New Jersey Devils Prospect Update: 12/16/14

This post will recap the eleventh week of Devils prospect action for the 2014-15 season. It's highlighted by signs of John Quenneville and Reid Boucher coming around, injuries affecting the system at all levels, and Albany earning a noteworthy win in Atlantic City. Check out the stats and recap below!

CHL

Name	Pos.	Age (as of 2/1)	Team	League	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	Pts/GP
Ryan Kujawinski	C	19	Kingston	OHL	25	12	9	21	7	18	0.84
Height: 6'2	A1	Pts1	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts
Weight: 207	4	16	9	4	13	2	5	7	0	0	0
					GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	Pts/GP
Connor Chatham	RW	19	Plymouth	OHL	21	6	9	15	2	30	0.71
Height: 6'2	A1	Pts1	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts
Weight: 225	6	12	5	6	11	1	3	4	0	0	0
					GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	Pts/GP
John Quenneville	C	18	Brandon	WHL	26	11	15	26	4	24	1.00
Height: 6'1	A1	Pts1	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts
Weight: 205	8	19	4	9	13	6	4	10	0	2	2
					GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	Pts/GP
Ryan Rehill	D	19	Kamloops	WHL	33	3	7	10	-4	94	0.30
Height: 6'3	A1	Pts1	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts
Weight: 225	4	7	3	6	9	0	1	1	0	0	0
					GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	Pts/GP
Brandon Baddock	LW	19	Edmonton	WHL	32	7	12	19	0	53	0.59
Height: 6'4	A1	Pts1	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts
Weight: 215	5	12	4	8	12	2	2	4	0	1	1

Name	Age (as of 2/1)	GP	GS	W	L	OTL	SOL	MIN	GAA	SV%	GA%-	GSAA
Anthony Brodeur	20	16	14	5	4	0	3	774:35	3.72	0.876	117	-7.37
Height: 5'11	Gatineau	SO	SO%	QS	QS%	RBS	RBS%	BO	BO%	EVG%	PPG%	SHG%
Weight: 194	QMJHL	0	0.00%	5	35.71%	5	35.71%	2	14.29%	66.67%	31.25%	2.08%

There isn't much to report on from the Devils OHL prospects. Both Ryan Kujawinski and Connor Chatham missed the entire week due to undisclosed injuries. Kujawinski left Kingston's game on 12/5 after a hit "near" the head area. The timing for the injury is unfortunate as Kujawinski was on a hot streak after putting up eight goals and seven assists in twelve November games. I haven't been able to track down what exactly happened to Chatham but he hasn't played since 11/26.

John Quenneville got off to a blazing start this season but an extended slump has his numbers down to a point per game. In seventeen games since 11/1 he has put up just six goals and five assists. He may be on the verge of getting back on a scoring streak though as he has two goals and two assists in over his last four games. Ideally, a player like him should be able to finish comfortably above the point per game mark by the end of the season so hopefully he gets going again.

Ryan Rehill was the busiest Devils prospect of the week, featuring in four games for Kamloops where he put up a goal, twelve penalty minutes, and a minus three rating. Brandon Baddock played in two games for Edmonton, notching a goal and an assist on Saturday against Kootenay.

Anthony Brodeur is firmly entrenched as Drummondville's third choice goaltender. He hasn't played since 11/14 when he was still with Gatineau and is yet to even dress as the backup for Drummondville.

