New Jersey Devils Prospect Update: 3/10/15

This post will recap the 23rd week of Devils prospect action for the 2014-15 season. It's highlighted by Ryan Kujawinski and Joseph Blandisi staying productive in the OHL, three prospects see their seasons come to an end, and Stefan Matteau continue to perform well for Albany. 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	55	29	24	53	18	28	0.96
Height: 6'2	A1	Pts1	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts
Weight: 207	11	40	20	14	34	8	9	17	0	1	1
					GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	Pts/GP
Connor Chatham	RW	19	Plymouth	OHL	48	17	20	37	1	47	0.77
Height: 6'2	A1	Pts1	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts
Weight: 225	14	31	12	15	27	5	5	10	0	0	0
					GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	Pts/GP
Joseph Blandisi	C	20	Barrie	OHL	63	48	57	105	18	112	1.67
Height: 6'0	A1	Pts1	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts
Weight: 192	31	79	21	26	47	11	29	40	9	2	11
					GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	Pts/GP
John Quenneville	C	18	Brandon	WHL	53	17	26	43	11	58	0.81
Height: 6'1	A1	Pts1	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts
Weight: 205	15	32	8	18	26	7	6	13	0	2	2
					GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	Pts/GP
Ryan Rehill	D	19	Kamloops	WHL	62	6	12	18	-14	115	0.29
Height: 6'3	A1	Pts1	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts
Weight: 225	5	11	6	11	17	0	1	1	0	0	0
					GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	Pts/GP
Brandon Baddock	LW	19	Edmonton	WHL	66	17	19	36	-12	130	0.55
Height: 6'4	A1	Pts1	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts
Weight: 215	10	27	8	12	20	7	5	12	0	1	1

Name	Age (as of 2/1)	GP	GS	W	L	OTL	SOL	MIN	GAA	SV%	GA%-	GSAA
Anthony Brodeur	20	28	22	7	9	0	4	1248:37	3.72	0.881	113	-9.98
Height: 5'11	Gatineau/Drummondville	SO	SO%	QS	QS%	RBS	RBS%	BO	BO%	EVG%	PPG%	SHG%
Weight: 194	QMJHL	1	4.55%	7	31.82%	7	31.82%	3	13.64%	67.86%	28.57%	3.57%

Ryan Kujawinski had another solid week for North Bay, scoring 3 goals and adding an assist over 3 games. Joseph Blandisi continued his strong overage season with 6 assists in 3 games for Barrie last week. He's on a 5 game scoring streak with 2 goals and 6 assists.

Connor Chatham played in his final game for Plymouth last Tuesday, notching a goal to give him 17 goals and 20 assists in 48 games. He is done for the season as he will have wrist surgery at the advice of the NJ Devils. A late October birthday, Chatham just finished his age 19 season and could potentially play for Albany next year if the Devils sign him. They still have another year before they have to sign him but perhaps they would rather have him spend his age 20 season in the AHL rather than as an overager in the OHL.

John Quenneville broke an 11 game goal drought and 4 game point drought when he had a goal and an assist on Saturday. He's suffered multiple injuries this year and you have to wonder if he has some sort of nagging injury hindering his progress. It's bizarre to see a player go from 0.95 points per game as a 17 year old to 0.81 the following season.

Ryan Rehill had an assist, -3 rating, and 2 PIM over 3 games for Kamloops last week. Brandon Baddock had 2 goals and an assist over 4 games for Edmonton last week.

Anthony Brodeur did not feature for Drummondville last week.

NCAA

Name	Pos.	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	SH	SH%	SH/GP	Pts/GP	FO%
Blake Coleman	C	Miami	32	13	12	25	14	80	113	11.50%	3.53	0.78	61.81%
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	19	8	9	17	3	2	5	1	0	1
			GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	SH	SH%	SH/GP	Pts/GP	FO%
Blake Pietila	C	Michigan Tech	36	13	15	28	7	52	88	14.77%	2.44	0.78	60.21%
Height: 5'11			A1	Pts1	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts
Weight: 200	21	NCAA	9	22	8	3	11	4	11	15	0	1	1
			GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	SH	SH%	SH/GP	Pts/GP	FO%
Alex Kerfoot	C	Harvard	21	7	16	23	12	8	47	14.89%	2.24	1.10	45.83%
Height: 5'10			A1	Pts1	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts
Weight: 175	20	NCAA	7	14	5	8	13	1	6	7	0	1	1
			GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	SH	SH%	SH/GP	Pts/GP	Blk
Steve Santini	D	Boston College	18	1	4	5	0	18	33	3.03%	1.83	0.28	25
Height: 6'2			A1	Pts1	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts
Weight: 208	19	NCAA	2	3	1	4	5	0	0	0	0	0	0
			GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	SH	SH%	SH/GP	Pts/GP	Blk
Joshua Jacobs	D	Michigan State	32	0	7	7	-8	24	59	0.00%	1.84	0.22	64
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	5	5	0	0	0

