a wedding in Montreal, so she will not be covering the rest of the pre-season. There may be an official announcement at some point between now and tonight, but my guess is that we will not know if Luke is playing until pretty close to puck drop. If Luke ends up playing tonight, I would assume that Casey comes out in his place.
For the Rangers, it looks like JT Miller is still “day-to-day” per Vince Mercogliano from The Athletic. However, based on their practice from Tuesday afternoon, it appears that they will be icing a pretty close to NHL/game 1 roster as well (the team made some additional cuts and as of Tuesday, their camp is down to 27 players).
There is the possibility that these lineups will change slightly between this morning and puck drop, however, short of players coming back from injuries or additional cuts, this should be as close to an NHL game as possible. While a “revenge” win would be nice, the 2 biggest benefits of this game are that they can finally put the “will he or won’t he” aspect of the Luke Hughes contract out of their minds and it is going to give the big club players 1 last game to get up to regular season speed and intensity (a different lineup, full of players destined for the AHL is expected to play against Philadelphia on Saturday). I don’t know how many, (if any) systematic changes have been made this camp, but they can also use this time to get more reps in with those too.
Grimace’s Prediction
After speaking with Grimace this morning, I am pleased to inform you, the faithful members of the Devils Nation, that he expects a 3-1 Devils win tonight. Considering he is a plastic toy from a McDonald’s happy meal, that doesn’t actually speak, you know that prediction is as good as money in the bank.
Your Take
Besides the obvious desire to see the Devils hand the Rangers a glorious beat down of epic proportions, what else do you all hope to see….or not see tonight? Feel free to leave your thoughts and comments below and thanks for reading!