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New Jersey Devils Prospect Update: 12/23/14

Week 12 of the 2014-15 prospect update saw Miles Wood battle for a spot on the US WJC team, Steve Santini near a return to the ice, Brandon Baddock put up some goals for Edmonton, and Reid Boucher continue to come around for Albany.

Brandon Baddock scored three goals in two games for Edmonton last week.
Brandon Baddock scored three goals in two games for Edmonton last week.
Derek Leung/Getty Images

This post will recap the twelfth week of Devils prospect action for the 2014-15 season. It's highlighted by Miles Wood battling for a spot on the US WJC team, Steve Santini nearing a return to the ice, Brandon Baddock contributing for Edmonton, and Reid Boucher getting hot for Albany. 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 27 12 15 27 5 26 1.00
Height: 6'1 A1 Pts1 EVG EVA EV Pts PPG PPA PP Pts SHG SHA SH Pts
Weight: 205 8 20 5 9 14 6 4 10 0 2 2
GP G A Pts +/- PIM Pts/GP
Ryan Rehill D 19 Kamloops WHL 35 3 7 10 -7 94 0.29
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 34 10 12 22 1 55 0.65
Height: 6'4 A1 Pts1 EVG EVA EV Pts PPG PPA PP Pts SHG SHA SH Pts
Weight: 215 5 15 4 8 12 4 2 6 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%

Ryan Kujawinski and Connor Chatham remain sidelined with injuries. Kujawinski last played on 12/5 and Chatham on 11/26. Brock Otten of OHL Prospects listed Kujawinski as a potential trade candidate for the upcoming OHL trade deadline.

John Quenneville only had one game last week but made it count by scoring a goal to stay at a point per game pace. Ryan Rehill was scoreless and a -3 in two games but managed to not take any penalties which is notable considering he leads the WHL in penalty minutes. Brandon Baddock scored three goals in two games though two of the goals were on the power play and the other an empty netter.

Anthony Brodeur was promoted to the back up position for Drummondville after they traded former starter Louis-Philip Guindon to Rimouski. He still hasn't appeared in a game for Drummondville yet.

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, Blake Pietila, Alexander Kerfoot, and Joshua Jacobs were all off. Steve Santini is currently with the United States WJC team and saw the doctor late yesterday to receive clearance to play. He is expected to be able to play against Sweden tonight in the final pre-tournament game.

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 21 4 1 5 -4 32 44 9.09% 2.10 0.24
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 and Dinamo Minsk were off last week. Joey Dudek was a -1 with three shots in his return to the line up for Dubuque. I'll have more on Miles Wood in the prospect of the week section.

