New Jersey Devils Prospect Update: 12/22/15

This post will recap the 12th week of Devils prospect action for the 2015-16 season. It's highlighted by John Quenneville and Mackenzie Blackwood being named to Canada's WJC team, Pavel Zacha continuing to prepare for the tournament with the Czech Republic team, Blake Speers and Connor Chatham getting the job done in the OHL, and Albany hitting a slump. 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	20.16	Flint	32	10	18	28	-2	30	10.20%	3.06	0.88
Height: 6'2	A1	Pts1	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts	NHLe
Weight: 225	12	22	7	14	21	3	3	6	0	0	0	24
				GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	SH%	SH/GP	Pts/GP
Josh Jacobs	D	19.86	Sarnia	32	1	13	14	6	22	1.33%	2.34	0.44
Height: 6'2	A1	Pts1	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts	NHLe
Weight: 200	11	12	0	10	10	1	3	4	0	0	0	12
				GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	SH%	SH/GP	Pts/GP
Pavel Zacha	C	18.72	Sarnia	23	17	13	30	6	46	20.73%	3.57	1.30
Height: 6'3	A1	Pts1	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts	NHLe
Weight: 213	8	25	10	5	15	6	8	14	1	0	1	35
				GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	SH%	SH/GP	Pts/GP
Blake Speers	RW	18.98	Sault Ste. Marie	33	11	23	34	-8	26	11.00%	3.03	1.03
Height: 5'11	A1	Pts1	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts	NHLe
Weight: 183	12	23	9	11	20	1	12	13	0	0	0	28
				GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	SH%	SH/GP	Pts/GP
Colton White	D	18.65	Sault Ste. Marie	33	4	13	17	-5	7	8.89%	1.36	0.52
Height: 6'1	A1	Pts1	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts	NHLe
Weight: 185	7	11	2	8	10	2	4	6	0	0	0	14

Name	Age	GP	GS	W	L	OTL	SOL	GAA	SV%	GA%-	GSAA	GSAA/60
Mackenzie Blackwood	19.04	24	24	16	7	0	0	2.36	0.932	72	21.15	0.92
Height: 6'4	Barrie	SO	SO%	QS	QS%	RBS	RBS%	BO	BO%	EVG%	PPG%	SHG%
Weight: 215	OHL	2	8.33%	16	66.67%	2	8.33%	1	4.17%	85.19%	12.96%	1.85%

Connor Chatham continued his productive December for Flint by adding 2 goals and 2 assists across 3 games last week. He now has 4 goals and 6 assists in 8 game this month.

Pavel Zacha has been with the Czech Republic junior team ahead of the WJC. He was held off the scoresheet in 1-0 pre-tournament loss against Canada but earned praise from the likes of Corey Pronman. According to Mark Masters, Zacha was LW on the top line with Michael Spacek and Jiri Smejkal.

Meanwhile, Josh Jacobs and Sarnia played 2 games last week. Jacobs added his 13th assist of the season in a game against Mississauga on Friday.

Blake Speers was held off the scoresheet against Barrie on Thursday but did manage to get 2 shots on goal. He had a big game the following day against Kitchener when he scored a goal and added 2 assists to maintain his point per game production. Colton White was a +3 with an assist on the week for Sault Ste. Marie and remarkably took his 1st minor penalty of the season in his 33rd game of the year.

Mackenzie Blackwood was officially named to Canada's WJC roster along with fellow Devils prospect John Quenneville. Blackwood saw his first action of Canada's pre-WJC tune up when he made 16 saves for a shutout against the Czech Republic. TSN has this interview with him where he discusses staying sharp and adjusting to international hockey.

WHL

Name	Pos.	Age	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	Pts/GP	NHLe
John Quenneville	C	19.69	Brandon	25	13	20	33	11	32	1.32	29
Height: 6'1	A1	Pts1	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts
Weight: 205	12	25	8	12	20	4	8	12	1	0	1
				GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	Pts/GP	NHLe
Ryan Rehill	D	20.13	Kamloops	31	4	12	16	3	58	0.52	11
Height: 6'3	A1	Pts1	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts
Weight: 218	6	10	2	7	9	2	3	5	0	1	1
				GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	Pts/GP	NHLe
Brandon Baddock	C	20.75	Edmonton	36	14	4	18	-12	72	0.50	11
Height: 6'4	A1	Pts1	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts
Weight: 225	2	16	8	2	10	3	2	5	2	0	2

As mentioned above, John Quenneville was named to Canada's WJC squad. He has played in 2 pre-tournament games so far and skated on a line with Anthony Beauvillier and Julien Gauthier according to Mark Masters. WJC action will begin this weekend in Helsinki, Finland.

