New Jersey Devils Prospect Update: 1/5/16

This post will recap the 14th week of Devils prospect action for the 2015-16 season. It's highlighted by the WJC coming to an end for the Devils prospects, Blake Speers staying hot in the OHL, Connor Chatham being traded in the OHL, and Albany going on a winning streak. 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	20.19	Flint	34	11	18	29	-2	42	10.68%	3.03	0.85
Height: 6'2	A1	Pts1	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts	NHLe
Weight: 225	12	23	8	14	22	3	3	6	0	0	0	23
				GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	SH%	SH/GP	Pts/GP
Josh Jacobs	D	19.90	Sarnia	35	1	13	14	7	24	1.27%	2.26	0.40
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	11
				GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	SH%	SH/GP	Pts/GP
Pavel Zacha	C	18.76	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	19.02	Sault Ste. Marie	37	11	27	38	-7	26	9.91%	3.00	1.03
Height: 5'11	A1	Pts1	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts	NHLe
Weight: 183	13	24	9	13	22	1	14	15	0	0	0	28
				GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	SH%	SH/GP	Pts/GP
Colton White	D	18.68	Sault Ste. Marie	37	5	13	18	-6	7	9.26%	1.46	0.49
Height: 6'1	A1	Pts1	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts	NHLe
Weight: 185	7	12	3	8	11	2	4	6	0	0	0	13

Name	Age	GP	GS	W	L	OTL	SOL	GAA	SV%	GA%-	GSAA	GSAA/60
Mackenzie Blackwood	19.08	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 had a goal, 5 shots, and 12 penalty minutes across his final 2 games with Flint. He was traded to Windsor on Sunday to add a physical, veteran presence to the Spitfires as they gear up for a playoff run. Windsor is currently ranked 2nd in the Western Conference as they are leaders in the West Division.

Josh Jacobs had 2 shots over the course of 2 games as Sarnia lost twice to London last week.

Blake Speers had 4 assists and 9 shots over the course of 3 games for Sault Ste. Marie. He currently leads the Greyhounds in assists and points. Colton White had a goal and 7 shots during those 3 games. He leads the Greyhounds defensemen in goals and is tied for the lead in points.

WHL

Name	Pos.	Age	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	Pts/GP	NHLe
John Quenneville	C	19.73	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	20.17	Kamloops	36	5	15	20	-2	62	0.56	12
Height: 6'3	A1	Pts1	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts
Weight: 218	7	12	2	8	10	3	5	8	0	1	1
				GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	Pts/GP	NHLe
Brandon Baddock	C	20.78	Edmonton	40	15	5	20	-9	80	0.50	11
Height: 6'4	A1	Pts1	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts
Weight: 225	3	18	9	3	12	3	2	5	2	0	2

Ryan Rehill had an eventful week for Kamloops. He was a -3 on Wednesday against Victoria, scored in the New Year's Day rematch while going a +2, and then had an assist, -3, and 4 penalty minutes the following day against Everett.

Brandon Baddock was held off the scoresheet in both of Edmonton's games last week and added 6 penalty minutes to his season total.

NCAA

Name	Pos.	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	SH%	SH/GP	Pts/GP	FO%	NHLe
Alex Kerfoot	C	Harvard	11	2	13	15	5	8	9.52%	1.91	1.36	44.64%	45
Height: 5'10	Age	League	A1	Pts1	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts
Weight: 175	21.41	ECAC	5	7	1	6	7	0	7	7	0	0	0
			GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	SH%	SH/GP	Pts/GP	Blks	NHLe
Steve Santini	D	Boston College	18	1	5	6	8	28	4.00%	1.39	0.33	31	9
Height: 6'2			A1	Pts1	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts
Weight: 208	20.84	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	17	0	1	1	-5	6	0.00%	0.65	0.06	42.31%	2
Height: 5'11			A1	Pts1	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts
Weight: 185	19.95	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	16	7	12	19	9	60	16.28%	2.69	1.19	100.00%	32
Height: 6'1			A1	Pts1	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts
Weight: 185	20.32	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	13	3	8	11	4	18	15.79%	1.46	0.85	53.13%	23
Height: 5'9			A1	Pts1	EVG	EVA	EV Pts	PPG	PPA	PP Pts	SHG	SHA	SH Pts
Weight: 170	19.86	Hockey East	6	9	2	7	9	1	1	2	0	0	0

Alex Kerfoot saw his first game action in nearly a month when he played in Harvard's games against Ferris State and Minnesota last weekend at the Mariucci Classic hosted by Minnesota. He had an even strength assist in each and finished the weekend with 3 shots on goal and won 16/32 faceoffs. He currently leads Harvard in assists and is tied for 2nd in points.

