Devils’ Santeri Hatakka undergoes surgery, no timeline for return

Hatakka suffered the injury late in the second period of a September 24th preseason game against the Montreal Canadiens. It’s unknown as to what caused the injury, but Hatakka’s status and the details of the injury remained up in the air for more than two weeks until Thursday’s announcement.

Hatakka had a quiet night in that game against the Habs, as he had just two shots, a takeaway and two hits taken in 9:15 of ice time as the Devils lost the game 3-0. It’s quite likely that Hatakka suffered the injury during one of the two hits taken in that game. That was Hatakka’s only game in the preseason before his injury.

It’s a tough blow for Hatakka, who was hoping to use the preseason to establish himself as a regular defenseman in the NHL. He got into 12 games with the Devils last season, where he had 2 assists.

Hatakka spent a majority of his season in the AHL with the Devils’ minor league affiliate, the Utica Comets. In 48 games with the Comets, he had 5 goals and 15 assists for 20 points.

Hatakka was a sixth-round pick by the San Jose Sharks in the 2019 NHL Draft, and after spending two seasons in the SM-liiga with Ilves Tampere, he made his professional hockey debut in the 2021-22 season, including nine games in the NHL with the Sharks.

Hatakka spent another season in the Sharks organization in the AHL before he was traded to the Devils as a part of the deal that sent Timo Meier to New Jersey, mostly just as an addition to make the deal adhere to both teams’ contract limits. Hatakka has since spent the past two seasons with the Devils.

Hatakka is currently on a one-year, $775,000 contract with a minor league salary of $125,000 that he signed with the Devils over the summer. He’ll be a restricted free agent again when the contract expires at the end of the season.

The Devils will look to continue their hot start to the season when they host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night at 7 p.m. EST. New Jersey is currently first in the NHL with a 2-0-0 record after sweeping the Global Series in Prague, Czech Republic against the Buffalo Sabres.