New Jersey Devils Prospect Update: 11/1/16

This post will recap the 4th week of Devils prospect action for the 2016-17 season. It's highlighted by Blake Speers going down with a fractured wrist for at least 6 weeks, Yegor Rykov signing a contract extension with SKA, and Albany dropping 2 games before ending up back in the win column.

QMJHL

Brandon Gignac appeared in both of Shawinigan's games against Victoriaville last weekend. He had 2 PIM, a shot, and won 9/15 faceoffs in the first game. In the second game he notched 2 goals (including the GWG), an assist, +2, 2 shots, and won 7/25 faceoffs. He has continued to center the second line for Shawinigan.

OHL

Blake Speers had been enjoying his 2016-17 season until recently. He made the NJ Devils opening roster and appeared in 3 games gaining some quality experience at the age of 19. He was returned to his junior club, Sault Ste. Marie, to help lead them on and off the ice as he rounds out his game. On Thursday he suited up for the Greyhounds against Windsor, going a -1 with 3 shots and winning 11/19 faceoffs. However, the big story is that he fractured his wrist in the opening period yet managed to finish the game. Peter Ruicci of the Sault Star has the full story, where he notes that Speers was scheduled to fly to New Jersey on Sunday to see a specialist and potentially have surgery Monday. He'll likely miss at least 6 weeks either way.

Colton White did play in all 3 of Sault Ste. Marie's games last week. He finished with a -4, 2 PIM, and 6 shots.

Mississauga took on Sarnia and Oshawa over the weekend with Michael McLeod and Nathan Bastian playing in both games. McLeod was held off the scoresheet but finished with a -5, 2 PIM, 10 shots, and won 33/60 faceoffs on the weekend. Bastian was also held off the scoresheet and finished the weekend with a -5, 2 PIM, 8 shots, and won 1/2 faceoffs.

Evan Cormier started 2 of Saginaw's 3 games over the past week. On Thursday, he went the distance against Niagara in a loss, stopping 16 of the 21 shots he faced. On Saturday, he lasted just the first 2 periods in another loss, stopping 17 of the 22 shots he faced. Using some of the goaltending stats developed by Rob Vollman, Cormier now has more Really Bad Starts (5) than Quality Starts (4) so far this season. I should have the Goals Saved Above Average numbers ready to go for next week.

WHL

Colby Sissons appeared in both of Swift Current's games against Seattle and Spokane last weekend. He finished with a -2 rating for the week. He hasn't been able to produce as much offensively as of late with no points over his last 3 games and just one assist over his last 5 games.

NCAA

Alexander Kerfoot and Harvard enjoyed two comfortable wins over Arizona State to start their season. It appears that Kerfoot's new linemates on the top line for this season are Ryan Donato and Lewis Zerter-Gossage. Kerfoot finished the weekend with an assist, +1, 2 PIM, 4 shots, and won 12/27 faceoffs.

JD Dudek appeared in all 3 of Boston College's games last week. He's been able to produce more this season playing across the top 9 in a RW role. He finished the week with a goal, assist, +3, 2 PIM, 5 shots, and won 1/2 faceoffs.

Brett Seney and Merrimack also had 3 games last week. He's been playing LW most of this season as Merrimack is relying on him to provide the bulk of the goals for the team. He finished the week with 2 assists, an even rating, 5 shots, and won 1/7 faceoffs. Jeff Cox of SBN College Hockey had this game report from Merrimack vs. Boston College last week, where he calls Seney Merrimack's, "most skilled player" and praised his "elite speed to make plays."

Joey Anderson played as the top RW for Minnesota Duluth in 2 games against North Dakota over the weekend. He added another assist along with a +1 and 3 shots. While he still hasn't scored his first collegiate goal, he is getting his shots on goal (2.38 per game) and has done well to set up his teammates for scoring chances.

Jeremy Davies appeared in the lone Northeastern game of the weekend against Vermont. He finished with an even rating and 3 shots in his top 4 role.

Europe

Yegor Rykov played in both of SKA's games last week against Slovan and Medvescak. He finished with an even rating, 3 shots, 2 blocks, and averaged around 13:30 in ice time across both games. He's settled in nicely in the KHL and even earned himself a contract extension with SKA until April 30, 2019. Since he was drafted by the Devils in 2016, I believe they'll own his NHL rights until June 1, 2020 so this will give him plenty of time develop before they have to make a decision on his future with the organization.

