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New Jersey Devils Prospect Update: 1/20/15

Week 16 of the 2014-15 prospect update saw the Devils sign OHL player, Joseph Blandisi, the Devils other OHL prospects continue to produce, Blake Pietila break out for Michigan Tech, and Stefan Matteau get hot for the Albany Devils.

The newest Devils prospect, Joseph Blandisi, battles a potential Devils 2015 draft pick, Mitchell Marner.
The newest Devils prospect, Joseph Blandisi, battles a potential Devils 2015 draft pick, Mitchell Marner.
Claus Andersen/Getty Images

This post will recap the sixteenth week of Devils prospect action for the 2014-15 season. It's highlighted by the Devils adding a new forward prospect to their pool in Joseph Blandisi, Ryan Kujawinski and Connor Chatham continue to produce in the OHL, Blake Pietila step up for Michigan Tech, and Stefan Matteau's offensive surge for the Albany Devils. 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/North Bay OHL 33 18 12 30 13 24 0.91
Height: 6'2 A1 Pts1 EVG EVA EV Pts PPG PPA PP Pts SHG SHA SH Pts
Weight: 207 5 23 13 5 18 4 6 10 0 1 1
GP G A Pts +/- PIM Pts/GP
Connor Chatham RW 19 Plymouth OHL 30 9 15 24 0 34 0.80
Height: 6'2 A1 Pts1 EVG EVA EV Pts PPG PPA PP Pts SHG SHA SH Pts
Weight: 225 11 20 7 12 19 2 3 5 0 0 0
GP G A Pts +/- PIM Pts/GP
Joseph Blandisi C 20 Barrie OHL 42 30 41 71 13 74 1.69
Height: 6'0 A1 Pts1 EVG EVA EV Pts PPG PPA PP Pts SHG SHA SH Pts
Weight: 192 24 54 12 17 29 7 22 29 7 2 9
GP G A Pts +/- PIM Pts/GP
John Quenneville C 18 Brandon WHL 38 15 16 31 6 45 0.82
Height: 6'1 A1 Pts1 EVG EVA EV Pts PPG PPA PP Pts SHG SHA SH Pts
Weight: 205 9 24 6 10 16 7 4 11 0 2 2
GP G A Pts +/- PIM Pts/GP
Ryan Rehill D 19 Kamloops WHL 43 5 9 14 -11 98 0.33
Height: 6'3 A1 Pts1 EVG EVA EV Pts PPG PPA PP Pts SHG SHA SH Pts
Weight: 225 4 9 5 8 13 0 1 1 0 0 0
GP G A Pts +/- PIM Pts/GP
Brandon Baddock LW 19 Edmonton WHL 45 12 15 27 -4 86 0.60
Height: 6'4 A1 Pts1 EVG EVA EV Pts PPG PPA PP Pts SHG SHA SH Pts
Weight: 215 8 20 5 11 16 5 2 7 0 1 1

Name Age (as of 2/1) GP GS W L OTL SOL MIN GAA SV% GA%- GSAA
Anthony Brodeur 20 21 17 6 4 0 4 968:54 3.72 0.885 111 -5.71
Height: 5'11 Gatineau/Drummondville SO SO% QS QS% RBS RBS% BO BO% EVG% PPG% SHG%
Weight: 194 QMJHL 0 0.00% 6 35.29% 5 29.41% 3 17.65% 66.67% 30.00% 3.33%

Ryan Kujawinski added two goals and an assist for North Bay over three games. He now has five goals and two assists in six games with the Battalion. Connor Chatham was on the scoresheet in all three games for Plymouth last week as he added a goal and two assists. He has three goals and eight assists over his last ten games.

Joseph Blandisi had an assist over three games in his first week as a Devils prospect. He is currently fourth in the OHL in points and goals. More on him in just a bit.

