New Jersey Devils Prospect Update: 2/17/15

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 season. Blandisi 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!