New Jersey Devils Prospect Update: Week 24

The Devils had an extremely busy and important week. They played four games, and were victorious in three of them. The wins helped them solidify their place in the standings as the season winds down. The regular season wound down in juniors while some tournaments began in college hockey.

Albany Notes:

• In the first of three-in-three, the Devils fell 6-4 to the Springfield Falcons. Joe Whitney had a goal and an assist to break the franchise points record. He now has 142 points, breaking Stephen Gionta's record. The other goals were scored by Pesonen, Sestito and Tedenby while Kinkaid made 22 saves in the loss.
• On Saturday, Wedgewood earned a shutout in a 2-0 win over the Hartford Wolf Pack. Pesonen and Pelley scored while Wedgweood made 23 saves, including 16 in the third period. Here are the highlights:

• In their third game of the weekend, the Devils beat the Syracuse Crunch 3-0. Scott Wedgewood earned the shutout with 13 saves while Sislo (2) and Hrabarenka scored the goals. This was the first back-to-back shutouts for the first time in franchise history. The 13 shots were a season-low and Wedgewood faced just 36 total in both games. Here are the highlights:

• In their final game of the week, the Devils earned a comeback win over the Binghamton Senators 2-1. Wedgewood earned another start and win with 18 saves while Sislo and Boucher scored. Here are the highlights:

• With three goals last week, Mike Sislo became the leading scorer in Albany with 22 goals in his 52 games played.
• Tim Sestito was called up to New Jersey and played in the Devils 4-2 loss to Boston the other day.
• Darcy Zajac saw just his fifth and sixth game of the season last week. He was injured on October 19^th and missed 56 games due to hi injury. This is what he had to say about his time out of the lineup,

"It's been a long year for me. A lot of practicing and a lot of rehab and it just felt good to compete and be with the team, play together and contribute to a win.

"You would think that maybe I would be a little slower or a little shaky, but I think adrenaline took over. I've been busting my butt for the last four or five months. I've been skating in the morning extra with Sergei [Brylin]. It just felt good to get out there."

• Scott Wedgewood was named the CCM/AHL Player of the Week for the week ending March 16, 2014. He was perfect in his play that week posting two shutouts. His shutout streak reached 126:50. Here are some season highlights:

• The Albany Devils took over the local Dunkin' Donuts. All coffee was on the house and each customer was given two tickets to a game.

• With three straight wins, the Devils are in sixth in the Eastern Conference with 76 points. Fifth through seventh place each have 76 points while the eighth seed Providence Bruins have 75. Below that, the Hershey Bears are five points out of a playoff spot.

Other Notes:

• Graham Black had six points in the final week of the regular season giving him 97 points (34g, 63a) in 69 games, which lead the Swift Current Broncos and was a career high. Black also finished third in the OHL in points.
• Myles Bell finished the season leading the Kelowna Rockets with 77 points (42g, 35a) in 69 games. Damon Severson was third on the team (top defenseman) with 61 points (15g, 46a).
• Here is a look at the WHL Playoff Bracket:

• The Western Conference leading Kelowna Rockets are facing the Tri-City Americans and the fifth seed Swift Current Broncos will face fourth place Medicine Hat Tigers.
• Ben Johnson finished his season with the Windsor Spitfires with 53 points (28g, 25a) in 59 games. He was also voted one of the "Hardest Workers" in the WHL Western Conference by the coaches in the league.
• After being traded to the North Bay Battalion during the season, Ben Thomson still had a successful year. He had 45 points (27g, 18a) in 55 games and was voted one of the top three "Best Body Checkers" and "Most Underrated Payers" in the Eastern Conference of the WHL by the coaches. He was also honored by his teammates as "Overage Player of the Year."
• Ryan Kujawinski had 41 points (23g, 18a) in 45 games for the Kingston Frontenacs this season.
• Here are the OHL Playoff Brackets:

• The Kingston Frontenacs finished third in the Eastern Conference and will be facing the Peterborough Petes. The second seed North Bay Battalion will be facing seventh place Niagara IceDogs. The Windsor Spitfires will be facing the fourth seed London Knights in the West.
• The University of Miami Ohio won their first two games of the NCHC Tournament. Blake Coleman had one assists and seven shots. They face North Dakota this weekend.
• Blake Pietila and the Michigan Tech Huskies lost both of their games to Bowling Green last weekend. Pietila had one assist and two shots in the two games.
• Derek Rodwell helped the University of North Dakota defeat Colorado College with three assists in three games.
• Steve Santini and Boston College fell to Notre Dame in three games in the Hockey East Tournament last weekend. They move on to the NCAA Tournament next weekend.
• Anthony Brodeur and the Gatineau Olympiques (eighth seed) will be facing number nine Cape Breton in the playoffs. Brodeur finished his first QMJHL season with a 13-10-2 record with two shutouts.

Prospect of the Week:

There were a few players who had strong weeks, but the honor is going to Scott Wedgewood. He has been the backup to Keith Kinkaid all season, but really stood out and earned three consecutive starts this week. He had two straight shutouts, and only allowed one goal last night. He is surely making the goalie situation in Albany interesting as the season winds down as each game matters a lot if Albany expects to make the playoff for the first time in a long time.

Prospect Spotlight - Anthony Brodeur:

With their final pick of the 2013 NHL Entry Level Draft, the Devils decided to get sentimental. They drafted Martin Brodeur's son, Anthony with the 208^th pick. Before moving to the QMJHL this season, the 5'11" 176 lbs goalie played for Shattuck St. Mary's and had a Save Percentage of .900 or higher for all three season in the program.

This year, Brodeur has been playing as the backup with the Gatineau Olympiques posting a 2.90 GAA and .877 SVS%. It is worth noting, QMJHL goalie numbers are not normally impressive. The top GAA is 2.41 and only three goalies are below 2.75.

One of his highlights from the season was a 194:28 minute shutout streak - the third longest in QMJHL history.

Do you think it was worth drafting young Brodeur? Do you think he has any future going pro? What about Wedgewood? Do you think he could take the reigns in Albany as the season comes to a close? How to you think our junior prospects will perform in the playoffs? Please leave your comments below. Thanks for reading!