NEWARK—Now that the New Jersey Devils have officially ruled out their captain, there are holes in the lineup that will need to be plugged. At 5-on-5, the natural player to fill the void has been Dawson Mercer.

The New Jersey Devils will now be without perhaps their most valuable player as injuries mount. Captain Nico Hischier will miss the Devils' game against the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday night with an undisclosed injury,

The New Jersey Devils have been going through quite the rough skid, dropping nine of their last 11 contests. The Devils’ “big four” – Jack Hughes, Jesper

NJ Devils coach Sheldon Keefe reflected on the team's 4-2 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday. The Devils were without captain Nico Hischier, who returned to New Jersey for evaluation after suffering an undisclosed injury during Saturday's 4-3 overtime win over the Canadiens.

With New Jersey Devils captain Nico Hischier out of the lineup, Dawson Mercer will start Monday night's game against the Philadelphia Flyers as the team's second-line center. "To me, (Mercer) was outstanding in the third period the other night in Montreal when we asked him to step into that role," head coach Sheldon Keefe said to NJD.TV.

Bobby Brink, Joel Farabee and Garnet Hathaway scored to help the Flyers build a three-goal lead and they held on to beat the Devils​ 4-2 on Monday.

Dawson Mercer scored twice during New Jersey's four-goal second period, and the Devils beat the Boston Bruins 5-1 on Wednesday night. Nico Hischier had a goal and two assists, Dougie Hamilton had a goal and an assist,

Dawson Mercer scored two goals in the second period, Dougie Hamilton had a goal and an assist, and Timo Meier had two assists for the Devils (27-17-6), who are 1-2-2 in their past five games. Jacob Markstrom allowed one goal on seven shots before sustaining an undisclosed injury early in the second period.

Nico Hischier had a goal and two assists, Dougie Hamilton had a goal and an assist, and Stefan Noesen also scored, and Timo Meier had two assists to help the Devils snap a four-game skid.

Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Erik Johnson (77) tries pulling New Jersey Devils left wing Kurtis MacDermid away from a scuffle during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025, in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

Brothers Jack Hughes and Luke Hughes each collected a goal and an assist as the New Jersey Devils scored four times in the second period and rolled to a 5-0 rout of the visiting Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday night in Newark,

Ondrej Palat, Luke Hughes, Nathan Bastian and Dawson Mercer scored for New Jersey in a 13-minute span as the Devils won for the third time in four games. Jack Hughes scored early in the third, his 20th goal of the season.