The New Jersey Devils have activated defenseman Brett Pesce from injured reserve for their game against the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday. Pesce, who has been sidelined since late October, is expected to pair with Luke Hughes. Meanwhile, the Golden Knights will be without key players Jack Eichel and Shea Theodore due to injuries.
The New Jersey Devils (18-14-1) face the Vegas Golden Knights (16-6-9) at T-Mobile Arena on December 17, 2025, at 10 p.m. ET, broadcast on HBO MAX, truTV, TNT, SN1, and TVAS. This matchup highlights several roster adjustments for both teams.
For the Devils, Brett Pesce returns after missing 24 games with a hand injury sustained in a 4-3 win against the Colorado Avalanche on October 26. In nine games this season, Pesce has three assists and averages 19:39 of ice time. He is set to pair with Luke Hughes on defense. "Well, he's going to be on the trip, and there's nothing else to do in Vegas, so you may as well try to get him in the game. So, that's the plan," Devils coach Sheldon Keefe said. The team also placed forward Arseny Gritsyuk on injured reserve with an upper-body injury and recalled Nathan Légaré from Utica of the AHL. Simon Nemec remains on IR with a lower-body injury from December 12 practice.
The Devils' projected lineup includes forwards Jesper Bratt — Nico Hischier — Dawson Mercer; Ondrej Palat — Cody Glass — Connor Brown; Paul Cotter — Juho Lammikko — Stefan Noesen; and Angus Crookshank — Luke Glendening — Xavier Parent. Defense pairs are Jonas Siegenthaler — Dougie Hamilton; Luke Hughes — Brett Pesce; and Brenden Dillon — Colton White. Goalies are Jake Allen and Jacob Markstrom. Scratched players include Calen Addison and Dennis Chowlowski, with Timo Meier also out.
Injuries for New Jersey: Jack Hughes (finger), Zack MacEwen (lower body), Jonathan Kovacevic (knee), Evgenii Dadonov (wrist), and others.
The Golden Knights held an optional morning skate. Forward Jack Eichel (illness) and defenseman Shea Theodore (upper body) will miss the game. Eichel leads Vegas with 41 points (12 goals, 29 assists) in 31 games, while Theodore has 20 points (4 goals, 16 assists) and averages a team-high 24:01 of ice time. Defenseman Jeremy Lauzon returns after missing 14 games with an undisclosed injury.
Vegas' projected lineup: Forwards Mitch Marner — Brett Howden — Mark Stone; Ivan Barbashev — Tomas Hertl — Pavel Dorofeyev; Cole Reinhardt — Colton Sissons — Keegan Kolesar; and Brandon Saad — Reilly Smith — Branden Bowman. Defense: Brayden McNabb — Zach Whitecloud; Noah Hanifin — Kaedan Korczak; Jeremy Lauzon — Ben Hutton. Goalies: Carter Hart and Akira Schmid. Scratched: Alexander Holtz.
Injured for Vegas: Adin Hill (lower body) and William Karlsson (lower body). Coach Bruce Cassidy confirmed the absences after the skate.