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 28 10 13 23 6 16 1 22 72 13.89% 2.57 0.82 6 6 12 4 7 11 0 0 0 0 0 0
Paul Thompson 6'1 205 26 RW 26 13 9 22 8 21 11 41 75 17.33% 2.88 0.85 8 7 15 3 1 4 1 1 2 1 0 1
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
Reid Boucher 5'10 190 21 LW 24 7 7 14 3 10 -3 4 63 11.11% 2.63 0.58 3 1 4 4 5 9 0 0 0 0 1 1
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
Mike Sislo 5'11 195 27 RW 21 7 4 11 4 11 2 9 57 12.28% 2.71 0.52 1 2 3 4 2 6 1 0 1 1 0 1
Brandon Burlon 6'0 190 24 D 26 2 9 11 6 8 0 42 36 5.56% 1.38 0.42 1 2 3 1 7 8 0 0 0 0 0 0
Graham Black 6'0 190 22 C 22 5 5 10 3 8 4 12 38 13.16% 1.73 0.45 2 3 5 3 2 5 0 0 0 0 0 0
Stefan Matteau 6'2 220 20 LW 24 1 8 9 5 6 2 19 36 2.78% 1.50 0.38 1 4 5 0 4 4 0 0 0 0 0 0
Ben Thomson 6'3 215 22 LW 26 3 3 6 3 6 -3 40 35 8.57% 1.35 0.23 3 3 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Dan Kelly 6'1 210 25 D 17 0 5 5 3 3 6 43 16 0.00% 0.94 0.29 0 4 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
Darcy Zajac 6'1 205 28 RW 27 3 2 5 1 4 -4 57 44 6.82% 1.63 0.19 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 11 0 5 5 3 3 0 2 22 0.00% 2.00 0.45 0 2 2 0 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0
Mark Fraser 6'4 220 28 D 14 1 2 3 1 2 -2 30 16 6.25% 1.14 0.21 1 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Eric Baier 6'2 210 26 D 9 1 2 3 2 3 -2 4 11 9.09% 1.22 0.33 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 24 2 0 2 0 2 -5 18 24 8.33% 1.00 0.08 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 28 0 2 2 1 1 -6 39 27 0.00% 0.96 0.07 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Adam Larsson 6'3 200 22 D 1 0 2 2 1 1 1 0 1 0.00% 1.00 2.00 0 0 0 0 2 2 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 11 1 0 1 0 1 -2 4 11 9.09% 1.00 0.09 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 13 0 1 1 0 0 -3 6 14 0.00% 1.08 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 13 0 0 0 0 0 -2 6 8 0.00% 0.62 0.00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Alexandre Carrier 6'3 210 23 RW 3 0 0 0 0 0 -1 10 2 0.00% 0.67 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 90 3.15
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 12 10 599 4 5 0 1 3.31 0.879 141 -9.61
Height: 6'2 SO SO% QS QS% RBS RBS% BO BO% EVG% PPG% SHG%
Weight: 190 0 0.00% 4 40.00% 3 30.00% 1 10.00% 75.76% 24.24% 0.00%
GP GS Min W L OTL SOL GAA SV% GA%- GSAA
Scott Clemmensen 37 7 6 395 2 3 0 1 2.28 0.916 97 0.39
Height: 6'2 SO SO% QS QS% RBS RBS% BO BO% EVG% PPG% SHG%
Weight: 200 1 16.67% 3 50.00% 1 16.67% 0 0.00% 40.00% 60.00% 0.00%

Albany split both of their games this past week. The Devils currently sit in 8th place with 31 points from 28 games. Their all situation PDO is currently a normal 99.87% while their PP% has improved to 18.32% and their PK% taking a slight hit and moving down to 80.80%.

Transactions: It was another really busy week of player movement for the Devils. Tim Sestito was returned to Albany, recalled by New Jersey, returned once again, and recalled once again. Myles Bell was returned to Evansville of the ECHL. Mark Fraser was signed to a NHL contract and had to pass through waivers before officially being returned to Albany. Adam Larsson played a game with Albany for conditioning purposes after missing time due to the mumps. Mike Sislo was also briefly recalled by New Jersey before being returned to Albany.

Friday 12/19: Albany defeated Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 4-2. Brandon Burlon led the way with a goal and an assist while Adam Larsson added two assists. Other goal scorers for the Devils included Reid Boucher, Mike Sislo, and Paul Thompson. Reece Scarlett, Graham Black, and Stefan Matteau each had an assist. Sislo had a game high six shots as the Devils outshot the Penguins 27-21. Scott Clemmensen made 19 saves on 21 shots. Albany went 3/4 on the PP and 2/3 on the PK. Here is the gamesheet and highlights:

Saturday 12/20: Albany lost to Syracuse 3-2. Reid Boucher scored a power play goal with the assists going to Joe Whitney and Reece Scarlett. Paul Thompson added the Devils other goal with Graham Black picking up an assist. Stefan Matteau had a team high five shots and is SH% is now an amazingly low 2.78% on the year. Scott Wedgewood made 28 saves on 31 shots as the Devils were outshot 31-28. Albany went 1/4 on the PP and 5/7 on the PK. Here is the gamesheet and highlights:

Injury Update: Raman Hrabarenka, Kelly Zajac, Cam Janssen, Scott Timmins, and Chris McKelvie all remain out with undisclosed injuries.