Blake Coleman added a goal, 6 shots, and won 14/26 faceoffs over 2 games for Miami against North Dakota. He also picked up a major for Checking from Behind and a Game Misconduct in Saturday's game. I haven't seen anything on further discipline for him but usually there is a one game suspension. Miami will take on Western Michigan this weekend in a best of three in the opening round of the NCHC playoffs.

Blake Pietila picked up 2 goals, 8 shots, and won 21/32 faceoffs over 2 games for Michigan Tech against Northern Michigan. Michigan Tech will face Alabama Huntsville in a best of three to open the WCHA playoffs. That should be an easy oppurtunity for him to pad his stats.

The good news: Alexander Kerfoot added an assist in his only game of the week against Brown and continues to play at above a point per game pace. The bad news: he is once again injured, having left that game with his right arm in a sling and his shoulder wrapped. He's a player that has a lot of skill but just can't seem to escape the injury bug. He's had shoulder injuries the prior two seasons and surgery in 2012. I'm not sure if it is the same shoulder or if he's had issues with both. Harvard takes on Yale this weekend in a best of three to open the ECAC playoffs.

Joshua Jacobs had an assist, 4 shots, and 8 blocks over 2 games for Michigan State against Wisconsin. Steve Santini and Boston College had the week off as they had a bye into the Hockey East Quarterfinals where they will take on Vermont in a best of three.

KHL, USHL, USHS

Name	Pos.	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	SH	SH%	SH/GP	Pts/GP	FO%	ATOI
Artur Gavrus	LW	Dinamo Minsk	36	5	4	9	-7	12	48	10.42%	1.33	0.25	40.38%	12:09
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
Artur Gavrus		Dinamo Molodechno	4	2	4	6	-3	2	10	20.00%	2.50	1.50
			A1	Pts1	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts
		BXL	2	4	0	1	1	2	3	5	0	0	0
			GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	SH	SH%	SH/GP	Pts/GP
Joey Dudek	C	Dubuque/Chicago	44	7	7	14	-5	66	91	7.69%	2.07	0.32
Height: 5'11			A1	Pts1	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts
Weight: 185	19	USHL	4	11	5	7	12	1	0	1	0	0	0
			GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	SH	SH%	SH/GP	Pts/GP
Miles Wood	LW	Noble & Greenough	17	17	18	35						2.06
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

Dinamo Minsk was knocked out by Jokerit in the opening round of the KHL playoffs but Gavrus did not feature for them. Instead he was playing in the MHL playoffs for Dinamo-Shinnik, where he had a goal and an assist and 70.3 FO% as they were knocked out in 3 games. With his BXL team also knocked out of their playoff, his season is done.

Joey Dudek was traded by Dubuque to Chicago last week. He rebounded in impressive fashion by scoring a goal and an assist over 2 games against Dubuque. Hopefully he can finish his season out strong with his new club.

Miles Wood also completed his final season of prep hockey with Nobles as they were defeated in the NEPSAC tournament. He finishes with a 2.06 points per game pace which ranks 6th in New England prep hockey.