Ryan Rehill scored a goal and went a +1 across 4 games for Kamloops last week.

Brandon Baddock and Edmonton played 3 games last week. Baddock had 2 goals and an assist and now has 6 goals after 8 games in December.

NCAA

Name	Pos.	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	SH%	SH/GP	Pts/GP	FO%	NHLe
Alex Kerfoot	C	Harvard	9	2	11	13	5	8	11.11%	2.00	1.44	43.38%	47
Height: 5'10	Age	League	A1	Pts1	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts
Weight: 175	21.38	ECAC	4	6	1	4	5	0	7	7	0	0	0
			GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	SH%	SH/GP	Pts/GP	Blks	NHLe
Steve Santini	D	Boston College	16	1	5	6	9	26	4.17%	1.50	0.38	27	10
Height: 6'2			A1	Pts1	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts
Weight: 208	20.81	Hockey East	1	2	1	3	4	0	0	0	0	1	1
			GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	SH%	SH/GP	Pts/GP	FO%	NHLe
JD Dudek	C	Boston College	15	0	1	1	-4	6	0.00%	0.73	0.07	45.45%	2
Height: 5'11			A1	Pts1	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts
Weight: 185	19.91	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	15	7	12	19	10	45	17.07%	2.73	1.27	100.00%	34
Height: 6'1			A1	Pts1	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts
Weight: 185	20.28	Hockey East	7	14	4	10	14	2	1	3	0	0	0
			GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	SH%	SH/GP	Pts/GP	FO%	NHLe
Brett Seney	C	Merrimack	11	2	8	10	4	14	11.76%	1.55	0.91	55.40%	25
Height: 5'9			A1	Pts1	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts
Weight: 170	19.82	Hockey East	6	8	2	7	9	0	1	1	0	0	0

Alex Kerfoot and Harvard are off until New Year's Day. There has been no further update on his injury status.

Boston College had the week off and will not play again until 12/28.

Brett Seney did not play in Merrimack's game against Canisius on Sunday. He has now missed 5 consecutive games with an undisclosed injury.

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	21.98	KHL	4	7	3	6	9	0	1	1	0	0	0	36

Artur Gavrus remains sidelined with a concussion that he suffered on 10/19 against Metallurg Nk.

