The New Jersey Devils opening night rosters have always come with at least one or two surprises. Last season, the Devils let Ty Smith go back to the WHL and kept Jesper Boqvist away from the SHL. In 2018, Jean-Sebastien Dea made the roster at the last minute after Ray Shero claimed him off waivers from the Pittsburgh Penguins. Also, Eric Gryba was given the extra defenseman role. Brian Gibbons filled that role in 2017-18, but that one actually worked out perfectly as he was a scoring machine early in the season.
This season, there are a lot of options for surprises once the season starts.