Boston College wrapped up the Florida College Classic with a loss to Providence. Miles Wood was suspended for the game after earning a disqualification against Ohio State in the previous game. Steve Santini was a -1, with 2 penalty minutes, and a shot against Providence. JD Dudek had an even rating and lost a faceoff in his 4th line role.

Brett Seney made his return for Merrimack for the first time since 11/21. He managed a goal, 2 shots, 4 penalty minutes, and won 8/21 faceoffs across both of Merrimack's games against Union and Dartmouth.

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

Artur Gavrus is still yet to play for Dinamo Minsk since suffering a concussion on 10/19 against Metallug Nk.

WJC

It was a rough week for Devils prospects at the WJC as both Canada and the Czech Republic crashed out in the Quarterfinals. Back on Thursday, Canada finished their group play with a 5-2 loss to Sweden. Mackenzie Blackwood made 27 saves on 32 shots while John Quenneville picked up 2 penalty minutes while skating on a line with Mitchell Stephens and Travis Knoecny. Canada went on to lose a wild Quarterfinal against Finland 6-5 on Saturday. Blackwood made 23 saves on 29 shots as he never really found his true form in the short tournament. Those things happen. Quenneville had a nice assist on Konecny's opening goal of the game.

Since the last update, the Czech Republic finished their 2 remaining group games before losing in the Quarterfinals. Pavel Zacha missed the 5-3 win over Belarus but returned to play in the 5-4 loss to Finland. He skated on a line with Dominik Lakatos and Radek Vesely. He finished with an assist and 3 shots on goal. The Czechs were then blown out in the Quarterfinals 7-0 to the United States. Zacha was held to just one shot.

