What the Devil is Going on with New Jersey’s Goalies?

After Thursday’s 3-2 loss to the Islanders many casual New Jersey Devils fans (or hockey fans in general), might be left scratching their heads when they look at who started in net last night and even more confused as to who was backing him up. Jon Gillies got the start last night (who was acquired less than a month ago for future considerations) and backing him up was Kyle Shapiro who is an emergency backup goalie. Shapiro is currently an assistant coach for the New Jersey Titans (North American Hockey League team) and has previous experience playing Division III hockey for four years.
Obviously, this was not the plan for the Devil’s goalie situation so let’s talk about how they got here. Their number 1 goalie Mackenzie Blackwood was placed on the Covid-19 protocol list a few days ago so he was ineligible to play. Their backup to start the season, Jonathan Bernier, has been on the injured reserves and had season-ending hip surgery on January 4th. Furthermore, Scott Wedgewood who also started the season on the Devils’ roster was claimed off waivers by the Arizona Coyotes in November. Next up would normally be Nico Daws or Akira Schmid, but Schmid was placed on Covid protocols on January 11th and Daws is on the injured reserves without knowledge of when he will return.

So this begs to ask the question if the Devils will make a move for another depth goalie or if they Marek Mittens to an NHL deal who is currently playing in Utica (the Devils AHL affiliate) and signed to an AHL deal.