John Quenneville had a goal and an assist over three games for Brandon. He has just two goals and an assist over his last ten games or two goals and an assist over his last four games depending on what arbitrary end points you want to use. Brandon Baddock notched an assist and six penalty minutes over three games for the Oil Kings. Ryan Rehill played twice last week for Kamloops and had a goal and an assist against Portland.

Anthony Brodeur started for Drummondville on Thursday and made 53 saves on 55 shots as well as stopping 3/5 shootout attempts but still picked up the loss. He also saw some action on Saturday as he played a period in relief and made 8 saves on 10 shots.

The New Guy

Gerard profiled Blandisi a few days ago here. I wanted to take a look at some of Blandisi's numbers like his NHL Equivalency, his extended stats, and how he compares to former Devils OHL prospects. This season he has an NHLe of 36.04 and last year he had a 22.68. These both seem awfully high in my opinion but they're fun to look at.

Year Age GP G A Pts PPG aaPPG TmPt% TmGl% ESGF% rel ESGF% eTOI eP/60
2014-15 20.164 41 29 40 69 1.68 0.61 40.35% 16.96% 54.00% 0.00% 32.31 3.13
2013-14 19.165 47 24 26 50 1.06 0.60 18.80% 9.02% 40.00% -13.00% 22.92 2.78

Thanks to CHL Stats we have more numbers to chew on. His age adjusted points per game rate is nearly identical from his age 19 year to this year. As expected he is seeing a jump in offensive contribution to his team with a higher team point percentage and team goal percentage as well as more estimated ice time and estimated points per 60.

I also wanted to take a quick look at how his points per game rates compared to former Devils OHL prospects. Yes, there is a lot more than this when evaluating a player but I like to use it as a general baseline since players that score in juniors are more likely to succeed in professional hockey. I've separated the groups into two, the first featuring free agents signed out of the OHL in recent years and then drafted players from the OHL with the exception of the last few draft classes.

16 17 18 19 20
Joseph Blandisi 0.46 0.81 1.06 1.69
Michael Swift 0.44 0.48 0.83 1.39 1.47
Brad Snetsinger 0.38 0.24 0.73 0.98 1.31
David Clarkson 0.41 0.49 0.71 1.06

Naturally, players that come out of juniors as free agents usually are long shots to have an impact at the NHL level. You are much likely to end up with a Swift or Snetsinger than a Clarkson. Looking at this group we see that Blandisi had favorable points per game rates at pretty much every age.

16 17 18 19 20
Joseph Blandisi 0.46 0.81 1.06 1.69
Nick Palmieri 0.34 0.80 0.92 0.67
Matt Halischuk 0.20 0.51 0.99 1.48
Adam Henrique 0.71 0.67 1.13 1.43
Kory Nagy 0.06 0.08 0.30 0.87
Reid Boucher 0.75 1.40

Going from their age 17 seasons on, Blandisi pretty much trailed everyone except Kory Nagy. It will be interesting to see if Blandisi can become more than just an AHL player and carve out a bottom 6 role in the NHL one day. The odds are against him but I still love this signing for the Devils since it gives them depth with some potential upside if they get lucky.

NCAA

Name Pos. Team GP G A Pts +/- PIM SH SH% SH/GP Pts/GP FO%
Blake Coleman C Miami 20 9 9 18 14 55 70 12.86% 3.50 0.90 65.70%
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 4 13 5 7 12 3 1 4 1 0 1
GP G A Pts +/- PIM SH SH% SH/GP Pts/GP FO%
Blake Pietila C Michigan Tech 24 8 8 16 2 44 53 15.09% 2.21 0.67 60.94%
Height: 5'11 A1 Pts1 EVG EVA EV Pts PPG PPA PP Pts SHG SHA SH Pts
Weight: 200 21 NCAA 6 14 5 1 6 2 6 8 0 1 1
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 Blk
Steve Santini D Boston College 7 1 1 2 2 8 11 9.09% 1.57 0.29 11
Height: 6'2 A1 Pts1 EVG EVA EV Pts PPG PPA PP Pts SHG SHA SH Pts
Weight: 208 19 NCAA 1 2 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0
GP G A Pts +/- PIM SH SH% SH/GP Pts/GP Blk
Joshua Jacobs D Michigan State 20 0 4 4 -9 14 33 0.00% 1.65 0.20 38
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 Pietila broke out this weekend for Michigan Tech with two goals and an assist in two games against Bowling Green. He is still sporting a strong 60.94% FO% on the year.

