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New Jersey Devils Prospect Update: 2/17/15

Week 20 of the 2014-15 prospect update saw Joseph Blandisi continue to dominate, Blake Pietila and Alexander Kerfoot producing in college, Joshua Jacobs continue to impress as a freshman defenseman for Michigan State, and the Albany Devils struggle to find points.

Mike Sislo had 3 goals for the Albany Devils over the weekend.
Mike Sislo had 3 goals for the Albany Devils over the weekend.
Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

This post will recap the 20th week of Devils prospect action for the 2014-15 season. It's highlighted by Joseph Blandisi continuing to dominate in the OHL, Blake Pietila and Alexander Kerfoot staying productive in college, Joshua Jacobs impressing as a freshman defenseman for Michigan State, and the Albany Devils struggle to get out of a losing streak. 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 46 23 18 41 16 28 0.89
Height: 6'2 A1 Pts1 EVG EVA EV Pts PPG PPA PP Pts SHG SHA SH Pts
Weight: 207 7 30 17 11 28 5 6 11 0 1 1
GP G A Pts +/- PIM Pts/GP
Connor Chatham RW 19 Plymouth OHL 41 15 19 34 -1 40 0.83
Height: 6'2 A1 Pts1 EVG EVA EV Pts PPG PPA PP Pts SHG SHA SH Pts
Weight: 225 14 29 10 15 25 5 4 9 0 0 0
GP G A Pts +/- PIM Pts/GP
Joseph Blandisi C 20 Barrie OHL 54 40 49 89 11 96 1.65
Height: 6'0 A1 Pts1 EVG EVA EV Pts PPG PPA PP Pts SHG SHA SH Pts
Weight: 192 27 67 16 20 36 10 27 37 8 2 10
GP G A Pts +/- PIM Pts/GP
John Quenneville C 18 Brandon WHL 45 16 21 37 4 47 0.82
Height: 6'1 A1 Pts1 EVG EVA EV Pts PPG PPA PP Pts SHG SHA SH Pts
Weight: 205 12 28 7 14 21 7 5 12 0 2 2
GP G A Pts +/- PIM Pts/GP
Ryan Rehill D 19 Kamloops WHL 54 6 10 16 -13 109 0.30
Height: 6'3 A1 Pts1 EVG EVA EV Pts PPG PPA PP Pts SHG SHA SH Pts
Weight: 225 4 10 6 9 15 0 1 1 0 0 0
GP G A Pts +/- PIM Pts/GP
Brandon Baddock LW 19 Edmonton WHL 57 14 17 31 -11 111 0.54
Height: 6'4 A1 Pts1 EVG EVA EV Pts PPG PPA PP Pts SHG SHA SH Pts
Weight: 215 9 23 6 11 17 6 4 10 0 1 1

Name Age (as of 2/1) GP GS W L OTL SOL MIN GAA SV% GA%- GSAA
Anthony Brodeur 20 25 20 7 6 0 4 1188:37 3.63 0.883 111 -7.42
Height: 5'11 Gatineau/Drummondville SO SO% QS QS% RBS RBS% BO BO% EVG% PPG% SHG%
Weight: 194 QMJHL 1 5.00% 7 35.00% 6 30.00% 3 15.00% 66.67% 30.56% 2.78%

Ryan Kujawinski had 2 goals and an assist over 4 games for North Bay. He now has 18 points in 19 games since being traded to North Bay. Connor Chatham had 3 goals and an assist over 3 games for Plymouth. He was held off the scoresheet on Saturday which snapped a 6 game scoring streak, in which he had 5 goals and 4 assists during that time. He is currently 4th on Plymouth in scoring and 3rd in points per game. Joseph Blandisi had another strong week for Barrie. First, he had a hat trick against Owen Sound on Wednesday. He followed that up by picking up 2 assists against Plymouth on Friday and then adding a goal and 2 assists against Saginaw the following night.

