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New Jersey Devils Prospect Update: 3/15/16

Week 24 of the 2015-16 prospect update saw the Devils sign Nick Lappin from Brown, Brett Seney's season come to an end as Merrimack fell in the Hockey East tournament, and the Albany Devils earn another winning streak.

Mackenzie Blackwood has regained his form over his past 4 starts after a brief slump.
Mackenzie Blackwood has regained his form over his past 4 starts after a brief slump.
Graig Abel/Getty Images

This post will recap the 24th week of Devils prospect action for the 2015-16 season. It's highlighted by the Devils signing of Brown University forward Nick Lappin, the conclusion of Brett Seney's season with Merrimack, Mackenzie Blackwood breaking out of his slump, and the Albany Devils going on another 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 20.39 Flint/Windsor 61 16 21 37 -15 86 9.14% 2.87 0.61
Height: 6'2 A1 Pts1 EVG EVA EV Pts PPG PPA PP Pts SHG SHA SH Pts NHLe
Weight: 225 13 29 12 17 29 4 3 7 0 0 0 16
GP G A Pts +/- PIM SH% SH/GP Pts/GP
Josh Jacobs D 20.09 Sarnia 64 4 19 23 20 38 2.86% 2.19 0.36
Height: 6'2 A1 Pts1 EVG EVA EV Pts PPG PPA PP Pts SHG SHA SH Pts NHLe
Weight: 200 13 17 3 12 15 1 7 8 0 0 0 10
GP G A Pts +/- PIM SH% SH/GP Pts/GP
Pavel Zacha C 18.95 Sarnia 48 27 29 56 10 95 17.65% 3.19 1.17
Height: 6'3 A1 Pts1 EVG EVA EV Pts PPG PPA PP Pts SHG SHA SH Pts NHLe
Weight: 213 18 45 15 17 32 10 12 22 2 0 2 32
GP G A Pts +/- PIM SH% SH/GP Pts/GP
Blake Speers RW 19.21 Sault Ste. Marie 65 23 43 66 -7 38 11.27% 3.14 1.02
Height: 5'11 A1 Pts1 EVG EVA EV Pts PPG PPA PP Pts SHG SHA SH Pts NHLe
Weight: 183 23 46 18 17 35 4 25 29 0 0 0 27
GP G A Pts +/- PIM SH% SH/GP Pts/GP
Colton White D 18.88 Sault Ste. Marie 65 9 25 34 -11 13 9.38% 1.48 0.52
Height: 6'1 A1 Pts1 EVG EVA EV Pts PPG PPA PP Pts SHG SHA SH Pts NHLe
Weight: 185 11 20 4 19 23 4 5 9 0 0 0 14

Name Age GP GS W L OTL SOL GAA SV% GA%- GSAA GSAA/60
Mackenzie Blackwood 19.27 41 40 27 12 0 0 2.65 0.924 82 16.13 0.41
Height: 6'4 Barrie SO SO% QS QS% RBS RBS% BO BO% EVG% PPG% SHG%
Weight: 215 OHL 3 7.50% 25 62.50% 5 12.50% 3 7.50% 81.55% 15.53% 1.94%

Connor Chatham was a -3 with 2 PIM and 5 shots across 2 games last week for Windsor. He currently has no points over his last 8 games.

Pavel Zacha had 2 goals, an assist, even rating, 8 PIM, 5 shots, and won 23/33 faceoffs in 2 games for Sarnia. Josh Jacobs had an assist, +1, and 8 shots in 2 games.

Blake Speers had 2 goals, an assist, even rating, 11 shots, and won 18/35 faceoffs in 3 games for Sault Ste. Marie. The highlight of Colton White's week was a goal and 3 assist performance against Saginaw on Thursday. He finished the week with an even rating and 6 shots.

Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 33 of 34 shots in a win over Owen Sound on Wednesday. He followed that up by stopping 36 saves on 38 shots in a win over Peterborough on Saturday. He seems to have broken out of his slump with 4 straight Quality Starts and a .943 SV% during that stretch.