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	ENG	ENA	EN Pts
Matt Lorito	5'9	170	25.52	LW	29	7	18	25	12	19	5	10	53	13.21%	1.83	0.86	8.56	0.30	34	3	6	9	4	12	16	0	0	0	0	0	0
Mike Sislo	5'11	190	27.98	RW	28	13	10	23	5	18	2	2	89	14.61%	3.18	0.82	9.63	0.34	32	3	4	7	9	6	15	1	0	1	0	0	0
Reid Boucher	5'10	190	22.34	LW	26	12	11	23	6	18	9	4	99	12.12%	3.81	0.88	9.36	0.36	35	7	8	15	5	3	8	0	0	0	0	0	0
Corey Tropp	6'2	185	26.46	RW	31	8	12	20	7	15	5	41	51	15.69%	1.65	0.65	7.49	0.24	25	4	9	13	3	3	6	0	0	0	1	0	1
Joseph Blandisi	6'0	200	21.48	C	23	7	12	19	8	15	-1	47	25	28.00%	1.09	0.83	6.95	0.30	33	3	5	8	4	7	11	0	0	0	0	0	0
Paul Thompson	6'1	200	27.11	RW	22	7	9	16	7	14	2	33	63	11.11%	2.86	0.73	6.15	0.28	29	4	8	12	2	1	3	0	0	0	1	0	1
Marc-Andre Gragnani	6'3	210	28.84	D	24	0	15	15	3	3	-6	6	23	0.00%	0.96	0.63	4.01	0.17	25	0	3	3	0	11	11	0	0	0	0	1	1
Brandon Burlon	6'0	190	25.85	D	28	3	10	13	5	8	-5	17	25	12.00%	0.89	0.46	4.28	0.15	18	3	3	6	0	7	7	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jim O'Brien	6'3	195	26.95	C	17	7	5	12	4	11	1	14	55	12.73%	3.24	0.71	5.08	0.30	28	5	4	9	1	1	2	1	0	1	0	0	0
Vojtech Mozik	6'3	200	23.04	D	27	1	8	9	5	6	17	18	46	2.17%	1.70	0.33	2.67	0.10	13	1	6	7	0	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
Dan Kelly	6'1	215	26.65	D	28	1	7	8	2	3	7	44	21	4.76%	0.75	0.29	2.41	0.09	11	1	5	6	0	0	0	0	2	2	0	0	0
Blake Pietila	5'11	200	22.88	LW	25	5	3	8	2	7	-2	2	36	13.89%	1.44	0.32	3.48	0.14	13	4	1	5	1	1	2	0	1	1	0	0	0
Blake Coleman	5'11	200	24.12	C	14	4	3	7	2	6	5	19	26	15.38%	1.86	0.50	2.94	0.21	20	4	2	6	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Ryan Kujawinski	6'2	205	20.78	C	22	2	4	6	1	3	-2	4	18	11.11%	0.82	0.27	2.14	0.10	11	2	3	5	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Ben Thomson	6'3	205	22.98	LW	28	2	4	6	2	4	-3	44	52	3.85%	1.86	0.21	2.14	0.08	8	2	3	5	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Seth Helgeson	6'4	215	25.26	D	26	0	5	5	3	3	10	43	28	0.00%	1.08	0.19	1.34	0.05	8	0	4	4	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Rod Pelley	6'0	205	31.36	LW	31	2	3	5	2	4	-1	19	36	5.56%	1.16	0.16	1.87	0.06	6	2	1	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2
Reece Scarlett	6'1	180	22.78	D	20	1	4	5	2	3	-3	10	32	3.13%	1.60	0.25	1.60	0.08	10	1	2	3	0	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
Chris McKelvie	6'1	195	30.88	RW	18	0	4	4	1	1	-1	19	19	0.00%	1.06	0.22	1.07	0.06	9	0	4	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Max Novak	5'11	180	24.74	RW	14	2	1	3	0	2	-1	2	24	8.33%	1.71	0.21	1.34	0.10	8	1	1	2	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Graham Black	6'0	185	22.99	C	13	2	1	3	0	2	2	0	16	12.50%	1.23	0.23	1.34	0.10	9	2	1	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Corbin McPherson	6'4	210	27.34	D	23	0	3	3	1	1	-1	14	28	0.00%	1.22	0.13	0.80	0.03	5	0	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Brian O'Neill	5'9	175	27.61	RW	5	1	1	2	1	2	0	2	9	11.11%	1.80	0.40	0.80	0.16	16	1	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Greg Wolfe	5'10	185	25.71	C	3	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	2	50.00%	0.67	0.33	0.53	0.18	13	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Raman Hrabarenka	6'4	230	23.38	D	9	0	0	0	0	0	-1	22	11	0.00%	1.22	0.00	0.00	0.00	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond	6'1	210	30.61	RW	21	0	0	0	0	0	0	58	20	0.00%	0.95	0.00	0.00	0.00	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Joe Faust	5'11	207	24.15	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	0	0	0
Alexandre Carrier	6'3	210	24.89	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	0	0	0

Name	Age	GP	GS	W	L	OTL	SOL	GAA	SV%	GA%-	GSAA	GSAA/60
Yann Danis	34.56	24	23	15	5	3	0	2.01	0.919	91	4.62	0.20
Height: 5'11	MIN	SO	SO%	QS	QS%	RBS	RBS%	BO	BO%	EVG%	PPG%	SHG%
Weight: 180	1401.77	4	17.39%	15	65.22%	1	4.35%	1	4.35%	78.72%	21.28%	0.00%
	Age	GP	GS	W	L	OTL	SOL	GAA	SV%	GA%-	GSAA	GSAA/60
Scott Wedgewood	23.41	6	5	4	1	0	0	1.87	0.926	83	1.86	0.39
Height: 6'2	MIN	SO	SO%	QS	QS%	RBS	RBS%	BO	BO%	EVG%	PPG%	SHG%
Weight: 195	288.48	0	0.00%	3	60.00%	1	20.00%	0	0.00%	44.44%	55.56%	0.00%
	Age	GP	GS	W	L	OTL	SOL	GAA	SV%	GA%-	GSAA	GSAA/60
Doug Carr	26.83	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 won all 3 of their games last week and are now on a 4 game winning streak. Albany is still 2nd in their division with 43 points after 31 games. They have an all situation PDO of 101.50%. Albany's PP went 2/13 on the week and is now ranked 3rd in the AHL at 22.96%. Their PK went 8/12 and is now ranked 3rd at 87.60%.