John Quenneville returned to action after suffering a suspected concussion on 1/31. He had 2 assists over 3 games for Brandon. Ryan Rehill had an assist over 2 games for Kamloops. The assist broke an 8 game scoring drought and was his first assist in 11 games. Brandon Baddock had a goal and an assist in his second game of the week for Edmonton. That broke a 4 game scoring drought. He has just 2 goals and 3 assists over his last 16 games.

Anthony Brodeur returned from a shoulder injury and made 8 saves on 11 shots in 40 minutes of relief on Sunday against Chicoutimi.

NCAA

Name Pos. Team GP G A Pts +/- PIM SH SH% SH/GP Pts/GP FO%
Blake Coleman C Miami 26 10 12 22 14 63 91 10.99% 3.50 0.85 63.94%
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 6 16 5 9 14 3 2 5 1 0 1
GP G A Pts +/- PIM SH SH% SH/GP Pts/GP FO%
Blake Pietila C Michigan Tech 32 11 15 26 5 50 73 15.07% 2.28 0.81 59.77%
Height: 5'11 A1 Pts1 EVG EVA EV Pts PPG PPA PP Pts SHG SHA SH Pts
Weight: 200 21 NCAA 9 20 6 3 9 4 11 15 0 1 1
GP G A Pts +/- PIM SH SH% SH/GP Pts/GP FO%
Alex Kerfoot C Harvard 15 6 13 19 14 6 30 20.00% 2.00 1.27 46.72%
Height: 5'10 A1 Pts1 EVG EVA EV Pts PPG PPA PP Pts SHG SHA SH Pts
Weight: 175 20 NCAA 7 13 4 8 12 1 3 4 0 1 1
GP G A Pts +/- PIM SH SH% SH/GP Pts/GP Blk
Steve Santini D Boston College 14 1 3 4 3 16 22 4.55% 1.57 0.29 24
Height: 6'2 A1 Pts1 EVG EVA EV Pts PPG PPA PP Pts SHG SHA SH Pts
Weight: 208 19 NCAA 2 3 1 3 4 0 0 0 0 0 0
GP G A Pts +/- PIM SH SH% SH/GP Pts/GP Blk
Joshua Jacobs D Michigan State 26 0 6 6 -9 20 44 0.00% 1.69 0.23 50
Height: 6'2 A1 Pts1 EVG EVA EV Pts PPG PPA PP Pts SHG SHA SH Pts
Weight: 191 18 NCAA 3 3 0 2 2 0 4 4 0 0 0

Blake Coleman was held off the scoresheet in a weekend series against Colorado College. The Miami center has just a goal and 5 assists over his last 13 games. He still has the best FO% in the country (63.94%) but I was hoping for more point production out of the senior.

Blake Pietila had an assist in both of Michigan Tech's victories over Alaska Anchorage. He's been more productive of late with 5 goals and 8 assists over his last 10 games - though that is including games against weak competition.

Alexander Kerfoot had a productive weekend with a goal and 2 assists in 2 games for Harvard. He's been awesome when healthy, putting up a 1.27 points per game played rate.

Steve Santini picked up an assist, -2, 4 shots, and 7 blocks in a weekend series against Vermont. The Devils other college defenseman, Joshua Jacobs had an assist, -1, 4 penalty minutes, 3 shots, and 5 blocks for Michigan State in a weekend sweep over Penn State. Once again, the freshman defender played on the top pair, PP unit, and PK unit. Early in the game the announcer remarked that he's had games where he's played around 25 minutes a night and that wouldn't surprise me if it was true. Overall, he played a sound two-way game, though Penn State did score on a PP that was the result of a penalty he committed. In my opinion, Jacobs has been one of the bright spots this year.