WHL

Name Pos. Age Team GP G A Pts +/- PIM Pts/GP NHLe
John Quenneville C 19.92 Brandon 54 27 40 67 24 71 1.24 27
Height: 6'1 A1 Pts1 EVG EVA EV Pts PPG PPA PP Pts SHG SHA SH Pts
Weight: 205 26 53 18 24 42 8 16 24 1 0 1
GP G A Pts +/- PIM Pts/GP NHLe
Ryan Rehill D 20.36 Kamloops 62 10 28 38 0 94 0.61 14
Height: 6'3 A1 Pts1 EVG EVA EV Pts PPG PPA PP Pts SHG SHA SH Pts
Weight: 218 12 22 4 13 17 6 12 18 0 1 1
GP G A Pts +/- PIM Pts/GP NHLe
Brandon Baddock C 20.98 Edmonton 65 22 12 34 -10 139 0.52 12
Height: 6'4 A1 Pts1 EVG EVA EV Pts PPG PPA PP Pts SHG SHA SH Pts
Weight: 225 7 29 12 9 21 7 3 10 2 0 2

John Quenneville had 2 goals, an assist, +3, and 6 PIM over the course of 2 games for Brandon. He has a 6 game point streak with 5 goals and 8 assists during that time.

Ryan Rehill registered an assist, -1, and 4 PIM in 4 appearances for Kamloops.

Brandon Baddock had a goal, even rating, and 6 PIM in 3 games for Edmonton.

NCAA

Name Pos. Team GP G A Pts +/- PIM SH% SH/GP Pts/GP FO% NHLe
Alex Kerfoot C Harvard 30 4 29 33 11 16 8.16% 1.63 1.10 45.71% 36
Height: 5'10 Age League A1 Pts1 EVG EVA EV Pts PPG PPA PP Pts SHG SHA SH Pts
Weight: 175 21.61 ECAC 16 20 3 13 16 0 14 14 0 0 0
GP G A Pts +/- PIM SH% SH/GP Pts/GP Blks NHLe
Steve Santini D Boston College 37 1 16 17 21 42 2.04% 1.32 0.46 51 12
Height: 6'2 A1 Pts1 EVG EVA EV Pts PPG PPA PP Pts SHG SHA SH Pts
Weight: 208 21.04 Hockey East 4 5 1 13 14 0 0 0 0 1 1
GP G A Pts +/- PIM SH% SH/GP Pts/GP FO% NHLe
JD Dudek C Boston College 30 1 2 3 -5 6 6.67% 0.50 0.10 38.89% 3
Height: 5'11 A1 Pts1 EVG EVA EV Pts PPG PPA PP Pts SHG SHA SH Pts
Weight: 185 20.14 Hockey East 1 2 1 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 0
GP G A Pts +/- PIM SH% SH/GP Pts/GP FO% NHLe
Miles Wood LW Boston College 33 8 24 32 14 74 8.00% 3.03 0.97 22.22% 26
Height: 6'1 A1 Pts1 EVG EVA EV Pts PPG PPA PP Pts SHG SHA SH Pts
Weight: 185 20.52 Hockey East 16 24 4 18 22 2 3 5 1 1 2
GP G A Pts +/- PIM SH% SH/GP Pts/GP FO% NHLe
Brett Seney C Merrimack 32 8 18 26 7 34 14.29% 1.75 0.81 49.23% 22
Height: 5'9 A1 Pts1 EVG EVA EV Pts PPG PPA PP Pts SHG SHA SH Pts
Weight: 170 20.05 Hockey East 12 20 7 12 19 1 6 7 0 0 0
GP G A Pts +/- PIM SH% SH/GP Pts/GP FO% NHLe
Nick Lappin RW Brown 31 17 16 33 -6 12 12.06% 4.55 1.06 43.75% 35
Height: 6'1 A1 Pts1 EVG EVA EV Pts PPG PPA PP Pts SHG SHA SH Pts
Weight: 175 23.38 ECAC 5 22 13 13 26 4 3 7 0 0 0

Alex Kerfoot had an assist, +1, 3 shots, and won 18/38 faceoffs in Harvard's 2-0 series win over RPI to advance to the ECAC Semifinals. Harvard will take on St. Lawrence.

Boston College defeated Vermont 2-1 in the Hockey East Quarterfinals. Steve Santini had an assist, even rating, 4 PIM, and 5 shots over the course of 3 games. Miles Wood had 2 assists, an even rating, 2 PIM, and 8 shots in 3 games. JD Dudek was held off the scoresheet in the first 2 games of the series. He had a goal and an assist in the deciding game of the series. He finished a +1 with 3 shots over the course of 3 games. Boston College will take on Northeastern in the Hockey East Semifinals.

