New Jersey Devils Prospect Update: 12/27/16

This post will recap the 12th week of Devils prospect action for the 2016-17 season. It's highlighted by the start of the WJC for Speers, McLeod, Anderson, and Rykov as well as Albany splitting both of their games.

WJC

WJC action started yesterday with all 4 Devils prospects in the tournament in action. Canada defeated Russia 5-3. Blake Speers had no points and 2 shots in 12:13 as he played in a checking role and was key on the PK. Michael McLeod had no points in 2:59 as he played sporadically as the extra forward. Yegor Rykov earned player of the game honors for Russia after posting a goal, assist, +1, and 3 shots in 21:32 as he played in all situations.

USA defeated Latvia 6-1. Joey Anderson had no points, -1 and 1 shot in 9:51 in a support role for Team USA. He displayed good vision in the offensive zone as he tried to set up teammates and got some work in on the PK.

QMJHL

The QMJHL had a holiday break from 12/17 to 12/28. Brandon Gignac will be back in action tomorrow against Rouyn-Noranda.

OHL

As mentioned above, Blake Speers and Michael McLeod are currently competing in the WJC for Canada. The OHL also had a holiday break from 12/18 to 12/28. The prospects return to action tomorrow with Colton White going against Flint, Nathan Bastian facing Kingston, and Evan Cormier taking on Windsor.

WHL

The WHL's holiday break was from 12/18 to 12/27. Colby Sissons will be back in action tonight against Moose Jaw.

NCAA

As mentioned above, Joey Anderson is competing in the WJC for the USA. The NCAA was off from 12/18 to 12/28. Alexander Kerfoot returns to action on Friday against RPI. JD Dudek is back in action on Thursday against Quinnipiac. Brett Seney returns tomorrow night against Colorado College. Jeremy Davies returns on Friday against Clarkson.

Europe

Yegor Rykov is currently competing in the WJC for Russia.

The VHL and MHL websites have been having trouble lately so I'm going to have to go back and double check the stats for Mikhail Maltsev from this past week. From what I was able to gather, he appeared in 1 VHL game without registering a point. He appeared in 2 MHL games adding 2 assists, +2, 6 shots, and won 17/23 faceoffs.

Jesper Bratt didn't play in either of AIK's 2 games last week due to injury.

AHL

Albany went 1-1 last week and currently sit 2nd in the North Division with 33 points after 30 games. Their all situation PDO is currently 100.14%. They currently have a Shots For% of 50.79%. The PP is currently operating at 15.11% which is 25th in the league, while the PK is at 81.75% which is 15th in the league.

Injury Update: Carter Camper returned to action after being out since 10/21 with an upper body injury. Ryan Kujawinski (lower body) and Scott Wedgewood (shoulder) remain sidelined while Joe Blandisi joins them with an upper body injury.

Transactions: Seth Helgeson was recalled by New Jersey on 12/22 and sent back to Albany on 12/24. Luke Gazdic was returned to Albany on 12/24.

Wednesday 12/21: Albany defeated Binghamton 7-1. Blake Coleman had 2 goals followed by Kevin Rooney, Rod Pelley, Petr Straka, Brian Gibbons, and Jan Mandat with one each. Mandat and John Quenneville had 2 assists followed by Reece Scarlett, Josh Jacobs, Yohann Auvitu, Gibbons, Coleman, and Straka with one each. Vojtech Mozik had 4 shots as the Devils outshot the Senators 25-19. Ken Appleby made 18 saves. Ben Thomson earned a game misconduct for kneeing in the 1st period. Albany went 1/3 on the PP and 3/3 on the PK. Here is the gamesheet.

Monday 12/26: Albany lost to Providence 4-2. Max Novak and Brian Gibbons had the goals while Kevin Rooney, Karl Stollery, and Reece Scarlett had an assist each. Yohann Auvitu had 5 shots followed by John Quenneville with 4 as the Devils were outshot 32-26. Ken Appleby made 28 saves on the 31 shots he faced. Albany went 0/4 on the PP and 2/3 on the PK. Here is the gamesheet.

Congrats to Gormley: It was announced last week that Brandon Gormley was selected to represent Canada at the upcoming Spengler Cup in Davos, Switzerland from 12/26 to 12/31. The Spengler Cup was first held in 1923 and is the oldest invitational hockey tournament in the world. The event is hosted by HC Davos and this year's tournament will also feature Team Canada, Dinamo Minsk, HC Lugano, Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg, and Mountfield HK.

Coming Up: Albany will take on Toronto on Friday, Hartford on Saturday, and Bridgeport on Sunday.

ECHL

Josh Jacobs and Ken Appleby are still with Albany. Brandon Baddock didn't appear in either of Adirondack's games last week.

Prospect of the Week

Yegor Rykov earns this week's honors after a strong showing in Russia's opening WJC game against Canada that saw him earn player of the game honors. The 19 year old defender has enjoyed a solid season with SKA St. Petersburg, cementing himself as a full time player this year. He'll be relied upon to help lead Russia at this year's WJC and we should be seeing plenty of him in all situations. Rykov definitely seems to be developing nicely this year.

ADevil of the Week

I'm going to give this week's honors to Blake Coleman after his 2 goal, 1 assist performance against Binghamton. He finished the week with 3 points, +2, and 4 shots across 2 games. Coleman is 2nd on the team in goals (9), tied-4th in assists (6), and 4th in points (17). His 1.96 shots per game rate is a bit lower than I would expect based off of his shot generation in college, but it still ranks 5th among ADevils skaters that have played at least 20+ games.

Your Take

What are your expectations for the WJC? How do you think the 4 Devils prospects in the tournament will do? What else are you looking forward to in the 2nd half of the season? Leave your comments below and thank you for reading!