New Jersey Devils Prospect Update: 3/22/16

This post will recap the 25th week of Devils prospect action for the 2015-16 season. It's highlighted by Blake Speers, Pavel Zacha, and John Quenneville finishing out their regular seasons on hot streaks, BC and Harvard making the NCAA Tournament, and the ADevils signing Paul Geiger to an ATO. Check out the stats and recap below!

OHL

Connor Chatham was held without a point in his first 2 games of the week. He did explode for a goal, 3 assists, and 6 shots against Sarnia on Sunday. Those were his first points in 10 games and first goal in 12 games. Windsor finished as the 5th seed in the Western Conference and will take on 4th seeded Kitchener in the Quarterfinals.

Pavel Zacha finished the season on a tear, putting up a goal and 7 assists over 3 games last week. In 7 games in March he has put up 5 goals and 8 assists. In the OHL Coaches Poll, Zacha was voted 2nd in Hardest Shot and 1st in Best Penalty Killer in the Western Conference. Josh Jacobs had an assist, +6, and 7 shots over 3 games last week. In the OHL Coaches Poll, he finished in 2nd place for Hardest Worker in the Western Conference. Sarnia is the 2nd seed in the Western Conference and will play the 7th seed, Sault Ste. Marie and fellow Devils prospects, Blake Speers and Colton White in the Quarterfinals.

Blake Speers finished the season on fire with 3 goals, 5 assists, and 26 shots in 3 games last week. In 9 games in March he has 7 goals and 7 assists. In the Coaches Poll, Speers was voted 3rd Best Stickhandler in the Western Conference. Speers was also named OHL Player of the Week yesterday. Colton White had an assist, +5, and 6 shots in 3 games last week. In the Coaches Poll, White finished 3rd in Best Defensive Defenseman in the Western Conference.

Mackenzie Blackwood went 1-1 over his final 2 starts of the season. He stopped 18 of 22 in a loss to Ottawa on Wednesday and stopped 24 of 28 in a win against Sudbury on Saturday. In the Coaches Poll, Blackwood was voted as being the Best Puck-Handling Goalie and 2nd Best Shootout Goalie in the Eastern Conference. Blackwood finished tied with Tyler Parsons for the highest SV% (.921) in the OHL. Barrie is the 2nd seed in the Eastern Conference and will take on the 7th seeded Mississauga.

WHL

John Quenneville had 4 goals, 2 assists, and a +4 in 3 games last week. Prior to being held off the scoresheet in the final game of the season, he had 9 goals and 10 assists in 8 games. Quenneville finished 3rd in points (73) and points per game (1.28) on Brandon. The Wheat Kings will take on the winner of the Edmonton/Medicine Hat tiebreaker game in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals.

Ryan Rehill had an empty net assist and +2 against Prince George on Friday. He led Kamloops defensemen in goals (10) and was tied for the lead in points (39). Kamloops will take on Kelowna in the Western Conference Quarterfinals.

Brandon Baddock had an assist, -1, and 6 PIM in 3 games last week. He finished 5th in points (35) on Edmonton. He also finished 2nd in the WHL in PIM (143). Edmonton will take on Medicine Hat in a tiebreaker game to determine the final wildcard spot and the chance to take on Brandon in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals.

NCAA

Alex Kerfoot had an assist, +2, shot, and won 3/15 faceoffs in Harvard's ECAC Semifinal win over St. Lawrence on Friday. He was a -1, with 3 shots and won 5/15 faceoffs in Harvard's loss in the Championship game against Quinnipiac on Saturday. Harvard is the 3rd seed in the Northeast Regional of the NCAA Tournament and will take on 2nd seeded Boston College, featuring fellow Devils prospects Steve Santini, Miles Wood, and JD Dudek.

Boston College lost to Northeastern in a Hockey East Semifinal on Friday. Steve Santini had 2 assists, +2, 2 shots, and 4 PIM. Miles Wood had 2 goals, +1, and 3 shots. JD Dudek was a -1 and lost a faceoff.