Steve Santini went +1 with two shots against Boston University to start the weekend. He finished the weekend off going -1 with two shots against Maine. Joshua Jacobs, the Devils other college defenseman, was a combined -2 with three shots and twelve blocks in two games against Penn State. He played quite a bit and in all situations from what I could gather watching Saturday's game.

Blake Coleman and Miami had the weekend off. Alexander Kerfoot remains out of Harvard's line up with an "upper body" injury.

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 30 5 4 9 -3 56 64 7.81% 2.13 0.30
Height: 5'11 A1 Pts1 EVG EVA EV Pts PPG PPA PP Pts SHG SHA SH Pts
Weight: 185 19 USHL 1 6 4 4 8 0 0 0 0 0 0
GP G A Pts +/- PIM SH SH% SH/GP Pts/GP
Miles Wood LW Noble & Greenough 7 5 10 15 2.14
Height: 6'1 19 GP G A Pts +/- PIM SH SH% SH/GP Pts/GP
Weight: 165 USA 5 0 0 0 1 6 6 0.00% 1.20 0.00

Artur Gavrus was out with some sort of injury and last featured in KHL action on 12/14. According to this roughly translated report, he was sent down to Dinamo-Molodechno of the Belarusian Extraliga last week. According to another rough translation on the club's website, he had four assists with a +2 rating in two games for the club before being called up again by Dinamo Minsk. It was probably a conditioning stint.

Joey Dudek was a -2 with four shots over two games for Dubuque against the USNTDP U18 squad. Miles Wood continued to dominate his league as expected.

