New Jersey Devils Prospect Update: 11/17/15

This post will recap the 7th week of Devils prospect action for the 2015-16 season. It's highlighted by Pavel Zacha and Blake Speers producing in the OHL, John Quenneville returning to play for Brandon, Miles Wood and Alex Kerfoot staying productive in NCAA action, and the Albany Devils continuing to earn points thanks to strong special teams play. Check out the stats and recap below!

OHL

Name	Pos.	Age	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	SH%	SH/GP	Pts/GP
Connor Chatham	RW	20.06	Flint	18	3	8	11	0	24	5.08%	3.28	0.61
Height: 6'2	A1	Pts1	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts	NHLe
Weight: 225	4	7	2	7	9	1	1	2	0	0	0	17
				GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	SH%	SH/GP	Pts/GP
Josh Jacobs	D	19.76	Sarnia	20	1	10	11	1	14	1.96%	2.55	0.55
Height: 6'2	A1	Pts1	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts	NHLe
Weight: 200	8	9	0	7	7	1	3	4	0	0	0	15
				GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	SH%	SH/GP	Pts/GP
Pavel Zacha	C	18.62	Sarnia	15	9	5	14	6	26	17.65%	3.40	0.93
Height: 6'3	A1	Pts1	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts	NHLe
Weight: 213	4	13	6	4	10	3	1	4	0	0	0	25
				GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	SH%	SH/GP	Pts/GP
Blake Speers	RW	18.88	Sault Ste. Marie	20	5	14	19	-12	16	8.06%	3.10	0.95
Height: 5'11	A1	Pts1	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts	NHLe
Weight: 183	9	14	3	7	10	2	7	9	0	0	0	26
				GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	SH%	SH/GP	Pts/GP
Colton White	D	18.55	Sault Ste. Marie	20	1	8	9	-7	5	3.70%	1.35	0.45
Height: 6'1	A1	Pts1	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts	NHLe
Weight: 185	7	8	0	4	4	1	4	5	0	0	0	12

Name	Age	GP	GS	W	L	OTL	SOL	GAA	SV%	GA%-	GSAA	GSAA/60
Mackenzie Blackwood	18.95	18	18	12	6	0	0	2.45	0.927	75	14.42	0.82
Height: 6'4	Barrie	SO	SO%	QS	QS%	RBS	RBS%	BO	BO%	EVG%	PPG%	SHG%
Weight: 215	OHL	2	11.11%	12	66.67%	2	11.11%	1	5.56%	83.72%	13.95%	2.33%

Connor Chatham played 2 games for Flint last week, adding 2 assists against Sault Ste. Marie on Saturday night to snap a 3 game point drought. Hopefully some his shots start to go in soon since his SH% is 5.08% right now.

We can all be happy with Pavel Zacha's week as he scored a goal against Flint on Friday and followed it up with a 2 goal performance on Saturday night against Guelph. He finished the week as a +2 with 8 penalty minutes and 8 shots on goal. He ended up winning 15/25 faceoffs against Flint too. Zacha's goal on Friday night was assisted by Josh Jacobs and ended up being the GWG. Speaking of Jacobs, he finished with the aforementioned assist as well as 4 shots on goal over the course of 2 games for Sarnia.

Blake Speers also had a nice week for himself. He had a monster game on Saturday night against Flint, scoring a goal and 2 assists along with 8 shots while winning 7/12 faceoffs as he earned 2nd star honors. His goal was the winner in overtime on the PP with Colton White getting the primary assist. Speers followed that performance up by adding an assist against Windsor on Sunday to extend his point streak to 5 games.

Mackenzie Blackwood made 2 starts for Barrie last week. He opened it up with a win against Saginaw on Saturday as he stopped 33 of 34 shots for his 12th Quality Start of the season. That was followed by a rare Really Bad Start the next night when he surrendered 4 goals on 13 shots in the 1st half of a game against North Bay. He's still atop multiple goaltending categories for the league.

I should also note that both Speers and Blackwood represented Team OHL against Team Russia in Owen Sound last Thursday. Speers had 2 penalty minutes while Blackwood went the distance with a 25 save shutout to earn 1st star.

