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After last night's 3-6 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets and ahead of their game against Columbus tonight (Brian's preview for that one is here), the New Jersey Devils made some additional transactions with their roster. From the team's official Twitter account for their public relations, they have sent goaltender Yann Danis down to Albany. They've recalled goaltender Scott Wedgewood and defenseman Vojtech Mozik.
Devils have assigned G Yann Danis to Albany (AHL) and recalled G Scott Wedgewood and D Vojtech Mozik from Albany on an emergency recall.
— NJDevilsPR (@NJDevilsPR) March 20, 2016
Danis got wrecked as the Devils got wrecked by Columbus last night. Between that and a short relief appearance in that 1-7 loss to Anaheim, New Jersey has seen enough of the veteran backup. As he'll go to Albany, who plays in Bridgeport, Connecticut tonight, Wedgewood will put on the pads for New Jersey. Should he get into tonight's game, even for just a minute, this game would be Wedgewood's official debut. According to Tom Gulitti at Fire & Ice, he's expected to play tonight. If so, good luck to Scott Wedgewood. Don't worry about the game, the season has been lost a while back.
Mozik being called up is a bit more interesting. The Devils signed the defensemen to an ELC from HC Plzen last June. (Aside: Check out this prophetic comment by Carterdogg.) He's been in Albany since, presumably with the hope he could push for a roster spot in New Jersey in 2016-17. Instead, he'll could get his first chance at the NHL tonight. John Moore blocked a shot by David Savard with the inside of his right knee last night. He howled in pain and needed help to get to the bench. I assume we won't see him tonight. Combined with David Schlemko being out with an upper body injury, New Jersey needed another defender. So Mozik will get his shot, also as per Gulitti. Good luck to him as well. Let's just see what he can do. The other interesting bit about this call up is that his former team, HC Plzen, tweeted about it on Sunday morning. I've never seen a player's former team basically scoop the local media. Such is the world we live in with the Internet being what it is.
Best of luck to both and hopefully New Jersey won't allow six to Columbus for a third straight meeting. I think these are fine call ups to make given the immediate needs of the roster. Wedgewood coming in for Danis isn't surprising now that he's healthy. The Devils need a D, so why not try someone signed last summer to see what he can do after a season in North America? What do you make of both call-ups? Excited to see Wedgeood and Mozik? Please leave your answers and other thoughts about this news in the comments. Thank you for reading.