Injury Update: Seth Helgeson (shoulder), Blake Coleman (upper body), Max Novak (broken hand), Blake Pietila (lower body), and Ryan Kujawinski (lower body) remain sidelined. Bill Cain has all the details with some quotes from the coach on the injury situation. Raman Hrabarenka returned to action on 12/31. He had been out since 11/13 with a knee injury.

Transactions: Mike Sislo was recalled by the big club on 12/29.

Wednesday 12/30: Albany defeated Utica 3-2 in overtime. Jim O'Brien had 2 goals, including the game winner, while Reece Scarlett had the other one. Reid Boucher, Chris McKelvie, Paul Thompson, Ben Thomson, and Brian O'Neill had an assist each. O'Brien managed 6 shots while Scarlett had 4 as the Devils and Comets each had 26 shots. Yann Danis made 24 saves for the win. Albany went 0/4 on the PP and 3/4 on the PK. Here is the gamesheet.

Line Up:
Lorito-Blandisi-Tropp
Thompson-O'Brien-O'Neill
McKelvie-Black-Boucher
Thomson-Pelley-Leblond

Gragnani-Scarlett
Kelly-Mozik
McPherson-Burlon



Thursday 12/31: Albany defeated Utica 4-1. Jim O'Brien, Reid Boucher, Graham Black, and Paul Thompson (EN) had the goals. Thompson, Corbin McPherson, Chris McKelvie, Vojtech Mozik, Corey Tropp, Matt Lorito, and Rod Pelley had an assist each. Boucher and Thompson had 4 shots each as the Devils outshot the Comets 30-25. Wedgewood made 24 saves to earn the win. Albany went 0/4 on the PP and 4/5 on the PK. Here is the gamesheet.



Saturday 1/2: Albany defeated Hartford 4-3. Matt Lorito had 2 goals with Reid Boucher and Corey Tropp adding the others. Joseph Blandisi had 2 assists while Marc-Andre Gragnani, Jim O'Brien, Dan Kelly, Boucher, Reece Scarlett, and Brandon Burlon had an assist each. Lorito had 7 shots as the Devils were outshot by the Wolf Pack 33-32. Wedgewood made 30 saves to pick up the win. Here is the gamesheet.



Coming Up: Albany will take on Syracuse on Friday, Lehigh Valley on Saturday, and Hartford on Sunday.

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	24.15	D	22	1	6	7	4	5	2	10	30	3.33%	1.36	0.32	1	4	5	0	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
Ben Johnson	6'0	195	21.59	LW	9	2	3	5	2	4	1	2	22	9.09%	2.44	0.56	2	2	4	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	20.75	20	20	11	7	1	1	2.41	0.916	100	-0.20	-0.01
Height: 6'4	MIN	SO	SO%	QS	QS%	RBS	RBS%	BO	BO%	EVG%	PPG%	SHG%
Weight: 205	1195.99	2	10.00%	12	60.00%	4	20.00%	1	5.00%	72.92%	25.00%	2.08%
	Age	GP	GS	W	L	OTL	SOL	GAA	SV%	GA%-	GSAA	GSAA/60
Scott Wedgewood	23.41	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%

Joe Faust appeared in all 4 of Adirondack's games last week, managing an even rating and 7 shots. Ben Johnson appeared in the first of 4 games for Adirondack before ending up on the reserve list with what I assume is an injury. Ken Appleby has continued his up and down play as of late. He made 26 saves on 27 shots in a win against Rading on New Year's Eve. He followed that a few nights later by allowing 5 goals on 31 shots against Reading.

Prospect of the Week

I'm going to give this week's honors to Sault Ste. Marie captain, Blake Speers after he had 4 assists in 3 games. As mentioned earlier he is an offensive leader for the Greyhounds and is keeping up a point per game pace despite a slow start by his standards. He's also averaging 3 shots per game and has a 57.12 FO%. I'm really looking forward to seeing what he does in 2016.

ADevil of the Week

This week's honors go to Jim O'Brien after he put up 3 even strength goals and an even strength assist over the course of 3 games last week for Albany. He's one of Albany's top players in terms of points per game (0.71) and goals created per game (0.30) and has the 2nd highest shots per game on the team (3.24).

Your Take

What are you looking forward to from the prospects in 2016? What are your thoughts on the WJC prospects? How about the roll Albany is on again? Leave your comments below and thank you for reading!