WHL

Name	Pos.	Age	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	Pts/GP	NHLe
John Quenneville	C	19.60	Brandon	16	9	11	20	10	15	1.25	28
Height: 6'1	A1	Pts1	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts
Weight: 205	7	16	5	7	12	3	4	7	1	0	1
				GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	Pts/GP	NHLe
Ryan Rehill	D	20.04	Kamloops	17	1	8	9	3	46	0.53	12
Height: 6'3	A1	Pts1	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts
Weight: 218	5	6	0	4	4	1	2	3	0	1	1
				GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	Pts/GP	NHLe
Brandon Baddock	C	20.65	Edmonton	21	6	3	9	-7	40	0.43	9
Height: 6'4	A1	Pts1	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts
Weight: 225	2	8	3	2	5	1	1	2	1	0	1

John Quenneville returned from his "upper body injury" to play for the first time since 11/1 for Brandon. He managed an assist, even rating, and 2 penalty minutes over the course of 2 games.

Ryan Rehill had an assist, +1 rating, and 4 penalty minutes in 2 games for Kamloops this past week. He earned 3rd star honors against Prince George on Sunday as he continues to be a minutes eater for the Blazers. Rehill has a goal and 3 assists after 5 games of action this month.

Brandon Baddock was held off the scoresheet in 2 games for Edmonton last week. He finished with a -2 rating and 6 penalty minutes.

NCAA

Name	Pos.	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	SH%	SH/GP	Pts/GP	FO%	NHLe
Alex Kerfoot	C	Harvard	6	2	6	8	4	6	13.33%	2.50	1.33	49.50%	44
Height: 5'10	Age	League	A1	Pts1	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts
Weight: 175	21.28	ECAC	2	4	1	2	3	0	4	4	0	0	0
			GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	SH%	SH/GP	Pts/GP	Blks	NHLe
Steve Santini	D	Boston College	10	1	2	3	6	20	5.88%	1.70	0.30	18	8
Height: 6'2			A1	Pts1	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts
Weight: 208	20.71	Hockey East	1	2	1	2	3	0	0	0	0	0	0
			GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	SH%	SH/GP	Pts/GP	FO%	NHLe
JD Dudek	C	Boston College	9	0	1	1	0	6	0.00%	0.67	0.11	50.00%	3
Height: 5'11			A1	Pts1	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts
Weight: 185	19.81	Hockey East	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
			GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	SH%	SH/GP	Pts/GP	FO%	NHLe
Miles Wood	LW	Boston College	10	4	8	12	6	28	12.50%	3.20	1.20	100.00%	32
Height: 6'1			A1	Pts1	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts
Weight: 185	20.19	Hockey East	5	9	2	6	8	2	1	3	0	0	0
			GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	SH%	SH/GP	Pts/GP	FO%	NHLe
Brett Seney	C	Merrimack	10	2	7	9	4	14	12.50%	1.60	0.90	55.20%	24
Height: 5'9			A1	Pts1	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts
Weight: 170	19.73	Hockey East	5	7	2	6	8	0	1	1	0	0	0

Alex Kerfoot continued to be productive for Harvard as he extended his point streak to 3 games. He had an assist and 2 shots on Friday against Quinnipiac. He followed that up with a goal and an assist against Princeton on Saturday night. He also had 5 shots and won 16/23 faceoffs that night. After 6 games of play, he is tied for 1st on the team in assists and is 2nd in points.

Boston College had a wild 6-4 victory over Michigan State on Friday. Santini ended up a -3 with 2 shots. Miles Wood does what he does best and scored a goal and added an assist to go along with 6 shots. Wood is now 3rd on the team in points and playing a well deserved top line role. JD Dudek was a -1 with 2 penalty minutes and he won 1/2 faceoffs.

Brett Seney was held off the scoresheet and without a shot on goal against UMass on Friday night. He rebounded on Saturday night with an assist, shot on goal, and won 8/13 faceoffs. After 10 games, he is 1st on the team in assists and tied for 2nd in points.