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	54	18	26	44	14	32	-4	44	138	13.04%	2.56	0.81	11	13	24	7	13	20	0	0	0	0	0	0
Paul Thompson	6'1	205	26	RW	56	24	19	43	17	41	8	61	183	13.11%	3.27	0.77	15	11	26	7	7	14	1	1	2	1	0	1
Mike Sislo	5'11	195	27	RW	48	17	12	29	6	23	1	43	110	15.45%	2.29	0.60	8	5	13	7	7	14	1	0	1	1	0	1
Reid Boucher	5'10	190	21	LW	54	13	15	28	9	22	-6	30	142	9.15%	2.63	0.52	6	6	12	7	8	15	0	0	0	0	1	1
Brandon Burlon	6'0	190	24	D	56	5	20	25	12	17	3	79	69	7.25%	1.23	0.45	3	8	11	1	12	13	0	0	0	1	0	1
Stefan Matteau	6'2	220	20	LW	53	9	14	23	8	17	5	35	86	10.47%	1.62	0.43	5	8	13	4	6	10	0	0	0	0	0	0
Scott Timmins	6'0	200	25	C	27	7	14	21	6	13	3	6	60	11.67%	2.22	0.78	5	8	13	2	5	7	0	1	1	0	0	0
Reece Scarlett	6'1	185	21	D	42	2	18	20	10	12	0	19	66	3.03%	1.57	0.48	2	8	10	0	10	10	0	0	0	0	0	0
Tim Sestito	5'11	195	30	C	43	8	11	19	7	15	-9	67	89	8.99%	2.07	0.44	5	7	12	2	2	4	0	0	0	1	2	3
Raman Hrabarenka	6'5	235	22	D	31	4	14	18	7	11	-5	18	54	7.41%	1.74	0.58	2	7	9	2	7	9	0	0	0	0	0	0
Darcy Zajac	6'1	205	28	RW	56	6	11	17	9	15	-6	78	86	6.98%	1.54	0.30	4	8	12	1	1	2	1	2	3	0	0	0
Ben Thomson	6'3	215	22	LW	53	7	7	14	5	12	-3	76	62	11.29%	1.17	0.26	7	6	13	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Kelly Zajac	5'10	180	26	C	23	3	10	13	7	10	-4	18	29	10.34%	1.26	0.57	0	4	4	3	5	8	0	1	1	0	0	0
Graham Black	6'0	190	22	C	36	7	5	12	3	10	10	14	66	10.61%	1.83	0.33	3	3	6	4	2	6	0	0	0	0	0	0
Dan Kelly	6'1	210	25	D	48	1	10	11	5	6	-2	96	38	2.63%	0.79	0.23	1	9	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1
David Wohlberg	6'1	200	24	LW	37	5	5	10	2	7	5	14	34	14.71%	0.92	0.27	4	4	8	0	1	1	1	0	1	0	0	0
Rod Pelley	6'0	205	30	C	53	5	2	7	1	6	-10	40	74	6.76%	1.40	0.13	3	2	5	0	0	0	1	0	1	1	0	1
Seth Helgeson	6'5	215	24	D	33	1	6	7	3	4	3	45	32	3.13%	0.97	0.21	0	4	4	1	2	3	0	0	0	0	0	0
Corbin McPherson	6'5	220	26	D	59	1	5	6	3	4	-7	64	66	1.52%	1.12	0.10	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
Chris McKelvie	6'1	195	29	LW	43	2	2	4	0	2	-17	50	50	4.00%	1.16	0.09	2	2	4	0	0	0	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
Joe Faust	6'0	205	23	D	23	0	3	3	1	1	-3	16	20	0.00%	0.87	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	22	1	1	2	0	1	0	42	11	9.09%	0.50	0.09	1	1	2	0	0	0	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	29	27	1577	9	12	3	2	2.97	0.896	122	-14.25
Height: 6'2		SO	SO%	QS	QS%	RBS	RBS%	BO	BO%	EVG%	PPG%	SHG%
Weight: 190		0	0.00%	12	44.44%	6	22.22%	2	7.41%	70.51%	28.21%	1.28%
		GP	GS	Min	W	L	OTL	SOL	GAA	SV%	GA%-	GSAA
Scott Clemmensen	37	17	15	962	5	8	1	1	2.62	0.904	113	-4.69
Height: 6'2		SO	SO%	QS	QS%	RBS	RBS%	BO	BO%	EVG%	PPG%	SHG%
Weight: 200		1	6.67%	5	33.33%	4	26.67%	1	6.67%	52.38%	42.86%	4.76%
		GP	GS	Min	W	L	OTL	SOL	GAA	SV%	GA%-	GSAA
Maxime Clermont	23	6	5	336	5	1	0	0	2.32	0.906	111	-1.27
Height: 6'0		SO	SO%	QS	QS%	RBS	RBS%	BO	BO%	EVG%	PPG%	SHG%
Weight: 200		0	0.00%	2	40.00%	1	20.00%	2	40.00%	61.54%	38.46%	0.00%

Albany split their weekend series with the St. John's IceCaps and currently sit 11th in the Eastern Conference with 62 points, 6 back of 8th place Worcester. Albany's PP is now at 18.63% and the PK at 80.30%. Albany's all situation PDO is 99.35%. HockeyStats.ca has their estimated even strength PDO at 99.15% and their estimated Fenwick Close at 50.72%.