Merrimack saw their season come to an end when they lost a Hockey East Quarterfinals series to Providence 2-0. Brett Seney was a -1 with a shot and won 1/2 faceoffs in the series. He finished the season on a 7 game point drought. Seney still finished tied for 1st on Merrimack in assists (18), points (26), and Goals Created (9.18), with 7 games less played than co-leading scorer Hampus Gustafsson.

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

The KHL regular season is over but Gavrus was finally removed from the injured list. He was also invited to participate in the Belarus national team training camp.

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
Mike Sislo 5'11 190 28.17 RW 54 27 25 52 14 41 16 18 159 16.98% 2.94 0.96 21.23 0.39 38 10 13 23 14 10 24 3 0 3 0 2 2
Matt Lorito 5'9 170 25.72 LW 56 14 34 48 24 38 12 22 97 14.43% 1.73 0.86 16.66 0.30 34 10 15 25 4 19 23 0 0 0 0 0 0
Reid Boucher 5'10 190 22.53 LW 32 17 12 29 7 24 10 4 123 13.82% 3.84 0.91 12.36 0.39 36 9 9 18 7 3 10 0 0 0 1 0 1
Corey Tropp 6'2 185 26.65 RW 51 11 17 28 11 22 2 61 78 14.10% 1.53 0.55 10.48 0.21 22 7 14 21 3 3 6 0 0 0 1 0 1
Paul Thompson 6'1 200 27.30 RW 41 11 16 27 10 21 5 59 120 9.17% 2.93 0.66 10.21 0.25 26 7 13 20 3 3 6 0 0 0 1 0 1
Jim O'Brien 6'3 195 27.14 C 41 12 14 26 10 22 6 34 112 10.71% 2.73 0.63 10.21 0.25 25 9 13 22 2 1 3 1 0 1 0 0 0
Marc-Andre Gragnani 6'3 210 29.03 D 43 0 25 25 9 9 -4 8 39 0.00% 0.91 0.58 6.72 0.16 23 0 8 8 0 16 16 0 0 0 0 1 1
Brian O'Neill 5'9 175 27.80 RW 30 9 14 23 7 16 6 4 50 18.00% 1.67 0.77 8.60 0.29 30 6 10 16 3 4 7 0 0 0 0 0 0
Reece Scarlett 6'1 180 22.97 D 46 4 18 22 8 12 0 39 80 5.00% 1.74 0.48 6.99 0.15 19 4 10 14 0 8 8 0 0 0 0 0 0
Joseph Blandisi 6'0 200 21.67 C 24 7 14 21 8 15 0 47 29 24.14% 1.21 0.88 7.52 0.31 34 3 5 8 4 8 12 0 0 0 0 1 1
Brandon Burlon 6'0 190 26.04 D 45 3 15 18 5 8 -6 39 41 7.32% 0.91 0.40 5.64 0.13 16 3 6 9 0 9 9 0 0 0 0 0 0
Ben Thomson 6'3 205 23.17 LW 57 5 12 17 8 13 2 91 90 5.56% 1.58 0.30 5.91 0.10 12 5 11 16 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Ryan Kujawinski 6'2 205 20.97 C 50 4 12 16 4 8 -3 27 49 8.16% 0.98 0.32 5.37 0.11 13 3 9 12 1 3 4 0 0 0 0 0 0
Dan Kelly 6'1 215 26.84 D 54 4 11 15 3 7 8 78 57 7.02% 1.06 0.28 5.10 0.09 11 4 9 13 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0
Blake Pietila 5'11 200 23.08 LW 50 8 5 13 2 10 -17 15 77 10.39% 1.54 0.26 5.64 0.11 10 5 1 6 3 3 6 0 1 1 0 0 0
Vojtech Mozik 6'3 200 23.23 D 47 2 11 13 8 10 25 34 83 2.41% 1.77 0.28 4.03 0.09 11 1 7 8 1 4 5 0 0 0 0 0 0
Rod Pelley 6'0 205 31.55 LW 54 7 5 12 3 10 -6 24 64 10.94% 1.19 0.22 5.10 0.09 9 7 3 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2