KHL

Name	Pos.	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	SH	SH%	SH/GP	Pts/GP	FO%	ATOI
Artur Gavrus	LW	Dinamo Minsk	19	3	7	10	-1	0	41	7.32%	2.16	0.53	26.32%	16:54
Height: 5'10	Age	League	A1	Pts1	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts	NHLe
Weight: 183	21.88	KHL	4	7	3	6	9	0	1	1	0	0	0	36

Artur Gavrus is yet to return to the Dinamo line up after sustaining a concussion on 10/19 against Metallurg Nk. He hinted that he was hoping to return soon in an interview last week with the Dinamo website. According to this quote from his coach, the injury seems to be more serious than what they initially thought. It seems his timetable to return is unknown at this point.

AHL

Name	Height	Weight	Age	Pos	GP	G	A	PTS	A1	Pts1	+/-	PIM	SH	SH%	SH/GP	Pts/GP	GC	GC/GP	NHLe	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts
Mike Sislo	5'11	190	27.84	RW	14	8	5	13	2	10	-2	0	51	15.69%	3.64	0.93	5.64	0.40	37	2	1	3	5	4	9	1	0	1
Joseph Blandisi	6'0	200	21.35	C	13	6	5	11	4	10	-1	31	14	42.86%	1.08	0.85	4.56	0.35	33	2	4	6	4	1	5	0	0	0
Matt Lorito	5'9	170	25.39	LW	13	2	9	11	6	8	1	4	16	12.50%	1.23	0.85	3.49	0.27	33	0	3	3	2	6	8	0	0	0
Marc-Andre Gragnani	6'3	210	28.70	D	10	0	8	8	0	5	-7	0	6	0.00%	0.60	0.80	2.15	0.21	31	0	1	1	0	7	7	0	0	0
Corey Tropp	6'2	185	26.33	RW	14	3	5	8	3	6	4	23	23	13.04%	1.64	0.57	2.95	0.21	22	2	3	5	1	2	3	0	0	0
Reid Boucher	5'10	190	22.20	LW	9	6	2	8	2	8	3	4	30	20.00%	3.33	0.89	3.76	0.42	35	3	0	3	3	2	5	0	0	0
Blake Pietila	5'11	200	22.75	LW	14	4	3	7	2	6	0	0	21	19.05%	1.50	0.50	2.95	0.21	20	3	1	4	1	1	2	0	1	1
Vojtech Mozik	6'3	200	22.90	D	11	1	6	7	3	4	9	8	21	4.76%	1.91	0.64	2.15	0.20	25	1	4	5	0	2	2	0	0	0
Brandon Burlon	6'0	190	25.72	D	11	0	5	5	2	2	-2	7	9	0.00%	0.82	0.45	1.34	0.12	18	0	1	1	0	4	4	0	0	0
Dan Kelly	6'1	215	26.52	D	12	0	5	5	2	2	4	23	3	0.00%	0.25	0.42	1.34	0.11	16	0	3	3	0	0	0	0	2	2
Blake Coleman	5'11	200	23.98	C	10	2	2	4	1	3	2	14	17	11.76%	1.70	0.40	1.61	0.16	16	2	1	3	0	1	1	0	0	0
Jim O'Brien	6'3	195	26.81	C	8	2	2	4	1	3	-3	4	31	6.45%	3.88	0.50	1.61	0.20	20	0	1	1	1	1	2	1	0	1
Seth Helgeson	6'4	215	25.12	D	14	0	3	3	2	2	4	29	14	0.00%	1.00	0.21	0.81	0.06	8	0	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	0
Paul Thompson	6'1	200	26.98	RW	8	2	1	3	1	3	-1	4	20	10.00%	2.50	0.38	1.34	0.17	15	2	1	3	0	0	0	0	0	0
Ben Thomson	6'3	205	22.85	LW	11	2	1	3	1	3	-2	15	17	11.76%	1.55	0.27	1.34	0.12	11	2	1	3	0	0	0	0	0	0
Ryan Kujawinski	6'2	205	20.65	C	10	2	0	2	0	2	-2	2	5	40.00%	0.50	0.20	1.07	0.11	8	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
Reece Scarlett	6'1	180	22.64	D	11	0	2	2	1	1	-4	6	10	0.00%	0.91	0.18	0.54	0.05	7	0	1	1	0	1	1	0	0	0
Rod Pelley	6'0	205	31.23	LW	14	0	1	1	0	0	0	13	14	0.00%	1.00	0.07	0.27	0.02	3	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Max Novak	5'11	180	24.61	RW	6	0	1	1	0	0	-1	0	12	0.00%	2.00	0.17	0.27	0.04	7	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Chris McKelvie	6'1	195	30.75	RW	11	0	1	1	0	0	-2	9	10	0.00%	0.91	0.09	0.27	0.02	4	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Graham Black	6'0	185	22.85	C	5	0	1	1	0	0	-2	0	5	0.00%	1.00	0.20	0.27	0.05	8	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Corbin McPherson	6'4	210	27.21	D	7	0	1	1	0	0	-2	4	9	0.00%	1.29	0.14	0.27	0.04	6	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Raman Hrabarenka	6'4	230	23.24	D	8	0	0	0	0	0	-2	20	9	0.00%	1.13	0.00	0.00	0.00	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond	6'1	210	30.47	RW	8	0	0	0	0	0	1	13	8	0.00%	1.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Name	Age	GP	GS	W	L	OTL	SOL	GAA	SV%	GA%-	GSAA	GSAA/60
Yann Danis	34.43	11	11	7	1	3	0	1.97	0.926	82	4.82	0.43
Height: 5'11	MIN	SO	SO%	QS	QS%	RBS	RBS%	BO	BO%	EVG%	PPG%	SHG%
Weight: 180	668.43	1	9.09%	8	72.73%	0	0.00%	1	9.09%	77.27%	22.73%	0.00%
	Age	GP	GS	W	L	OTL	SOL	GAA	SV%	GA%-	GSAA	GSAA/60
Scott Wedgewood	23.27	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	0	0	0	0
Height: 6'2	MIN	SO	SO%	QS	QS%	RBS	RBS%	BO	BO%	EVG%	PPG%	SHG%
Weight: 195	0	0	0.00%	0	0.00%	0	0.00%	0	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
	Age	GP	GS	W	L	OTL	SOL	GAA	SV%	GA%-	GSAA	GSAA/60
Doug Carr	26.70	3	3	1	2	0	0	2.34	0.897	114	-0.88	-0.29
Height: 6'2	MIN	SO	SO%	QS	QS%	RBS	RBS%	BO	BO%	EVG%	PPG%	SHG%
Weight: 200	179.75	0	0.00%	1	33.33%	0	0.00%	0	0.00%	100.00%	0.00%	0.00%