NCAA

Name	Pos.	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	SH	SH%	SH/GP	Pts/GP	FO%
Blake Coleman	LW	Miami	14	9	7	16	11	53	59	15.25%	4.21	1.14	67.91%
Height: 5'11	Age (as of 2/1)	League	A1	Pts1	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts
Weight: 200	23	NCAA	3	12	5	5	10	3	1	4	1	0	1
			GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	SH	SH%	SH/GP	Pts/GP	FO%
Blake Pietila	C	Michigan Tech	16	4	5	9	-1	28	29	13.79%	1.81	0.56	62.62%
Height: 5'11			A1	Pts1	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts
Weight: 200	21	NCAA	4	8	2	1	3	1	4	5	0	0	0
			GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	SH	SH%	SH/GP	Pts/GP	FO%
Alex Kerfoot	C	Harvard	10	4	11	15	10	4	19	21.05%	1.90	1.50	49.68%
Height: 5'10			A1	Pts1	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts
Weight: 175	20	NCAA	6	10	2	6	8	1	3	4	0	1	1
			GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	SH	SH%	SH/GP	Pts/GP
Steve Santini	D	Boston College	4	1	0	1	2	2	6	16.67%	1.50	0.25
Height: 6'2			A1	Pts1	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts
Weight: 208	19	NCAA	0	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
			GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	SH	SH%	SH/GP	Pts/GP	Blk
Joshua Jacobs	D	Michigan State	16	0	4	4	-7	12	28	0.00%	1.75	0.25	23
Height: 6'2			A1	Pts1	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts
Weight: 191	18	NCAA	2	2	0	2	2	0	2	2	0	0	0

Blake Coleman and Alexander Kerfoot had the weekend off for their respective teams. Steve Santini remains out with a wrist injury but is nearing a potential return to action with the USA WJC team. Team USA's begins camp today in Boston ahead of the tournament that will run 12/26 to 1/5 in Montreal and Toronto. If you want to check out some of the action from the camp which will also feature Devils prospect, Miles Wood, you can check out the Team USA vs. Boston University exhibition online here, Friday at 7:30.

In on ice college action, Blake Pietila continues to slump, as he is now scoreless in six games and has just two assists in his last ten games. I'd like to see more production out a senior though to his credit he does have strong faceoff numbers with a 62.62% which ranks 9th in the nation. Joshua Jacobs and Michigan State only played once since the last update but he made it count by adding a powerplay assist in a win over Clarkson.

KHL, USHL, USHS

Name

Pos.

Team

GP

G

A

Pts

+/-

PIM

SH

SH%

SH/GP

Pts/GP

FO%

ATOI

Artur Gavrus

LW

Dinamo Minsk

33

5

4

9

-4

10

46

10.87%

1.39

0.27

37.50%

12:20

Height: 5'10

Age (as of 2/1)

League

A1

Pts1

EVG

EVA

EV Pts

PPG

PPA

PP Pts

SHG

SHA

SH Pts

Weight: 177

21

KHL

2

7

1

4

5

4

0

4

0

0

0

GP

G

A

Pts

+/-

PIM

SH

SH%

SH/GP

Pts/GP

Joey Dudek

C

Dubuque

20

4

1

5

-3

32

41

9.76%

2.05

0.25

Height: 5'11

A1

Pts1

EVG

EVA

EV Pts

PPG

PPA

PP Pts

SHG

SHA

SH Pts

Weight: 185

19

USHL

0

4

3

1

4

0

0

0

0

0

0

GP

G

A

Pts

+/-

PIM

SH

SH%

SH/GP

Pts/GP

Miles Wood

LW

Noble & Greenough

4

3

5

8

2.00

Height: 6'1

A1

Pts1

EVG

EVA

EV Pts

PPG

PPA

PP Pts

SHG

SHA

SH Pts

Weight: 165

19

USHS

Artur Gavrus continues to receive a steady 10-11:30 minutes a game for Dinamo Minsk. He added his fourth assist of the season against Avangard on Friday.

Joey Dudek didn't play for Dubuque this past week due to an undisclosed injury. This USHL forum mentions that he has a concussion but I would put that firmly in the rumor category since no official statement has been made.