KHL

Gavrus is currently training with the Belarus national team.

AHL

Albany went 1-2 last week, earning 3 out of possible 6 points. They are still 2nd in the North Division with 85 points in 63 games. Albany has an all situation PDO of 100.88%. Albany's 20.24 PP% ranks 4th in the AHL while their 87.60 PK% ranks 2nd.

Injury Update: Blake Coleman (left shoulder) and Dan Kelly (lower body) remain sidelined. Graham Black (illness) and Chris McKelvie (upper body) missed Albany's most recent game.

Transactions: Paul Geiger was signed to an ATO on 3/16. Seth Helgeson was returned to Albany on 3/17 and then called up the following day along with Brian O'Neill. O'Neill would be returned on 3/19 but then called back up the following day along with Scott Wedgewood and Vojtech Mozik.

Wednesday 3/16: Albany lost to Providence 2-1 (SO). Jim O'Brien had a short handed goal with Blake Pietila and Raman Hrabarenka picking up the assists. Paul Thompson and Graham Black had 4 shots each as the Devils and Bruins put up 24 shots each. Scott Wedgewood made 23 saves in the game and went 0/2 in the shootout. Albany went 0/3 on the PP and 3/4 on the PK. Here is the gamesheet.



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

Mozik-Gragnani
Hrabarenka-Scarlett
McPherson-Burlon

Saturday 3/19: Albany defeated Utica 5-1. Jim O'Brien led the way with 2 goals and an assist followed by Blake Pietila and Nick Lappin with a goal and an assist each. Matt Lorito had the other Devils goal. Raman Hrabarenka, Marc-Andre Gragnani, Vojtech Mozik, Max Novak, and Ryan Kujawinski all earned an assist each. Lappin had 6 shots as the Devils outshot the Comets 32-22. Scott Wedgewood made 21 saves. Albany went 1/3 on the PP and 5/5 on the PK. Here is the gamesheet.



Sunday 3/20: Albany lost to Bridgeport 4-2. Rod Pelley had the first Devils goal with Nick Lappin earning the assist. Paul Thompson had the second goal with Jim O'Brien and Matt Lorito picking up the assists. Thompson had 4 shots as the Devils were outshot 28-27. Ken Appleby made 24 saves. Albany went 0/2 on the PP and 3/4 on the PK. Here is the gamesheet.



The New Guy: Nick Lappin is enjoying a fine start to his pro career with 3 goals, 2 assists, and 17 shots in 6 games. I suppose you could say he's doing his best Matt Lorito impression.

The Other New Guy: The ADevils signed defenseman Paul Geiger last Wednesday to an ATO. The 23 year old spent 4 years at Clarkson University where he captained the team the last 2 years. He finished his NCAA career with 13 goals and 38 assists in 150 games.

Coming Up: Albany will take on Springfield tonight, Syracuse on Friday, and Hershey on Saturday.

ECHL

Joe Faust, Ben Johnson, and Ken Appleby are still with Albany.

Prospect of the Week

With 3 goals, 5 assists, and 26 shots in 3 games last week, the OHL Player of the Week, Blake Speers is our prospect of the week. Speers enjoyed a fine run of form down the stretch with 11 goals and 13 assists over his final 16 games of the season. Speers also finished tied for 2nd in goals (26) and 1st in assists (48) and points (74) on Sault Ste. Marie. He also enjoyed a fine shots per game rate of 3.37 and FO% of 57.60%.

ADevil of the Week

Jim O'Brien picks up this week's honors after putting up 3 goals and 2 assists in 3 games. He is now on a 6 game point streak with 5 goals and 6 assists during that stretch. He's really stepped up with Reid Boucher and Mike Sislo in New Jersey and Corey Tropp no longer in the organization.

Prospects on TV

Friday 3/25: Boston College (Santini, Wood, Dudek) vs. Harvard (Kerfoot) on ESPNU at 8 PM.

Your Take

Now that the CHL season has come to an end, what stands out to you about those prospects? Are you excited for the BC - Harvard matchup? Leave your comments below and thank you for reading!