Albany earned at least a point in all 3 of their games this past weekend. They now have a 7 game streak where they have earned at least a point which is a big reason they are 2nd in their division right now with 19 points from 14 games. According to CHL Stats, they have the 2nd best Estimated Fenwick Close at 54.858% and a PDO of 102.493%. Albany currently has the 3rd ranked PP at 24.64% and 2nd ranked PK at 90.91%.

Injury Update: Paul Thompson returned from his upper body injury. Marc-Andre Gragnani (upper body), Jim O'Brien (ankle), and Scott Wedgewood (ankle) were sidelined.

Transactions: Albany recalled D Joe Faust from Adirondack (ECHL) on 11/14. C Blake Coleman was suspended for Albany's first game of the weekend due to an illegal check to the head from last week's action.

Friday 11/13: Albany defeated Providence 4-2. Reid Boucher had 2 goals while Joseph Blandisi and Blake Pietila had the other goals. Vojtech Mozik had 3 assists followed by Brandon Burlon with 2 as well as Helgeson, Pietila, and Tropp with 1 each. Boucher lead the way with 3 shots as the Devils were outshot 23-15. Danis made 21 saves on 23 shots. Albany went 2/4 on the PP and 5/6 on the PK. Here is the gamesheet.



Line Up:
Lorito-Blandisi-Sislo
Boucher-Pietila-Tropp
McKelvie-Kujawinski-Thompson
Thomson-Pelley-Leblond

Helgeson-Mozik
Hrabarenka-Kelly
Burlon-Scarlett

Saturday 11/14: Albany defeated Lehigh Valley 2-1 in overtime. Mike Sislo had the Devils first goal on the PP with Matt Lorito and Blake Coleman picking up the assists. Joseph Blandisi scored the game winning goal with Corey Tropp getting the assist. Reid Boucher had 5 shots as the Devils outshot the Phantoms 29-22. Doug Carr picked up his first ADevils win with 21 saves on 22 shots. Albany went 1/3 on the PP and 4/4 on the PK. Here is the gamesheet.



