Player Who Injured Connor Bedard Gets His Karma

Connor Bedard was on pace to have potentially one of the best rookie seasons of all time in terms of goal scoring. Unfortunately though, he was injured earlier this month and will miss 6-8 weeks with a fractured jaw. Now the player that injured him has been placed on injured reserve himself.

Devils Place Smith On Injured Reserve

The rookie sensation was injured on a clean hit from Devils defenseman Brendan Smith. Unfortunately for Smith, what goes around comes around as he has just landed a stint on IR himself.




In a corresponding move, the Devils called up defenseman Santeri Hatakka from the Utica Comets of the AHL. Hatakka was one of the players New Jersey acquired in the Timo Meier trade last season.

Devils Falling Out Of Playoff Race

The Devils were expected to be one of the better teams in the eastern conference this season. Unfortunately, bad injury luck and very pool goaltending have lead to the team falling to 7th in the Metro division. The team is coming of a critical loss to the Montreal Canadiens, a team they should be beating every time.


That being said, only a single point separates the Devils and the three teams immediately ahead of them in the Metro. Their season is far from lost, but they will need teams ahead of them to start losing as well as stronger goaltending performances if they want to make the playoffs. Rookie netminder Nico Daws has been good since being called up, but it is unclear whether or not they can rely on him for the stretch run as he is unproven at the NHL level.



Look for the Devils to potentially be in the market for a goaltender as the trade deadline approaches. Until then, expect Lindy Ruff to lean on Daws as the other options have proven to be unreliable at best.