Mikhail Maltsev appeared in 2 VHL games to start the week before moving over to the MHL team for a game. In his first VHL game of the week on Wednesday, he had 3 assists, +3, 2 shots, and won 5/12 faceoffs in 8:37 of ice time. In his second VHL game on Friday, he had a -2, 2 shots, and won 4/11 faceoffs in 11:31 of ice time. His MHL game came on Sunday, where he had an even rating, 3 shots, and won 11/26 faceoffs.

Jesper Bratt has continued to play in a top 9 RW role for AIK. In his first game last week, he had an assist, even rating, and 2 shots in 16:54. In his second game, he had a +1 and 1 shot in 11:38.

AHL

Albany went 1-2 last week. They currently sit 2nd in the North Division with 12 points after 8 games played, 1 point back of Toronto. Their all situation PDO is currently 102.03%. They currently have a Shots For% of 46.65%. The PP is currently operating at 14.29% while the PK is at 88.89%.

Injury Update: As Pete Dougherty of The Times Union noted in his notebook, Steve Santini (lower body), Ryan Kujawinski (lower body), and Carter Camper (upper body) have missed some time but should return soon.

Transactions: Brandon Baddock and Ken Appleby were sent down to Adirondack (ECHL) on 10/25. Steve Santini was returned by New Jersey on 10/26. New Jersey called up Nick Lappin on 10/28.

Wednesday 10/26: Albany lost to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 3-1. Nick Lappin had the goal with Blake Pietila and Brian Gibbons earning the assists. Pietila had 3 shots as the Devils were outshot 36-20. Scott Wedgewood made 25 saves on 28 shots before being lifted for the 3rd period. Mackenzie Blackwood stopped all 8 shots he faced in the 3rd. Albany went 0/5 on the PP and 6/7 on the PK. Here is the gamesheet.

Friday 10/28: Albany lost to Toronto 3-0. Joe Blandisi, John Quenneville, Vojtech Mozik, Miles Wood, and Brandon Gormley had 4 shots each as the Devils outshot the Marlies 37-31. Scott Wedgewood made 28 saves. Albany went 0/5 on the PP and 2/3 on the PK. Here is the gamesheet.

Line Up:

Quenneville-Pietila-Sexton

Gibbons-Coleman-Blandisi

Wood-Rooney-Novak

Thomson-Pelley-Mandat

Helgeson-Mozik

Santini-Scarlett

Stollery-Gormley

Saturday 10/29: Albany defeated Toronto 4-3 (SO). John Quenneville and Ben Sexton led the way with a goal and an assist each. Reece Scarlett had the other ADevils goal. Andrew MacWilliam, Brandon Gormley, and Blake Pietila had an assist each. Quenneville had 6 shots as the Devils outshot the Marlies 34-33. Quenneville also had the only goal between both teams in the shootout. Mackenzie Blackwood made 30 saves and stopped all 3 Marlies he faced in the shootout. The game featured 4 fights with Joe Blandisi and Rinat Valiev each earning game misconducts due to the automatic ejection after 2 fighting majors in a game rule. Albany went 2/7 on the PP and 4/4 on the PK. Here is the gamesheet.

Line Up:

Quenneville-Pietila-Sexton

Gibbons-Coleman-Blandisi

Wood-Rooney-Novak

Thomson-Pelley-Mandat

Stollery-Mozik

MacWilliam-Scarlett

Gormley-Jacobs

Coming Up: Albany will take on Bridgeport tomorrow and Hershey on Saturday.

ECHL

Brandon Baddock made his Adirondack debut last week, playing in 3 games and registering an even rating and 4 shots. Ken Appleby made his season debut for Adirondack last Tuesday in a shootout loss to Elmira. He made 15 saves on 16 shots in the first 65 minutes and stopped 1/2 attempts in the shootout. His next start was on Saturday, also against Elmira, where he had the rare 8 save shutout.

Prospect of the Week

I'm going to give this week's honors to Brandon Gignac after his 2 goal, 1 assists performance against Victoriaville on Sunday. The speedy, playmkaing center has settled in nicely to his increased role in the offense this season with 10 assists in 10 games and a points per game rate of 1.30 to go along with his 54.38 FO%.

ADevil of the Week

When Albany has scored this season, it's been relatively well balanced. To avoid giving John Quenneville the honors for a second consecutive week, I'm going to side with another forward, Blake Pietila. The physical, defensively strong center has enjoyed playing top line minutes for Albany this season after making an impression late on in his first pro season last year with Albany and New Jersey. The former Michigan Tech captain has been second to Quenneville in most offensive categories this season and has done well to get his shots on goal, putting up 3 or more shots in 6 out of his 8 games played this season.

Your Take

In a busy week of prospect action, which players stood out to you? Which players have surprised you in a positive or negative way so far this season? Leave your comments below and thank you for reading!