KHL, USHL, USHS

Name Pos. Team GP G A Pts +/- PIM SH SH% SH/GP Pts/GP FO% ATOI
Artur Gavrus LW Dinamo Minsk 35 5 4 9 -6 12 48 10.42% 1.37 0.26 39.22% 12:05
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 38 6 6 12 -6 64 77 7.79% 2.03 0.32
Height: 5'11 A1 Pts1 EVG EVA EV Pts PPG PPA PP Pts SHG SHA SH Pts
Weight: 185 19 USHL 3 9 4 6 10 1 0 1 0 0 0
GP G A Pts +/- PIM SH SH% SH/GP Pts/GP
Miles Wood LW Noble & Greenough 12 8 12 20 1.67
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 still remains sidelined with a suspected finger injury. Hopefully he returns soon because Dinamo Minsk only has 4 games left in the regular season before they start the playoffs.

It appears Miles Wood only played once since the last update and had a goal. Joey Dudek was held off the scoresheet in a weekend series against Youngstown, extending his scoreless streak to 5 games. It's been a tough year for him to say the least.

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 46 17 23 40 12 29 -1 36 118 14.41% 2.57 0.87 10 12 22 7 11 18 0 0 0 0 0 0
Paul Thompson 6'1 205 26 RW 48 23 16 39 14 37 12 53 163 14.11% 3.40 0.81 14 11 25 7 4 11 1 1 2 1 0 1
Mike Sislo 5'11 195 27 RW 40 14 11 25 6 20 1 17 89 15.73% 2.23 0.63 7 5 12 5 6 11 1 0 1 1 0 1
Reid Boucher 5'10 190 21 LW 46 12 11 23 5 17 -5 26 120 10.00% 2.61 0.50 5 4 9 7 6 13 0 0 0 0 1 1
Brandon Burlon 6'0 190 24 D 49 5 17 22 11 16 3 68 61 8.20% 1.24 0.45 3 7 10 1 10 11 0 0 0 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
Reece Scarlett 6'1 185 21 D 34 1 17 18 10 11 0 10 54 1.85% 1.59 0.53 1 8 9 0 9 9 0 0 0 0 0 0
Stefan Matteau 6'2 220 20 LW 46 5 12 17 8 13 2 33 74 6.76% 1.61 0.37 2 7 9 3 5 8 0 0 0 0 0 0
Tim Sestito 5'11 195 30 C 35 7 9 16 6 13 -2 39 70 10.00% 2.00 0.46 5 6 11 1 1 2 0 0 0 1 2 3
Raman Hrabarenka 6'5 235 22 D 23 4 10 14 5 9 -1 18 42 9.52% 1.83 0.61 2 7 9 2 3 5 0 0 0 0 0 0
Darcy Zajac 6'1 205 28 RW 50 4 9 13 7 11 -8 74 81 4.94% 1.62 0.26 2 7 9 1 1 2 1 1 2 0 0 0
Graham Black 6'0 190 22 C 30 7 5 12 3 10 7 14 57 12.28% 1.90 0.40 3 3 6 4 2 6 0 0 0 0 0 0
Ben Thomson 6'3 215 22 LW 48 6 6 12 4 10 -3 71 56 10.71% 1.17 0.25 6 5 11 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Dan Kelly 6'1 210 25 D 40 1 8 9 4 5 -3 89 32 3.13% 0.80 0.23 1 7 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
David Wohlberg 6'1 200 24 LW 32 4 4 8 2 6 3 14 27 14.81% 0.84 0.25 4 3 7 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Kelly Zajac 5'10 180 26 C 18 0 8 8 5 5 -3 14 23 0.00% 1.28 0.44 0 4 4 0 3 3 0 1 1 0 0 0
Rod Pelley 6'0 205 30 C 45 5 2 7 1 6 -6 34 63 7.94% 1.40 0.16 3 2 5 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1
Corbin McPherson 6'5 220 26 D 51 1 5 6 3 4 -2 58 54 1.85% 1.06 0.12 1 5 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 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
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 37 2 1 3 0 2 -15 48 41 4.88% 1.11 0.08 2 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Joe Faust 6'0 205 23 D 22 0 3 3 1 1 -3 14 20 0.00% 0.91 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 25 1 1 2 1 2 -4 8 21 4.76% 0.84 0.08 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 25 0 2 2 1 1 0 31 23 0.00% 0.92 0.08 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Mike Keenan 6'0 190 25 D 20 0 1 1 1 1 -3 15 23 0.00% 1.15 0.05 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Alexandre Carrier 6'3 210 23 RW 12 0 0 0 0 0 -2 10 11 0.00% 0.92 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 25 23 1396 7 11 3 2 2.88 0.900 118 -9.80
Height: 6'2 SO SO% QS QS% RBS RBS% BO BO% EVG% PPG% SHG%
Weight: 190 0 0.00% 12 52.17% 5 21.74% 1 4.35% 70.15% 28.36% 1.49%
GP GS Min W L OTL SOL GAA SV% GA%- GSAA
Scott Clemmensen 37 13 12 752 4 7 0 1 2.79 0.899 119 -5.59
Height: 6'2 SO SO% QS QS% RBS RBS% BO BO% EVG% PPG% SHG%
Weight: 200 1 8.33% 4 33.33% 3 25.00% 1 8.33% 54.29% 40.00% 5.71%
GP GS Min W L OTL SOL GAA SV% GA%- GSAA
Maxime Clermont 23 4 4 247 4 0 0 0 1.94 0.921 93 0.58
Height: 6'0 SO SO% QS QS% RBS RBS% BO BO% EVG% PPG% SHG%
Weight: 200 0 0.00% 2 50.00% 0 0.00% 2 50.00% 50.00% 50.00% 0.00%