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 35 14 19 33 10 24 3 24 91 15.38% 2.60 0.94 8 9 17 6 10 16 0 0 0 0 0 0
Paul Thompson 6'1 205 26 RW 38 19 14 33 12 31 13 53 137 13.87% 3.61 0.87 12 9 21 5 4 9 1 1 2 1 0 1
Reid Boucher 5'10 190 21 LW 36 11 10 21 5 16 -3 24 96 11.46% 2.67 0.58 5 3 8 6 6 12 0 0 0 0 1 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
Brandon Burlon 6'0 190 24 D 38 3 13 16 8 11 4 58 51 5.88% 1.34 0.42 2 4 6 1 9 10 0 0 0 0 0 0
Mike Sislo 5'11 195 27 RW 29 8 8 16 5 13 4 11 70 11.43% 2.41 0.55 2 4 6 4 4 8 1 0 1 1 0 1
Stefan Matteau 6'2 220 20 LW 35 4 11 15 7 11 7 25 64 6.25% 1.83 0.43 2 6 8 2 5 7 0 0 0 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 27 6 7 13 5 11 0 10 57 10.53% 2.11 0.48 4 5 9 1 1 2 0 0 0 1 1 2
Reece Scarlett 6'1 185 21 D 23 1 12 13 8 9 1 4 37 2.70% 1.61 0.57 1 5 6 0 7 7 0 0 0 0 0 0
Graham Black 6'0 190 22 C 28 7 5 12 3 10 7 12 56 12.50% 2.00 0.43 3 3 6 4 2 6 0 0 0 0 0 0
Darcy Zajac 6'1 205 28 RW 39 4 6 10 4 8 -8 70 64 6.25% 1.64 0.26 2 6 8 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0
Ben Thomson 6'3 215 22 LW 37 4 5 9 4 8 -3 57 46 8.70% 1.24 0.24 4 4 8 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Dan Kelly 6'1 210 25 D 29 1 8 9 4 5 2 73 26 3.85% 0.90 0.31 1 7 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
Rod Pelley 6'0 205 30 C 36 4 2 6 1 5 -4 30 44 9.09% 1.22 0.17 3 2 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1
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
Corbin McPherson 6'5 220 26 D 40 1 4 5 2 3 -3 50 35 2.86% 0.88 0.13 1 4 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
David Wohlberg 6'1 200 24 LW 24 3 2 5 1 4 1 10 20 15.00% 0.83 0.21 3 1 4 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Mark Fraser 6'4 220 28 D 18 1 2 3 1 2 -1 45 19 5.26% 1.06 0.17 1 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Eric Baier 6'2 210 26 D 12 1 2 3 2 3 -3 4 19 5.26% 1.58 0.25 1 1 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Chris McKelvie 6'1 195 29 LW 26 2 1 3 0 2 -11 44 32 6.25% 1.23 0.12 2 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Kelly Zajac 5'10 180 26 C 11 0 3 3 2 2 -4 10 8 0.00% 0.73 0.27 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0
Joe Faust 6'0 205 23 D 21 0 3 3 1 1 -3 14 20 0.00% 0.95 0.00 0 3 3 0 0 0 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
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
Ben Johnson 6'0 195 20 LW 17 1 1 2 1 2 -2 4 13 7.69% 0.76 0.12 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0
Cam Janssen 6'0 210 30 RW 18 1 1 2 0 1 -2 23 11 9.09% 0.61 0.11 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Seth Helgeson 6'5 215 24 D 15 0 2 2 1 1 1 27 12 0.00% 0.80 0.13 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Mike Keenan 6'0 190 25 D 12 0 1 1 1 1 -1 11 13 0.00% 1.08 0.08 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Alexandre Carrier 6'3 210 23 RW 8 0 0 0 0 0 -1 10 5 0.00% 0.63 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 2.82
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 20 18 1094 6 8 2 2 3.02 0.893 126 -11.31
Height: 6'2 SO SO% QS QS% RBS RBS% BO BO% EVG% PPG% SHG%
Weight: 190 0 0.00% 9 50.00% 4 22.22% 1 5.56% 69.09% 30.91% 0.00%
GP GS Min W L OTL SOL GAA SV% GA%- GSAA
Scott Clemmensen 37 9 8 515 3 4 0 1 2.45 0.912 103 -0.69
Height: 6'2 SO SO% QS QS% RBS RBS% BO BO% EVG% PPG% SHG%
Weight: 200 1 12.50% 4 50.00% 2 25.00% 0 0.00% 52.38% 47.62% 0.00%
GP GS Min W L OTL SOL GAA SV% GA%- GSAA
Maxime Clermont 23 2 2 120 2 0 0 0 2.50 0.912 103 -0.16
Height: 6'0 SO SO% QS QS% RBS RBS% BO BO% EVG% PPG% SHG%
Weight: 200 0 0.00% 1 50.00% 0 0.00% 1 50.00% 60.00% 40.00% 0.00%

With two wins and an overtime loss this past week, Albany moved up to 8th in the Eastern Conference with 44 points from 40 games. A strong week on the PP brought their success rate up to 18.18% on the season while the PK% is 80.33%. Albany has a 99.89% PDO on the season.

Transactions: Right after last week's update was posted, Seth Helgeson was sent down by New Jersey with Joe Whitney going the other way. The Devils also signed Eric Baier to an AHL deal.

Injury Update: Raman Hrabarenka (fractured cheek bone), Scott Timmins (leg injury), and Graham Black (undisclosed) all missed last week's action.