Max Novak 5'11 180 24.93 RW 31 2 6 8 3 5 -2 6 45 4.44% 1.45 0.26 2.69 0.09 10 1 5 6 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0
Seth Helgeson 6'4 215 25.45 D 37 2 5 7 3 5 12 45 44 4.55% 1.19 0.19 2.42 0.07 7 2 4 6 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Blake Coleman 5'11 200 24.31 C 14 4 3 7 2 6 5 19 26 15.38% 1.86 0.50 2.96 0.21 20 4 2 6 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Chris McKelvie 6'1 195 31.08 RW 44 1 6 7 2 3 -10 37 56 1.79% 1.27 0.16 2.15 0.05 6 0 6 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1
Graham Black 6'0 185 23.18 C 38 5 2 7 0 5 0 18 50 10.00% 1.32 0.18 3.22 0.08 7 5 2 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Raman Hrabarenka 6'4 230 23.57 D 35 5 1 6 1 6 -13 42 48 10.42% 1.37 0.17 2.96 0.08 7 2 1 3 3 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0
Corbin McPherson 6'4 210 27.53 D 50 1 4 5 2 3 -5 32 52 1.92% 1.04 0.10 1.61 0.03 4 1 4 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond 6'1 210 30.80 RW 38 1 3 4 1 2 -2 98 35 2.86% 0.92 0.11 1.34 0.04 4 1 3 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Nick Lappin 6'1 175 23.38 RW 3 2 0 2 0 2 1 0 9 22.22% 3.00 0.67 1.07 0.36 26 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Greg Wolfe 5'10 185 25.90 C 3 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 2 50.00% 0.67 0.33 0.54 0.18 13 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Ben Johnson 6'0 195 21.78 LW 6 0 1 1 1 1 0 2 6 0.00% 1.00 0.17 0.27 0.04 7 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Joe Faust 5'11 207 24.35 D 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.00% 0.33 0.00 0.00 0.00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Alexandre Carrier 6'3 210 25.08 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
Stefan Matteau 6'2 220 22.07 LW 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 1 0.00% 1.00 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 34.75 40 38 25 9 5 0 2.28 0.907 104 -1.36 -0.04
Height: 5'11 MIN SO SO% QS QS% RBS RBS% BO BO% EVG% PPG% SHG%
Weight: 180 2315.29 6 15.79% 21 55.26% 4 10.53% 6 15.79% 79.55% 19.32% 1.14%
Age GP GS W L OTL SOL GAA SV% GA%- GSAA GSAA/60
Scott Wedgewood 23.60 14 13 8 2 2 0 1.80 0.924 85 5.58 0.44
Height: 6'2 MIN SO SO% QS QS% RBS RBS% BO BO% EVG% PPG% SHG%
Weight: 195 765.14 1 7.69% 7 53.85% 3 23.08% 3 23.08% 73.91% 26.09% 0.00%
Age GP GS W L OTL SOL GAA SV% GA%- GSAA GSAA/60
Doug Carr 27.02 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%
Age GP GS W L OTL SOL GAA SV% GA%- GSAA GSAA/60
Ken Appleby 20.94 6 6 3 2 1 0 2.65 0.905 107 0.94 0.16
Height: 6'4 MIN SO SO% QS QS% RBS RBS% BO BO% EVG% PPG% SHG%
Weight: 205 362.04 1 16.67% 2 33.33% 0 0.00% 1 16.67% 75.00% 25.00% 0.00%