Miles Wood played two games since the last update ahead of going to the USA WJC camp with Santini. He made those two games count by adding three goals and three assists to his stat line. As nice as that is, it is important to remember he's doing this as a 19 year old in prep hockey. Total domination of that league is what should be expected from him this year. I am interested in seeing what the USA coaching staff does with him in practice and possibly the exhibition against Boston University if he makes it that far. Wood is really a great unknown compared to the other prospects and I'd love to get a look at him.

AHL

Name	Height	Weight	Age (as of 2/1)	Pos	GP	G	A	PTS	A1	Pts1	+/-	PIM	SH	SH%	SH/GP	Pts/GP	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts	ENG	ENA	EN Pts
Joe Whitney	5'6	170	26	LW	26	10	12	22	5	15	1	18	70	14.29%	2.69	0.85	6	6	12	4	6	10	0	0	0	0	0	0
Paul Thompson	6'1	205	26	RW	24	11	9	20	8	19	10	41	68	16.18%	2.83	0.83	7	7	14	3	1	4	1	1	2	0	0	0
Scott Timmins	6'0	200	25	C	23	6	13	19	5	11	3	4	52	11.54%	2.26	0.83	5	7	12	1	5	6	0	1	1	0	0	0
Raman Hrabarenka	6'5	235	22	D	20	4	10	14	5	9	1	18	36	11.11%	1.80	0.70	2	7	9	2	3	5	0	0	0	0	0	0
Tim Sestito	5'11	195	30	C	26	6	7	13	5	11	-1	8	51	11.76%	1.96	0.50	4	5	9	1	1	2	0	0	0	1	1	2
Reid Boucher	5'10	190	21	LW	22	5	7	12	3	8	-2	4	57	8.77%	2.59	0.55	3	1	4	2	5	7	0	0	0	0	1	1
Mike Sislo	5'11	195	27	RW	20	6	4	10	4	10	3	9	51	11.76%	2.55	0.50	1	2	3	3	2	5	1	0	1	1	0	1
Brandon Burlon	6'0	190	24	D	24	1	8	9	5	6	-2	36	34	2.94%	1.42	0.38	1	2	3	0	6	6	0	0	0	0	0	0
Stefan Matteau	6'2	220	20	LW	22	1	7	8	5	6	2	17	31	3.23%	1.41	0.36	1	4	5	0	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	0
Graham Black	6'0	190	22	C	20	5	3	8	2	7	3	10	36	13.89%	1.80	0.40	2	2	4	3	1	4	0	0	0	0	0	0
Ben Thomson	6'3	215	22	LW	24	3	3	6	3	6	-3	40	33	9.09%	1.38	0.25	3	3	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Dan Kelly	6'1	210	25	D	15	0	5	5	3	3	7	41	14	0.00%	0.93	0.33	0	4	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1
Darcy Zajac	6'1	205	28	RW	25	3	2	5	1	4	-4	53	41	7.32%	1.64	0.20	2	2	4	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0
Steve Bernier	6'3	215	29	RW	9	1	4	5	3	4	-1	17	16	6.25%	1.78	0.56	1	2	3	0	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