Wednesday 1/14: Albany defeated Springfield 2-1 in overtime. Paul Thompson tied the game with under a minute to go in regulation with Joe Faust and Reece Scarlett picking up the assists. Dan Kelly won the game for the Devils with Stefan Matteau and Darcy Zajac getting the assists. Stefan Matteau had 6 shots while Reid Boucher added 4 of his own as the Devils were outshot 30-27. Scott Wedgewood made 29 saves on 30 shots. Albany went 0/3 on the PP and 3/3 on the PK. Here is the gamesheet and highlights:

Line Up (via ADevils twitter):

Thompson-K. Zajac-Boucher

Sislo-D. Zajac-Thomson

McKelvie-Wohlberg-Matteau

Janssen-Pelley-Johnson

Helgeson-Scarlett

McPherson-Burlon

Kelly-Faust

Friday 1/16: Albany defeated Lehigh Valley 3-2. Stefan Matteau had a goal and an assist to go along with 5 shots to lead the offensive charge. Rod Pelley and Paul Thompson had the other ADevils goals with Dan Kelly, Reece Scarlett, Scott Clemmensen, David Wohlberg, and Seth Helgeson picking up assists. Paul Thompson and Reid Boucher each had 6 shots as the Devils outshot the Phantoms 36-34. Scott Clemmensen made 32 saves on 34 shots. Albany went 2/10 on the PP and 7/7 on the PK. Here is the gamesheet and highlights:

Saturday 1/17: Albany lost to Hershey 5-4 in overtime. Reece Scarlett led the Devils with a goal and two assists followed by Stefan Matteau with a goal and an assist. Reid Boucher and Darcy Zajac had the other Devils goals. Brandon Burlon, Mike Sislo, and Ben Thomson picked up an assist each. Paul Thompson had 7 shots followed by Reid Boucher with 5 as the Devils and Bears each had 29 shots. Scott Wedgewood made 24 saves on 29 shots. Albany went 3/5 on the PP and 4/7 on the PK. Here is the gamesheet and highlights:

Taking Advantage of an Opportunity: With Raman Hrabarenka out of the line up, Reece Scarlett has stepped up to provide some offense from the blue line. He is currently on a three game scoring streak with a goal and four assists during that time.

Coming Up: Albany will take on Bridgeport tomorrow and Worcester on both Friday and Saturday.

ADevils Coming to Newark: Albany will take on Bridgeport at The Rock tomorrow at 7:30 PM.

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 24 8 7 15 3 11 -8 9 73 10.96% 3.04 0.63 7 2 9 1 5 6 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
Eric Baier 6'2 210 26 D 17 4 5 9 3 7 7 11 38 10.53% 2.24 0.53 3 3 6 0 2 2 1 0 1 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 0.873 148 -10.41
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%

Myles Bell, Alexandre Carrier, and Maxime Clermont are still with Albany. The Devils did sign Eric Baier to an AHL deal last week and reassigned him to Orlando where he had an assist in his only game of the week.

Prospect of the Week

I'll give this week's honors to Blake Pietila as he snapped a four game goal scoring drought with two goals against Bowling Green. He also had an assist in the previous game. He now is fourth on Michigan Tech in scoring is 11th in the country in FO% at 60.94%.

ADevil of the Week

Stefan Matteau picks up this week's honors as he had two goals and three assists to go along with twelve shots over three games last week. His SH% is starting to regress back to something normal. According to Quant Hockey, his .429 points per game is above the AHL median which is a positive sign given how slow he started out the year. He still has time on his at age 20 and I'm interested in seeing how he does in the second half of the year.

Prospects on TV

-- Michigan State (Joshua Jacobs) will take on Ohio State on the Big Ten Network at 7 PM ET on Saturday 1/24.

-- For you draft fans out there, the CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game will be broadcast on the NHL Network at 7 PM ET on Thursday 1/22.

Your Take

What type of professional player do you think Blandisi will end up being? Are you satisfied with the Devils other OHL prospects at the moment? Did you catch Jacobs on ESPNU last weekend and if so do you have any thoughts on him? What type of second half do you think Matteau will have? Leave your comments below and thank you for reading!