Injury Update: Kelly Zajac remained back in Albany due to a nagging lower body injury that has derailed his season.

Suspension: Cam Janssen served the first two games of his five game suspension for an illegal check to the head.

Transactions: Alexandre Carrier was recalled from Orlando on Wednesday.

Friday 3/6: Albany lost to St. John's 2-1 in overtime. Stefan Matteau had the lone Devils goal with Darcy Zajac picking up the assist. Joe Whitney and Mike Sislo had 4 shots each as the Devils outshot the IceCaps 29-23. Scott Clemmensen made 21 saves on 23 shots. Albany did not have a PP and went 0/1 on the PK. Here is the gamesheet and highlights:

Saturday 3/7: Albany defeated St. John's 2-0. Stefan Matteau had a goal and Reid Boucher had a goal and an assist. Mike Sislo had 4 shots as the Devils outshot the IceCaps 32-28. Albany went 0/2 on the PP and 1/1 on the PK. Here is the gamesheet and highlights:

Struggling Scorers: Joe Whitney and Paul Thompson were hot in the beginning of the season but have cooled off considerably. Whitney has just one goal over his last 15 games while Thompson has just 2 over his last 15 games. This should come as no surprise considering how high of a SH% each player had in the beginning of the season. The good news is that both players are still getting their shots on goal.

Boucher: A goal and an assist on Saturday helped Boucher snap a 3 game scoring drought. He does have a goal and 4 assists over his last 6 games which was preceded by a 6 game drought. 2015 hasn't been kind to him as he has just 3 goals and 8 assists in 27 games since the calender turned. Hopefully this is a sign that he is regaining form.

Coming Up: Albany takes on Worcester on Friday, Syracuse 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	35	9	9	18	5	14	-11	25	97	9.28%	2.77	0.51	8	4	12	1	5	6	0	0	0	0	0	0
Alexandre Carrier	6'3	210	23	RW	10	0	1	1	0	0	-1	24	10	0.00%	1.00	0.10	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Eric Baier	6'2	210	26	D	38	5	11	16	5	10	5	11	99	5.05%	2.61	0.42	4	7	11	0	3	3	1	1	2	0	0	0
Mike Keenan	6'0	190	25	D	29	0	6	6	2	2	1	18	49	0.00%	1.69	0.21	0	5	5	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0
Ben Johnson	6'0	195	20	LW	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
Maxime Clermont	23	14	12	812	7	5	0	1	3.18	0.892	126	-8.77
Height: 6'0		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%	79.07%	16.28%	4.65%

Myles Bell returned from an undisclosed injury that kept him out for a month by appearing in 2 games for Evansville. He was held off the scoresheet but did register 6 shots.

Eric Baier played in 3 games for Orlando and had 5 shots. Mike Keenan was also held of the scoresheet for Orlando but had 6 shots over 3 games. Ben Johnson made his ECHL debut and picked up 2 shots in as many games for Orlando.

Maxime Clermont had a strong week for Orlando with a shutout and 2 quality starts in 2 games.

Prospect of the Week

Once again I am going to go with Ryan Kujawinski. He's in solid form with a 7 game scoring streak where he has 6 goals and 6 assists. In 28 games with North Bay he has 16 goals and 14 assists. According to CHL Stats he has a goals created per game of 0.411 and an estimated points per 60 of 2.44. I really hope he can finish the year comfortably above the point per game mark.

ADevil of the Week

Stefan Matteau has followed up a 10 game scoring drought by putting up 4 goals and 2 assists over his last 6 games. He's currently 6th in scoring for Albany with 23 points in 53 games. According to Quant Hockey, his points per game has increased slightly from 0.388 last year to 0.434 this season. Both of these rank above the median for AHL players which is decent for a player who has played his age 19 and 20 seasons at this level. His 0.170 goals per game is also above the AHL median. Hopefully he can continue to finish this season out well.

Your Take

Do you think Chatham should make the jump to the AHL next year? Do you feel that Quenneville is due to breakout? Are you satisfied with the seasons that Gavrus and Wood had? Do you think Matteau can be a consistent contributor for Albany for the rest of the season? Leave your comments below and thank you for reading!