Predicted Devils lineup tonight: New Jersey's projected lineup for NHL season opener game against Sabres | Oct 4th, 2024

The New Jersey Devils open the 2024-25 NHL season against the Buffalo Sabres on Friday. The game will take place in Prague, Czech Republic at 1 p.m. ET as part of the NHL Global Series.

Ahead of the season opener, here is what the Devils predicted lineup is.

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New Jersey Devils predicted lineup

Forwards

• Timo Meier - Jack Hughes - Jesper Bratt
• Tomas Tatar - Nico Hischier - Dawson Mercer
• Ondrej Palat - Erik Haula - Stefan Noesen
• Paul Cotter - Curtis Lazar - Nathan Bastian

The Devils have one of the top forward groups in the NHL. Jack Hughes is back healthy and if he can remain healthy all season long, he has the chance to be one of the best players in the league this season.

Defenseman

• Brenden Dillon - Dougie Hamilton
• Jonas Siegenthaler - Jonathan Kovacevic
• Seamus Casey - Simon Nemec

Rookie defenseman Seamus Casey will make his NHL debut on Friday night for the New Jersey Devils. The Devils do have top defenseman Luke Hughes and Brett Pesce out of the lineup with injuries, and when they return their blue line will be that much better.

Goalies

• Jacob Markstrom
• Jake Allen

Goaltending was a major issue for the Devils last season, and New Jersey went out and traded for Jacob Markstrom, who is one of the best goalies in the league. Jake Allen will also be one of the league's top backups.

The Devils enter the 2024-25 NHL season with plenty of hype as New Jersey is one of the favorites to win the Stanley Cup. After missing the playoffs last season, the Devils were active in the offseason, as their biggest move was trading for star goalie Jacob Markstrom. New Jersey also hired Sheldon Keefe as their new head coach.

"We've got to have high standards," Devils captain Nico Hischier said, via NHL.com. "A lot is possible, but I don't want our team to look at the big picture. I want us to take it game by game, work hard every game, get better every day and grow into the team that we can be and push the limits high. There's definitely a lot possible with this team."

New Jersey is a -148 favorite to defeat Buffalo on Friday.