Albany lost all 3 of their games this weekend and they now have lost 6 of their last 7. They now sit tied for 10th place in the Eastern Conference and are 5 points behind 8th place with 2 more games played. Albany's PP was 1/7 on the weekend and now has a 17.24% success rate. Their PK was 8/9 now on the weekend and now has a 80.87% success rate. Their all situation PDO is now at 99.56%. Their 5 game rolling average is 93.72% and their 10 game rolling average is 97.14%. Josh Weissbock's AHL stats from HockeyStats.ca has Albany with a 99.69% PDO and 50.46% estimated Fenwick Close.

Injury Update: The good news in Albany is that a whole group of players returned from injury. Kelly Zajac, Graham Black, Rod Pelley, Tim Sestito, and Raman Hrabarenka all featured in this weekend's action. Only Scott Timmins (leg injury) and Cam Janssen (upper body) remain sidelined.

Transactions: Maxime Clermont was reassigned to Orlando (ECHL) on 2/13.

Friday 2/13: Albany lost to Hershey 1-0. Joe Whitney, Mike Sislo, and Darcy Zajac had 4 shots each as the Devils outshot the Bears 35-27. Scott Wedgewood made 26 saves on 27 shots. Albany went 0/3 on the PP and 2/2 on the PK. Here is the gamesheet and highlights:

Line Up (via ADevils twitter):

Whitney-Sestito-Sislo

Boucher-K. Zajac-Matteau

Wohlberg-Black-Thomson

McKelvie-Pelley-D. Zajac

Helgeson-Scarlett

Kelly-Hrabarenka

Burlon-McPherson

Saturday 2/14: Albany lost to Hartford 5-2 after having a 2-0 lead. Mike Sislo and Rod Pelley had the goals for Albany with Darcy Zajac picking up an assist. Rod Pelley had 6 shots as the Devils were outshot 32-31. Scott Clemmensen made 27 saves on 31 shots. Albany went 1/3 on the PP and 5/6 on the PK. Here is the gamesheet and highlights:

Sunday 2/15: Albany lost to Hartford 4-3. Mike Sislo had 2 goals with Paul Thompson adding the other one. Joe Whitney had 2 assists and Kelly Zajac and David Wohlberg picked up one each. Paul Thompson had 4 shots as the Devils outshot the Wolf Pack 25-23. Albany went 0/1 on the PP and 1/1 on the PK. Here is the gamesheet and highlights:

Line Up (via ADevils twitter):