Albany won all 3 of their games last week and are now on a 4 game winning streak. They are still 2nd in the North Division with 82 points after 60 games. Albany has an all situation PDO of 100.79%. Albany's 20.49 PP% ranks 4th in the league while their 87.77 PK% is ranked 1st.

Injury Update: Blake Coleman (left shoulder) remains sidelined for Albany. Scott Wedgewood (right shoulder) and Vojtech Mozik (upper body) made their returns to the lineup. Paul Thompson (upper body) is out indefinitely after suffering an injury against St. John's in the prior week. Dan Kelly (lower body) is out after suffering a knee on knee hit against Binghamton this past Friday.

Transactions: New Jersey called up Seth Helgeson and Mike Sislo on 3/8. New Jersey signed Nick Lappin to an ELC on 3/8 and he then signed an ATO on 3/10 to get his professional career started. Joe Faust was sent to Adirondack (ECHL) on 3/10 and recalled by Albany on 3/13.

Friday 3/11: Albany defeated Binghamton 3-2 in OT. Reece Scarlett and Matt Lorito had the goals in regulation with Brian O'Neill scoring the game winner in OT. Jim O'Brien had 3 assists followed by Marc-Andre Gragnani and O'Neill with one each. O'Brien had 5 shots as the Devils outshot the Senators 27-25. Ken Appleby made 23 saves. Albany went 0/5 on the PP and 3/4 on the PK. Here is the gamesheet.



Saturday 3/12: Albany defeated Utica 4-3. Jim O'Brien had 2 goals followed by Nick Lappin and Ben Thomson with the other goals. Lappin's goal was the first of his pro career. Ryan Kujawinski, Max Novak, Brian O'Neill, Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond, Reece Scarlett, Vojtech Mozik, and Graham Black picked up an assist each. Scott Wedgewood made 16 saves in his first game action since late January as the Devils outshot the Comets 31-19. Albany went 0/3 on the PP and 2/2 on the PK. Here is the gamesheet.



Line Up:
Lorito-O'Neill-Lappin
Kujawinski-O'Brien-Novak
Pietila-Black-Thomson
McKelvie-Pelley-Leblond

Gragnani-Mozik
Scarlett-Hrabarenka
Burlon-McPherson

Sunday 3/13: Albany defeated Toronto 3-2. Raman Hrabarenka scored 2 powerplay goals while Nick Lappin had the other Albany goal. Marc-Andre Gragnani and Matt Lorito had 2 assists each followed by Blake Pietila and Jim O'Brien had an assist each. Scott Wedgewood made 17 saves as the Devils outshot the Marlies 24-19. Albany went 2/5 on the PP and 5/5 on the PK. Here is the gamesheet.



Line Up:
Lorito-O'Brien-Lappin
Kujawinski-Pietila-Novak
Johnson-Black-Thomson
Leblond-Pelley-McKelvie

Gragnani-Mozik
Hrabarenka-Scarlett
Burlon-McPherson

Coming Up: Albany will take on Providence tomorrow night, Utica on Saturday, and Bridgeport 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 24.35 D 38 2 8 10 4 6 1 12 67 2.99% 1.76 0.26 1 6 7 1 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 0
Ben Johnson 6'0 195 21.78 LW 13 3 3 6 2 5 0 6 31 9.68% 2.38 0.46 3 2 5 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 20.94 24 24 14 8 1 1 2.22 0.925 85 2.18 0.09
Height: 6'4 MIN SO SO% QS QS% RBS RBS% BO BO% EVG% PPG% SHG%
Weight: 205 1434.8 3 12.50% 16 66.67% 4 16.67% 1 4.17% 73.58% 22.64% 3.77%
Age GP GS W L OTL SOL GAA SV% GA%- GSAA GSAA/60
Scott Wedgewood 23.60 1 1 1 0 0 0 2.00 0.951 55 1.61 1.61
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 was briefly sent back to Adirondack for 2 games last week. He added an assist, -2, and 5 shots to his season totals.

Prospect of the Week

Though he is technically an ADevil now, I'm going to choose Nick Lappin as prospect of the week. Here is John's post on Lappin shortly after the signing was announced. The newest Devils prospect is off to a nice start in Albany with 2 goals and 9 shots after 3 games. Lappin played for Brown University for 4 years, scoring 51 goals and 55 assists in 123 games (0.86 Pts/GP). This past season he led Brown in goals (17), points (33), shots per game (4.55), and Goals Created (13.25). His shots per game rate is currently ranked 3rd in the country. SBN College Hockey ranked him as the 13th best NCAA free agent available this spring and the 93rd best NHL prospect on their Top 100 list. Here's what they had to say:

Lappin is a tough two-way forward with good scoring touch. He can play a grinding physical game, and should be able to chip in some offense when needed.

ADevil of the Week

Jim O'Brien picks up this week's honors after notching 2 goals and 4 assists in in 3 games last week. He is currently 3rd among Albany players in even strength scoring with 22 EV points. O'Brien is also above the 75th percentile in points per game and goals per game according to Quant Hockey.

Prospects on TV

Friday 3/18: Hockey East Semifinal: Boston College (Santini, Wood, Dudek) vs. Northeastern on NBCSN at 8 PM. The Hockey East Championship game will be on Saturday night (3/19) on NBCSN at 7 PM.

Your Take

How do you feel about the signing of Nick Lappin? What about Blackwood's recent resurgence? What are your expectations for Albany as the playoffs near? Leave your comments below and thank you for reading!