Reece Scarlett	6'1	185	21	D	9	0	3	3	2	2	0	2	20	0.00%	2.22	0.33	0	2	2	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Mark Fraser	6'4	220	28	D	12	1	2	3	1	2	-2	23	13	7.69%	1.08	0.25	1	2	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Eric Baier	6'2	210	26	D	8	1	2	3	2	3	-2	4	9	11.11%	1.13	0.38	1	1	2	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Peter Harrold	5'11	180	31	D	13	1	1	2	0	1	3	10	21	4.76%	1.62	0.15	0	1	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Rod Pelley	6'0	205	30	C	22	2	0	2	0	2	-5	16	22	9.09%	1.00	0.09	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1
Kelly Zajac	5'10	180	26	C	5	0	2	2	2	2	-1	4	2	0.00%	0.40	0.40	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	1	1	0	0	0
Chris McKelvie	6'1	195	29	LW	15	1	1	2	0	1	-7	20	20	5.00%	1.33	0.13	1	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Corbin McPherson	6'5	220	26	D	26	0	2	2	1	1	-6	39	26	0.00%	1.00	0.08	0	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Seth Helgeson	6'5	215	24	D	12	0	1	1	1	1	3	11	7	0.00%	0.58	0.08	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Ben Johnson	6'0	195	20	LW	9	1	0	1	0	1	-2	4	8	12.50%	0.89	0.11	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0
Cam Janssen	6'0	210	30	RW	7	1	0	1	0	1	0	7	2	50.00%	0.29	0.14	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Joe Faust	6'0	205	23	D	12	0	1	1	0	0	-2	6	12	0.00%	1.00	0.00	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Mike Keenan	6'0	190	25	D	4	0	1	1	1	1	0	0	6	0.00%	1.50	0.25	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
David Wohlberg	6'1	200	24	LW	11	0	0	0	0	0	-2	6	7	0.00%	0.64	0.00	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Alexandre Carrier	6'3	210	23	RW	1	0	0	0	0	0	-1	0	1	0.00%	1.00	0.00	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Myles Bell	6'1	216	21	RW	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0.00%	1.00	0.00	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Name	Age (as of 2/1)	GP	GS	Min	W	L	OTL	SOL	GAA	SV%	GA%-	GSAA
Keith Kinkaid	25	13	12	713	7	2	1	2	2.19	0.923	89	3.49
Height: 6'2		SO	SO%	QS	QS%	RBS	RBS%	BO	BO%	EVG%	PPG%	SHG%
Weight: 195		1	8.33%	8	66.67%	1	8.33%	1	8.33%	69.23%	23.08%	7.69%
		GP	GS	Min	W	L	OTL	SOL	GAA	SV%	GA%-	GSAA
Scott Wedgewood	22	11	9	539	4	4	0	1	3.34	0.876	143	-9.03
Height: 6'2		SO	SO%	QS	QS%	RBS	RBS%	BO	BO%	EVG%	PPG%	SHG%
Weight: 190		0	0.00%	4	44.44%	3	33.33%	1	11.11%	80.00%	20.00%	0.00%
		GP	GS	Min	W	L	OTL	SOL	GAA	SV%	GA%-	GSAA
Scott Clemmensen	37	6	5	335	1	3	0	1	2.33	0.918	95	0.75
Height: 6'2		SO	SO%	QS	QS%	RBS	RBS%	BO	BO%	EVG%	PPG%	SHG%
Weight: 200		1	20.00%	2	40.00%	1	20.00%	0	0.00%	38.46%	61.54%	0.00%