Whitney-K. Zajac-Sislo

Matteau-Sestito-Thompson

Wohlberg-Pelley-McKelvie

Johnson-D. Zajac-Thomson

Helgeson-Scarlett

Burlon-McPherson

Kelly-Hrabarenka

A Healthy Scratch: Reid Boucher, who has just 2 goals and 4 assists over his last 19 games was a healthy scratch on Sunday. Bill Cain of The Daily Gazette has the quote from Head Coach Rick Kowalsky, "Your top guys have to be your top guys." According to Quant Hockey, Boucher has gone from being comfortably above the 75th percentile in points per game last year to under it this year. He also went from being around the 95th percentile in goals per game last year to just above the 75th percentile this year. Of course, a SH% decrease of 5.1 will impact his totals but it's still disappointing to see. Hopefully he can find his game soon.

Matteau Struggling: Stefan Matteau has no points over his last 9 games. He's had a shot or less in his last 10 games. It seems that he's not even getting his chances lately. Sure deployment could play an issue here but he's still expected to do more. It was only just a month ago when he had 4 goals and 4 assists in 7 games and was getting 2+ shots off per game. According to Quant Hockey, he is just below the AHL median in points per game and in goals per game, taking a step back from last year.

Congrats McPherson!: Corbin McPherson played his 200th career AHL game on Saturday. The 26 year old, 6'5, 220 lbs., California product has carved out a nice career for himself with Albany after spending 4 years at Colgate where he captained the team his senior year. He was drafted by the Devils in the 3rd round of the 2007 draft.

Coming Up: Albany has another 3 in 3 this weekend. They take on Syracuse on Friday, Utica on Saturday, and Springfield on Sunday.

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 33 9 9 18 5 14 -12 25 91 9.89% 2.76 0.55 8 4 12 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 28 5 8 13 4 9 8 11 68 7.35% 2.43 0.46 4 6 10 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 10 8 569 5 4 0 0 3.69 0.874 148 -11.37
Height: 6'0 SO SO% QS QS% RBS RBS% BO BO% EVG% PPG% SHG%
Weight: 200 0 0.00% 1 12.50% 2 25.00% 1 12.50% 77.14% 17.14% 5.71%

Eric Baier had an assist and 13 shots in 3 games for Orlando. Maxime Clermont had his first ECHL game since 12/5 on Friday, making 24 saves on 27 shots for Orlando in a loss.

Myles Bell missed all of Evansville's games due to an undisclosed injury. Alexandre Carrier is still up with Albany.

Prospect of the Week

Joseph Blandisi gets this week's honors after putting up 4 goals and 4 assists in 3 games last week. 2 of the goals were empty netters but it's nice to see him dominating, as he should at his age. Brock Otten of OHL Prospects named him #8 on his Most Improved Players list for the 2014/15 seasonBlandisi currently ranks 4th in the OHL in scoring, t-1st in goals, and t-9th in assists. According to CHL Stats, Blandisi has a NHL Equivalency of 41, Goals Created (explanation here) of 35.82, and Team Pt% of 39.82%.

ADevil of the Week

Mike Sislo picks up this week's honors after he had 3 goals in 3 games this weekend. He's currently 3rd on the team in goals and points. According to Quant Hockey, he is above the 75th percentile in points per game and above the 90th percentile in goals per game. Kevin Zalaznik of TheAHL.com had this article on Sislo a few days ago, in which head coach Rick Kowalsky has plenty of positive things to say about Sislo. Have to think he's a prime call up candidate if the Devils move out some guys around the deadline.

Prospects on TV

-- Friday 2/20: Michigan State (Jacobs) vs. Wisconsin on the Big Ten Network at 9 PM ET.

-- Sunday 2/22: Edmonton (Baddock) vs. Medicine Hat on the NHL Network at 3:00 PM ET.

-- Tuesday 2/24: Dinamo Minsk (Gavrus, if healthy) vs. Dynamo Moscow on One World Sport at 11:30 AM ET.

Your Take

What prospects stand out to you for good or bad reasons? Did you get a chance to watch Jacobs last week, and if so, what is your opinion of his game? Do you think Albany will make the playoffs? Leave your comments below and thank you for reading!