The Devils' paper-thin defense took another hit today as the team announced rookie Matt Corrente suffered a broken hand in the team's 5-2 loss last night.

It's unknown how long Corrente will be out. In six games, Corrente recorded three assists and was a minus-1 with 31 penalty minutes. The defenseman fought Ryane Clowe in the second period, but continued to play in the third. He was ejected at 4:28 of the third period after Jamie Langenbrunner was high-sticked by Douglas Murray. There are still no replays showing why he was ejected.

The Devils recalled defenseman Tyler Eckford on an emergency basis from the Albany Devils. In six AHL games, Eckford has no goals, two assists and a plus-2 rating.

In three NHL games last season, Eckford recorded one assist.

The team also recalled Alexander Vasyunov, who made his NHL debut last Saturday in the Devils' 6-1 loss to the Sabres.

The Devils have lost defenseman Mark Fraser 4-6 weeks with a fractured hand.

Fraser, who likely suffered the injury in his fight with Buffalo Sabres center Cody McCormick Wednesday night, had a pin inserted in the hand today. With Fraser lost, Matt Corrente will be in the lineup Friday night against the Colorado Avalanche.

The Devils now have six healthy defensemen on their roster: Colin White, Henrik Tallinder, Andy Greene, Matt Taormina, Alex Urbom and Corrente. Greene was hit in the foot by a shot during Wednesday night's game and limped to the bench, but he did not miss a shift.

Anton Volchenkov is suffering from a broken nose and stiff neck and will not play this weekend. He is still being re-evaluated as to whether he has a slight concussion. Fraser has not yet been placed on long-term injured reserve, although that is a definite option.

Devils' president and general manager Lou Lamoriello announced that defenseman Bryce Salvador will be out indefinitely after being diagnosed with a concussion today.

There has been no decision on whether or not to place Salvador on the long-term injured reserve list.

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Devils defenseman Bryce Salvador underwent tests today to determine whether or not he suffered any head injury during Tuesday night’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers.

To read more on the injury, read after the jump.

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Today marks yet another “deadline day” in the Ilya Kovalchuk Saga. By 5 p.m., the league will announce whether or not they will accept a 15-year, $100 million contract between the Devils and Kovalchuk last Friday, August 27.

Read after the jump for information about today's deadline.

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It’ll be another two days before anyone knows the fate of the proposed Ilya Kovalchuk contract.

The NHL and NHLPA agreed to extend the deadline to accept or reject the deal, which was scheduled for 5 p.m. Eastern Time today, to Friday at 5 p.m. The 15-year, $100 million deal was submitted to the league for approval on Friday, giving the league five days to make its decision. If the league did not make an announcement by 5 p.m. today, then the contract would have automatically been accepted and registered.

Continue after the jump for more details on the decision.

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A second attempt by the New Jersey Devils to sign free agent Ilya Kovalchuk has reportedly been turned down by the NHL.

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So it was July 19th that we got word Kovalchuk was coming to town, for a very long time. On July 20th, we introduced him and his mega-long-term contract to the fans on the Devils. That night, the league said not so fast and now 3 weeks later we should pretend that none of this ever happened. Kovalchuk is once again a free agent after Richard Bloch ruled in favor of the NHL.

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According to multiple sources, systems arbitrator Richard Bloch ruled for the NHL and upheld the league’s rejection of Ilya Kovalchuk’s 17-year, $102 million contract.

The NHL and NHLPA have yet to release a statement, but several reliable sources are making these reports.

More coming soon.