Wood returns to practice after signing new deal

When the New Jersey Devils jumped on the ice for practice on Sunday, an old new face greeted them with a big grin.

Miles Wood made his first appearance at training camp, after signing a four-year deal with the club on Saturday.

Wood, who had 19 goals last season, was anxious to get on the ice with his teammates. His teammates however, wouldn't let Wood off the hook for missing the first couple days of training camp, chanting his name during the stretch period and poking fun at all the attention Wood was receiving from the media.
"Of course, I was getting chirped coming back into the room, but it's all in good fun," Wood said. "I'm happy it's all worked out."

Wood was thrown right into the fold on Sunday, no time to waste as the Devils have just three remaining preseason games before starting their season in Sweden on October 6th against the Edmonton Oilers.
"It's going to be on him now to get some extra time to get caught up to speed," Hynes said of Wood. "He's got to work to make sure the things that he has missed, he gets caught up. Luckily for us he's a returning player, so most things are review. Those things should be quick-hitters, and the things that are new installations that we have, the changes we've made over the summer, we expect him to catch up pretty quick."

The Devils play a fourth preseason game on Monday at Madison Square Garden against the Rangers. Wood will not be in the lineup, still in need of a few more practices to find his game-legs. When he does get the chance, against Winnipeg on Thursday, Wood hopes to be able to show what he worked diligently on this summer, which was his hand-eye coordination.
"My hands," Wood said when asked what he focused on this summer. "This summer was all about hands, in close tight areas around the net and hand-eye coordination."

Management Makes Cuts
The Devils training camp roster is now down to 35 players. Management and the coaching staff cut down the roster on Sunday afternoon, trimming the roster by 15 players.
Forwards Blake Pietila, Eric Tangradi and Kurtis Gabriel, along with defensemen John Ramage, and Brian Strait were all placed on waivers. While Brandon Baddock, Nathan Bastian, Brandon Gignac, Yegor Sharangovich, Blake Speers, Josh Jacobs, Michael Kapla, Colby Sissons Colton White and Cam Johnson were all assigned to the Binghamton Devils.
Binghamton open their training camp Tuesday, September 25th.