Albany split their 2 games over the week, though they did notch their first overtime win since 1/6/12 in Atlantic City infront of 4,212 fans. At the moment, Albany sits in 8th place in the Eastern Conference with 29 points after 26 games. Their all situation PDO is at a normal 99.76% while their PP% is 16.26% and the PK% is 81.74%.

Transactions: Their were a handful of transactions to keep up with over the week so let's recap. Scott Clemmensen went down for the awesome Keith Kinkaid on 12/9. Boucher also made his way up to the big club with Kinkaid that same day before being sent back down the next day. Due to injuries, Albany had to call up their forwards currently in the ECHL, Alexandre Carrier and Myles Bell, on 12/10. Yesterday, the Devils returned Mike Sislo to Albany in favor of Tim Sestito.

Thursday 12/11: Albany lost to Hartford 3-2. Reid Boucher and Rod Pelley scored the goals for the Devils while Eric Baier, Mark Fraser, and Ben Thomson picked up an assist each. Joe Whitney had a game high 8 shots as the Devils outshot the Wolf Pack 35-33. Scott Clemmensen made 30 of 33 saves in goal. The Devils went 0/4 on the PP and 4/6 on the PK. Here is the gamesheet and highlights:

Sunday 12/14: Albany defeated Lehigh Valley 4-3 in overtime for their first extra time win in nearly three years. Tim Sestito led the Devils with 2 goals (including the winner) and an assist. Joe Whitney added the other 2 goals to go along with his 7 shots. Reid Boucher and Paul Thompson had 2 assists each while Mark Fraser and Reece Scarlett each added one. This was Reece Scarlett's and Dan Kelly's return to the line up after missing 8 straight games. Albany outshot Lehigh Valley 37-32. Scott Wedgewood got the start and made 29 saves on 32 shots. Albany went 1/5 on the PP and 3/3 on the PK. Here is the gamesheet, highlights, and line up (courtesy of the ADevils twitter):

Whitney-Sestito-Thompson

Matteau-Black-Boucher

Thomson-Pelley-Bell

Wohlberg-D. Zajac-Carrier

McPherson-Burlon

Kelly-Scarlett

Fraser-Faust

Injury Situation: With Dan Kelly and Reece Scarlett returning, the only Devils defenseman out is Raman Hrabarenka. Kelly Zajac, Cam Janssen, and Scott Timmins all remain out upfront.

Due for a Breakout?: Stefan Matteau is having a rough year with just 8 points in 22 games. He has a single goal on the season but is shooting a remarkably low 3.23% while averaging 1.41 shots per game. Hopefully he gets some puck luck and his SH% regresses towards something more normal.

ECHL

Name	Height	Weight	Age (as of 2/1)	Pos	GP	G	A	PTS	A1	Pts1	+/-	PIM	SH	SH%	SH/GP	Pts/GP	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts	ENG	ENA	EN Pts
Myles Bell	6'1	216	21	RW	18	8	6	14	3	11	-2	7	62	12.90%	3.44	0.78	7	2	9	1	4	5	0	0	0	0	0	0
Alexandre Carrier	6'3	210	23	RW	6	0	0	0	0	0	-3	2	7	0.00%	1.17	0.00	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Name	Age (as of 2/1)	GP	GS	Min	W	L	OTL	SOL	GAA	SV%	GA%-	GSAA
Maxime Clermont	23	9	7	511	5	3	0	0	3.76	0.873	132	-7.90
Height: 6'0		SO	SO%	QS	QS%	RBS	RBS%	BO	BO%	EVG%	PPG%	SHG%
Weight: 200		0	0.00%	1	14.29%	2	28.57%	1	14.29%	75.00%	18.75%	6.25%

As mentioned above, Myles Bell and Alexandre Carrier were called up on 12/10 to Albany. Bell didn't play for Evansville last week but Carrier did get one game in with Orlando were he was held off the scoresheet with two shots. Maxime Clermont is the backup in Orlando and didn't play at all last week.

Prospect of the Week

It's a bit hard to single out one prospect from the past week as being exceptional due to injuries and mediocre play. John Quenneville and Brandon Baddock had a goal and an assist game each but two points in as many games over the week is hardly outstanding. I suppose you could argue that Gavrus getting an assist over two games in a men's league could warrant it but scoring is up in the KHL this year. Miles Wood had an outstanding week but he is playing against players younger, smaller, and less skilled than him. Overall, I just hope the injured players return and some of the prospects can string together better performances next week.

ADevil of the Week

On the other hand, you could make a strong argument for a number of players in Albany to get this week's honors. Joe Whitney leads the team in scoring and put up 2 goals and 15 shots over two games. Tim Sestito had an overtime winner to along with his 2 goals and an assist on 6 shots in two games. Reid Boucher seems to be finding his groove with a goal and two assists to go along with 4 shots over two games. Over his last 4 games he has 2 goals and 2 assists to go with 11 shots. I'd be comfortable saying any of those three players deserve recognition for their performances for Albany as of late.

Your Take

Who would you name prospect of the week? What about ADevil of the week? How concerned are you about the injuries and performances among the Devils prospects in junior and collegiate hockey? Do you feel that I am being too harsh on Miles Wood? Leave your comments below and thank you for reading!