Sunday 11/15: Albany lost to Springfield 2-1 in overtime. Paul Thompson had the Devils goal with Vojtech Mozik and Dan Kelly picking up the assists. Thompson also led the Devils with 4 shots as they were outshot 37-34. Danis made 35 saves on 37 shots. Albany went 0/3 on the PP and 5/5 on the PK. Here is the gamesheet.



Strong Special Teams: As I mentioned above, Albany currently has the 3rd most successful PP and 2nd most successful PK. Albany's PP has only gone 3 out of their 14 games without a goal. They have 4 games of 2+ PPG's. Their due for some regression but it's certainly an encouraging sign to start the season.

Also Riding the Percentages: Joseph Blandisi is off to an awesome start to his professional career with 6 goals and 5 assists after 13 games. He is only generating 1.08 shots per game and has a crazy 42.86 SH% which obviously won't last. He is a center that has shown playmaking ability at every level so I don't want to get on him too much for a low shots per game number since we don't know just how much he is setting up per game with his passing ability. You can also add in Blake Pietila who is surprisingly a 0.50 Pts/GP player right now, but has a 19.05 SH% to help boost his numbers.

Ben Johnson Update: Here is the latest from Tom Gulitti:

Ontario court Justice Micheline Rawlins ruled today that Devils' prospect Ben Johnson was not guilty of sexual assault in a Jan. 13, 2013 alleged incident in the washroom of a Windsor, Ontario bar.

Johnson, 21, still has to face second charge of sexual assault from an March 17, 2013 alleged incident involving a 16-year-old female that took place in a different Windsor bar. That trial will not begin hearing evidence until 2016.

In the meantime, Johnson will remain away from the Devils' organization until that case has been settled.

Coming Up: Albany takes on Springfield on Friday night and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Saturday night.

ECHL

Name	Height	Weight	Age	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
Joe Faust	5'11	207	24.02	D	10	0	4	4	3	3	-1	6	12	0.00%	1.20	0.40	0	2	2	0	2	2	0	0	0

Name	Age	GP	GS	W	L	OTL	SOL	GAA	SV%	GA%-	GSAA	GSAA/60
Ken Appleby	20.62	9	9	7	2	0	0	1.89	0.934	78	4.93	0.55
Height: 6'4	MIN	SO	SO%	QS	QS%	RBS	RBS%	BO	BO%	EVG%	PPG%	SHG%
Weight: 205	540.8	1	11.11%	6	66.67%	1	11.11%	1	11.11%	58.82%	35.29%	5.88%

Due to his call-up to Albany, Joe Faust only appeared once for Adirondack. He made it count by adding an assist against Atlanta on Friday night.  Ken Appleby made 22 saves on 23 shots in that game against Atlanta for his 6th Quality Start of the season. He stopped 21 of 24 shots the next  night against Greenville but picked up the loss. Still, I am really encouraged about the way he's started off his professional career.

Prospect of the Week

With a goal, 3 assists, and 10 shots over the course of 2 games, Blake Speers is the prospect of the week. After a bit of a slow start production wise, it seems that his points are now coming as he has a 5 game point streak with 2 goals and 7 assists during that time. He currently leads Sault Ste. Marie in assists and points. He's averaging a solid 3.10 shots per game and has a 56.16% FO%. I also find it encouraging that he's been able to produce at both even strength and on the power play this season. I'm really looking forward to his continued progression this season.

ADevil of the Week

One of the newest ADevils, Vojtech Mozik, picks up this week's honors. Mozik started off his week with 3 assists against Providence on Friday night. He added another assist against Springfield on Sunday. He's off to a nice start in North America after missing time due to a knee injury with a goal and 6 assists while averaging nearly 2 shots per game. It seems that he's already passed Raman Hrabarenka on the depth chart for RD that can contribute on the PP. It will be interesting to see how he performs as the season goes on considering he's still a rookie and is coming off that knee injury.

Your Take

Which prospects stand out to you from last week's action? What are your expectations for Blake Speers? What are your thoughts on Albany's solid start to the season? Leave your comments below and thank you for reading!