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	27.94	RW	27	13	9	22	5	18	1	2	87	14.94%	3.22	0.81	9.46	0.35	32	3	4	7	9	5	14	1	0	1
Matt Lorito	5'9	170	25.48	LW	25	4	17	21	12	16	5	8	41	9.76%	1.64	0.84	6.76	0.27	33	2	5	7	2	12	14	0	0	0
Reid Boucher	5'10	190	22.30	LW	22	10	8	18	4	14	5	4	87	11.49%	3.95	0.82	7.57	0.34	32	5	6	11	5	2	7	0	0	0
Corey Tropp	6'2	185	26.42	RW	27	6	11	17	6	12	4	36	48	12.50%	1.78	0.63	6.22	0.23	25	4	8	12	2	3	5	0	0	0
Joseph Blandisi	6'0	200	21.44	C	19	7	9	16	5	12	1	43	23	30.43%	1.21	0.84	6.22	0.33	33	3	4	7	4	5	9	0	0	0
Marc-Andre Gragnani	6'3	210	28.80	D	21	0	13	13	3	3	-7	6	20	0.00%	0.95	0.62	3.51	0.17	24	0	3	3	0	10	10	0	0	0
Brandon Burlon	6'0	190	25.81	D	24	3	9	12	5	8	-7	17	25	12.00%	1.04	0.50	4.06	0.17	20	3	2	5	0	7	7	0	0	0
Paul Thompson	6'1	200	27.07	RW	18	6	6	12	5	11	-2	31	50	12.00%	2.78	0.67	4.87	0.27	26	4	5	9	2	1	3	0	0	0
Blake Pietila	5'11	200	22.85	LW	25	5	3	8	2	7	-2	2	36	13.89%	1.44	0.32	3.51	0.14	13	4	1	5	1	1	2	0	1	1
Vojtech Mozik	6'3	200	23.00	D	23	1	7	8	5	6	13	16	42	2.38%	1.83	0.35	2.43	0.11	14	1	5	6	0	2	2	0	0	0
Blake Coleman	5'11	200	24.08	C	14	4	3	7	2	6	5	19	26	15.38%	1.86	0.50	2.97	0.21	20	4	2	6	0	1	1	0	0	0
Jim O'Brien	6'3	195	26.91	C	13	4	3	7	2	6	-4	8	41	9.76%	3.15	0.54	2.97	0.23	21	2	2	4	1	1	2	1	0	1
Dan Kelly	6'1	215	26.61	D	24	1	5	6	2	3	2	42	20	5.00%	0.83	0.25	1.89	0.08	10	1	3	4	0	0	0	0	2	2
Ryan Kujawinski	6'2	205	20.74	C	22	2	4	6	1	3	-2	4	18	11.11%	0.82	0.27	2.16	0.10	11	2	3	5	0	1	1	0	0	0
Seth Helgeson	6'4	215	25.22	D	26	0	5	5	3	3	10	43	28	0.00%	1.08	0.19	1.35	0.05	8	0	4	4	0	1	1	0	0	0
Ben Thomson	6'3	205	22.94	LW	24	2	3	5	2	4	-6	44	45	4.44%	1.88	0.21	1.89	0.08	8	2	2	4	0	1	1	0	0	0
Rod Pelley	6'0	205	31.32	LW	27	2	1	3	0	2	-2	17	33	6.06%	1.22	0.11	1.35	0.05	4	2	1	3	0	0	0	0	0	0
Max Novak	5'11	180	24.70	RW	14	2	1	3	0	2	-1	2	24	8.33%	1.71	0.21	1.35	0.10	8	1	1	2	1	0	1	0	0	0
Reece Scarlett	6'1	180	22.74	D	16	0	3	3	2	2	-4	10	23	0.00%	1.44	0.19	0.81	0.05	7	0	2	2	0	1	1	0	0	0
Chris McKelvie	6'1	195	30.85	RW	14	0	2	2	0	0	-2	9	13	0.00%	0.93	0.14	0.54	0.04	6	0	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
Graham Black	6'0	185	22.95	C	9	0	1	1	0	0	-2	0	10	0.00%	1.11	0.11	0.27	0.03	4	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Corbin McPherson	6'4	210	27.30	D	19	0	1	1	0	0	-4	14	21	0.00%	1.11	0.05	0.27	0.01	2	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Greg Wolfe	5'10	185	25.67	C	3	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	2	50.00%	0.67	0.33	0.54	0.18	13	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Raman Hrabarenka	6'4	230	23.34	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	30.57	RW	18	0	0	0	0	0	0	42	18	0.00%	1.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Joe Faust	5'11	207	24.12	D	1	0	0	0	0	0	-1	0	0	0.00%	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Alexandre Carrier	6'3	210	24.85	RW	2	0	0	0	0	0	-1	0	3	0.00%	1.50	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	34.52	23	22	14	5	3	0	2.01	0.919	91	4.31	0.19
Height: 5'11	MIN	SO	SO%	QS	QS%	RBS	RBS%	BO	BO%	EVG%	PPG%	SHG%
Weight: 180	1340.81	4	18.18%	14	63.64%	1	4.55%	1	4.55%	80.00%	20.00%	0.00%
	Age	GP	GS	W	L	OTL	SOL	GAA	SV%	GA%-	GSAA	GSAA/60
Scott Wedgewood	23.37	3	2	1	1	0	0	2.21	0.889	125	-0.80	-0.44
Height: 6'2	MIN	SO	SO%	QS	QS%	RBS	RBS%	BO	BO%	EVG%	PPG%	SHG%
Weight: 195	108.48	0	0.00%	1	50.00%	1	50.00%	0	0.00%	50.00%	50.00%	0.00%
	Age	GP	GS	W	L	OTL	SOL	GAA	SV%	GA%-	GSAA	GSAA/60
Doug Carr	26.79	3	3	1	2	0	0	2.34	0.897	116	-0.95	-0.32
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 had a rough week, losing all 3 of their games to extend their losing streak to 4 games. Albany is currently 2nd in their division with 35 points after 27 games. Albany's all situation PDO is now at 100.68%. Albany's PP is now 2nd in the league at 23.14% and their PK is still 1st at 89.47%.

Injury Update: Blake Coleman (upper body) and Raman Hrabarenka (lower body) remain sidelined. Chris McKelvie (wrist) returned to action.

Transactions: The ADevils gained some re-reinforcements this week with Joseph Blandisi and Brian O'Neill being assigned to the club. Greg Wolfe was released from his PTO to make room.

