Travis Zajac (ankle) will not play Saturday night. He rolled his right ankle when he caught a rut in the ice Friday. It is unclear whether he will travel with the team to Minnesota for Sunday's game. Jacob Josefson will play in his place.

Travis Zajac acknowledged it will be a "little bit" strange to play against Zach Parise on Sunday. Parise spent his first seven seasons with the Devils, but will now face them for the first time Sunday. "It will probably be weirder for him than us," Zajac said. "You play against guys that you played with all the time now. Obviously, he was a big part of the team when he was here. Now, we get the chance to try and shut him down."

Travis Zajac didn't complete Friday's morning skate because he rolled his ankle. Zajac called the decision to get off the ice early a "precaution" and he still expected to play Saturday. Devils coach Pete DeBoer shares Zajac's optimism.

Travis Zajac scored his first goal of the campaign Thursday as the Devils were beaten in Ottawa by a score of 5-2. The power play marker, assisted by Marek Zidlicky and Patrik Elias, was just the third point of the young season for Zajac. Steve Bernier also tallied for New Jersey in the loss.

Travis Zajac isn't worried about the predictions that the New Jersey Devils will have a terrible year. "It's the same every year," Zajac said. "I definitely don't think we get the respect sometimes we deserve, but we've got a quiet confidence about ourselves right now." Various organizations have predicted that the Devils will finish near the bottom of the NHL after losing Ilya Kovalchuk. Their offense is certainly an area of concern and they'll be looking for others like Zajac to step up. Zajac is entering the first season of an eight-year/$46 million contract.

Travis Zajac was caught off guard by Ilya Kovalchuk's retirement. "It's definitely a little bit of a shocker," Zajac said. "I didn't really see that coming." Zajac is among the players the Devils will need more from offensively with Kovalchuk gone. Zajac had seven goals and 20 points in 48 games last season, but he's capable of reaching the 60-point mark if things go his way in 2013-14.

The New Jersey Devils were essentially ignored by voters for the NHL awards. The Devils had a mediocre season with no player really standing out. Travis Zajac did receive one second-place vote for the Lady Byng trophy (he came in tied for 46th) while Adam Henrique and Ilya Kovalchuk finished 25th and 38th respectively in the Frank Selke trophy voting (awarded to the best defensive forward).

Travis Zajac returned to action on Thursday April 4.

Travis Zajac is dealing the flu and did not report to the Devils' facility Tuesday. Devils coach Pete DeBoer revealed after Monday's game that Zajac was throwing up between periods after the centerman played just 13:31. The Devils will practice Wednesday ahead of Thursday's game against the Bruins and it remains to be seen if Zajac will be sidelined for the game against Boston. We'll sideline him for now and tag him as day-to-day. We should know more tomorrow afternoon.

Travis Zajac picked up a pair of assists for the Devils in a 4-1 win over Carolina Thursday night. Zalac hasn't exactly been tearing it up with just 11 points in 31 contests, but he has been playing better of late with three points in his past two outings. Adam Henrique, Andrei Loktionov and Peter Harrold all registered goals in the win while Martin Brodeur was credited with his first goal of the season after an errant Carolina pass went into their own goal.