New Jersey Devils Prospect Update: Week 11

It was an exciting week for one prospect in particular. The Albany Devils are going strong as a team while a few prospects are fighting for a spot at the World Junior Championships. Keep reading for stats and notes.

Albany Notes:

• The Albany Devils are on a six game winning streak. Their first win of the weekend came on Friday with a 6-1 win over the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Mike Hoeffel, Mattias Tedenby, and Joe Whitney scored goals on the power play along with Artem Demkov on a penalty shot. Chris McKelvie scored shorthanded, and Tedenby got a second goal 5-on-5. The Devils scored on the power play for the 10^th straight game. Keith Kinkaid got his fourth straight win with 23 saves. Here are the highlights:

• In a franchise record sixth straight win, the Albany Devils defeated the Hartford Wolf Pack 5-2 on Saturday. Brandon Burlon, Artem Demkov, Mattias Tedenby, David Wohlberg, and Raman Hrabarenka found the back of the net while Scott Wedgewood earned his third straight win with 26 saves. This was the 11^th straight game with a power play goal. Here are the highlights:

• Mattias Tedenby was loaned to Albany for a conditioning stint and played just two games in the AHL. He made it count with four points (3g, 1a) in his short time down.
• Stefan Matteau is currently on the US WJC roster and made it through the first round of cuts. Three more players are expected to be cut before the tournament begins, but he has been getting minutes on the second/third line and powerplay. He got an assist in the first exhibition with the team.

Other Notes:

• Maxime Clermont has taken over the starting goalie position in Elmira due to injury and he has thrived. He won both games played last week and allowed four goals. Every stat has improved significantly since he was given to number one role on the team. For example, is Save Percentage rose from .885 to .901 in a short time.
• Artur Gavrus is leading the WJC-20 D1a (Under-20 World Championships Division 1 Group A) in points with seven in three games. He has two goals and five assists for Belarus in the tournament so far.
• Graham black is 8^th in the WHL in points so far this season. He has 49 points in 36 games played.
• Myles Bell scored five goals and three assists this week in four games. The Rockets are currently 28-3-0-2 heading into the holiday break.
• Damon Severson is working with team Canada for the WJC. He is paired with Josh Morrissey at the moment, the same partner he had in the Subway Series.
• While Blake Coleman isn't playing due to a pretty bad injury (he had surgery last week), I did find this cool article about the coaching he had growing up and his compete level as he's gone through different levels of hockey. It's a pretty cool read.
• Steve Santini is currently fighing for a U.S. WJC Team roster spot and has been paired with Jaccob Slavin. He had an assist in the first exhibition game and made it through the first round of cuts.

Prospects in the NHL:

• After telling the media he thought his first one was coming soon, Reid Boucher scored his first NHL goal last night! With the primary assist going to Gelinas, it was and exciting one for the youth on the team. Here's a video of the goal:

• Eric Gelinas scored his fourth goal of the season last night and now has 15 points in 26 games.

Prospect of the Week:

The honor this week goes to Reid Boucher. Not only did he score his first NHL goal, but he is constantly reminding the media that he can't stop working if he wants to keep his spot on the team. Peter DeBoer said that with the way he's been playing, he would be a tough guy to remove from the lineup:

"Again, I'm not looking at the stat line with him. I like his defensive awareness. He's much stronger on the puck and in the battles than he looks. I was shocked today (to see) he's only (195) pounds. I keep watching the games back and he's winning puck battles against bigger guys and you realize this kid is a strong kid. And, for me, he's created opportunities for himself or other players every night he's been in. So, if he continues to do that, he's a hard guy to remove."

How pumped were you to see Boucher score his first NHL goal? Do you think that's the first of many? DeBoer has compared him to Jeff Skinner and Mark Recchi - do you agree? Do you think Santini, Matteau, and Severson will make the final cuts for their WJC teams? Please discuss your thoughts on the prospects in the comments section below. As always, thanks for reading!