Tuesday 12/15: Albany lost to St. John's 3-2. Rod Pelley had the Devils first goal with Reece Scarlett and Chris McKelvie picking up the assists. Corey Tropp had the other goal with Jim O'Brien earning the assist. Matt Lorito had 7 shots followed by Reid Boucher with 6 as the Devils outshot the IceCaps 46-31. Yann Danis made 28 saves. Albany went 0/4 on the PP and 4/4 on the PK. Here is the gamesheet.



Wednesday 12/16: Albany lost to St. John's 5-1. Blake Pietila had the Devils goal. Mike Sislo had 8 shots as the Devils outshot the IceCaps 46-23. Sislo briefly left the game in the 1st period with a right leg injury but was able to return. Scott Wedgewood made the start but allowed 3 goals on 6 shots in 8:29. Yann Danis finished the game by making 15 saves on 17 shots. Albany went 0/9 on the PP and 4/6 on the PK. Here is the gamesheet.



Saturday 12/19: Albany lost to Rochester 4-1. Brandon Burlon had the goal with Ryan Kujawinski and Reid Boucher earning the assists. Boucher had 7 shots as the Devils outshot the Americans 31-24. Yann Danis made the start but was pulled after the 1st period when he allowed 4 goals on 12 shots. Scott Wedgewood was perfect in relief with 12 saves. Albany went 0/2 on the PP and 3/3 on the PK. Here is the gamesheet.



Coming Up: Albany only has one game this upcoming week when they take on Providence 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	ENG	ENA	EN Pts
Joe Faust	5'11	207	24.12	D	16	1	6	7	4	5	0	10	21	4.76%	1.31	0.44	1	4	5	0	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
Ben Johnson	6'0	195	21.55	LW	6	1	3	4	3	4	-1	0	16	6.25%	2.67	0.67	1	2	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1

Name	Age	GP	GS	W	L	OTL	SOL	GAA	SV%	GA%-	GSAA	GSAA/60
Ken Appleby	20.71	17	17	10	5	1	1	2.37	0.918	98	0.74	0.04
Height: 6'4	MIN	SO	SO%	QS	QS%	RBS	RBS%	BO	BO%	EVG%	PPG%	SHG%
Weight: 205	1012.98	2	11.76%	10	58.82%	3	17.65%	1	5.88%	67.50%	30.00%	2.50%
	Age	GP	GS	W	L	OTL	SOL	GAA	SV%	GA%-	GSAA	GSAA/60
Scott Wedgewood	23.37	1	1	1	0	0	0	2.00	0.951	58	1.44	1.44
Height: 6'2	MIN	SO	SO%	QS	QS%	RBS	RBS%	BO	BO%	EVG%	PPG%	SHG%
Weight: 195	60	0	0.00%	1	100.00%	0	0.00%	0	0.00%	100.00%	0.00%	0.00%

Adirondack played 3 games last week. Joe Faust had a goal and 2 assists along with a +3 rating. Ben Johnson also had a goal and 2 assists with 10 shots over the course of the week. Ken Appleby played twice for Adirondack last week. He had his 3rd tough start in a row on Wednesday when he gave up 5 goals on 15 shots against Elmira. He rebounded on Saturday with 26 saves on 28 shots against Norfolk.

Prospect of the Week

I could easily choose Blake Speers again but I'll go with another OHL prospect instead. Connor Chatham once again had a nice week for Flint with 2 goals and 2 assists and as mentioned above has had a solid December with 4 goals and 6 assists in 8 games. He's turned his offensive game on since mid-November as he has 7 goals and 12 assists over his last 15 games. Chatham is currently 2nd on the team in assists, points, and points per game and is starting to produce the way someone his age should at this level. It will be interesting to see if he can continue this pace up in the 2nd half and if he moves teams.

ADevil of the Week

It was a bit hard to really single out someone for this week's honors given the slump Albany is currently going through. I'm going to choose Reid Boucher since he did manage an assist and 16 shots on goal after the 3 games. His goal scoring production has slowed down (9 goals in his first 14 games, 1 goal in his last 8) but he's still consistently getting his chances and is averaging a the best SH/GP rate of his AHL career right now (3.95). Hopefully he can become a bit more clinical in finishing his opportunities and can work his way back into the conversation for the big club.

WJC Schedule

Thanks to the NHL Network, viewers will be able to follow John Quenneville, Mackenzie Blackwood, and Pavel Zacha at the WJC. Here is a complete schedule of the coverage. Nothing like USA - Canada on the first matchday!

Your Take

What do you expect out of the WJC? What are your thoughts on Connor Chatham as a prospect? How do you feel about Albany's slump? Leave your comments below and thank you for reading!