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 21 8 6 14 3 11 -5 7 69 11.59% 3.29 0.67 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 0.873 136 -8.41
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%

Alexandre Carrier is still up with Albany while Maxime Clermont is the #3 goaltender for Orlando has made just a single appearance since 11/28. Myles Bell was returned to Evansville and played three games but was held off the scoresheet. Since scoring 7 goals and an assist in his first 7 games with a 22.58 SH% and 4.43 SH/GP rate, he has just a goal and 5 assists in his last 14 games with a 2.63 SH% and 2.71 SH/GP rate.

Prospect of the Week

Miles Wood was a surprise inclusion to the USA WJC training camp. He's played two games so far and may feature in tonight's final pre-tournament game against Sweden. It's a great sign that he's made it to the last round of cuts. I wanted to dedicate a section of the prospect update to him since we are finally getting a glimpse at what type of player he is. After being drafted in the 4th round of the 2013 draft, he has been a bit of a mystery. After all, he is still playing prep hockey at the age of 19 and even at the time of his draft there wasn't that much out there on him for us to base opinions. Hockey Prospect's Black Book which is the most comprehensive public draft guide had him ranked 196th overall. Their scouting report of him was just a few sentences and praised his size and skating. Now that we are finally seeing him play, and against quality competition, I wanted to take a more extensive look at him. You can view his first game of for the US against Boston University here. He's number 11 in white. Here is the gamesheet where you can see that he was a -1 with 1 shot in a 5-2 victory.

Wood was listed as the extra forward and jumped to different lines but got to play a fair amount with Eichel as the game progressed. My overall impression of him is similar to the scouting report from 2013 - he has nice size and skating with some untapped offensive potential. He seems to love to play along the boards and in front of the net and it will be interesting to see how he fills out his frame as he's listed at 6'1, 165 lbs. by Elite Prospects - though that surely isn't his most recent measurement. Below are some gifs of him from the game.

mileswood1

Wood moving through the neutral zone.

mileswood2

Wood along the boards, protecting the puck.

mileswood3

Wood playing with Eichel, gets a shot on goal.

Now what has SBN College Hockey had to say about him?

Prior to the Boston University game, Joshua Kummins had some quotes from Wood and USA coach Mark Osiecki:

"You see his size, just his physical stature is unbelievable," Osiecki said. "But his skating really, you notice. You wouldn't look at (his age and still being in prep school) at all. He jumped on the ice and fit right in, so that's hats off to him."

Jeff Cox had this post on the standouts from the game against Boston University and had this on Wood:

Not sure if he'll make the roster, but Friday night's performance certainly won't hurt his chances. He was lined up with Eichel on several shifts and looked very solid. As Mark Osiecki commented after the game, he didn't look like he's been playing against prep school competition all season. He's a real good skater and plays with an edge.

Chris Dilks took a look out who the remaining four cuts may be and found that Wood could still be on the outside looking in:

Wood has acquitted himself well at camp, and proven worthy of his surprise invite, but it's a deep group at forward.

The Americans defeated the Germans 5-2 on Sunday and Wood was LW on the fourth line with Cole Cassels and Jeremy Bracco. Dilks has this recap of the game and describes Wood's goal below. You can see the goal at 1:04 in the video below.

Wood's goal was a nice one where he finished off a nice pass on a 2-on-1 for a goal. Wood was one of the players coming into tonight that was on the bubble and putting one in the net had to help his chances.

Yesterday in practice, Wood was on the fourth line with J.T. Compher and John Hayden. It's notable as the US team still is running five lines in practice.

ADevil of the Week

Reid Boucher has had an underwhelming year so far but seems to be turning the corner with 4 goals and 2 assists over his last 6 games. He's averaging nearly 3 shots per game in December and has only been held off the scoresheet in 2 games. Hopefully this is a sign that he is finally coming around.

Your Take

What are your thoughts and comments on Miles Wood? Are you ready for Santini to make his return as a key piece for Team USA? How do you feel about Reid Boucher's return to form and do you think Stefan Matteau is close to getting some puck luck? Are you concerend about Myles Bell's slump? Leave your comments below and thank you for reading!