NHL.com released projected lineups for Devils Vs Red Wings on Tuesday, and the biggest question around the game was not a new name on either side but an old one left out. J.T. Compher had practiced Monday and took part in the morning skate Tuesday, yet Todd McLellan said he would not be available.
That matters because the Red Wings had already listed Compher with Marco Kasper and Mason Appleton among their injured players, while the Devils were dealing with their own absences after a 4-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Monday left them without a morning skate Tuesday. The line combinations pointed to a full game-night shuffle for both clubs, with the Devils opening with Timo Meier, Nico Hischier and Luke Evangelista, then Jesper Bratt, Jack Hughes and Anthony Mantha, while the Red Wings projected Viktor Arvidsson, Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond up front.
The rest of the Devils' forward groups were Arseny Gritsyuk, Evan Rodrigues and Dawson Mercer, followed by Amadeus Lombardi, Cody Glass and Jesper Boqvist. The Red Wings' other projected lines were Michael Brandsegg-Nygard, Emmitt Finnie and Alex DeBrincat; Michael Rasmussen, Andrew Copp and Keegan Kolesar; and Sheldon Dries, Nate Danielson and Carter Mazur.
Both teams also had names missing from the board. The Devils listed Connor Brown, Johnathan Kovacevic and Nick Bjugstad as injured, while the Red Wings listed Andreas Englund, Jacob Bernard-Docker and Axel Sandin-Pellikka as scratched. Lucas Raymond and Faulk had missed practice Monday for maintenance, but both were on the ice Tuesday and will play, easing one part of the injury picture even as Compher's status stayed closed.
This was a projected-lineup preview, so the point was not just who was dressed, but who was not. On a day when the Devils had no morning skate and the Red Wings were sorting through injuries, scratches and maintenance days, the final read was simple: Raymond was back, Compher was not, and the opening faceoff would tell the rest of the story.
