New Jersey Devils Prospect Update: 2/21/17

This post will recap the 20th week of Devils prospect action for the 2016-17 season. It's highlighted by Blake Speers and John Quenneville having strong weeks and Albany keep on a busy run of games.

QMJHL

Brandon Gignac had 2 goals, an assist, +1, 12 shots, and won 54.43% of his faceoffs across 3 games for Shawinigan.

OHL

Blake Speers had 3 goals, an assist, even rating, 4 PIM, 12 shots, and won 61.22% of his faceoffs in 3 games for Sault Ste. Marie. Colton White had an assist, even rating, 2 PIM, and 6 shots during that stretch.

Michael McLeod had a relatively quiet week with 2 assists, +2, 2 PIM, 8 shots, and won 55.24% of his faceoffs in 4 games for Mississauga. Nathan Bastian returned to the line up, playing in all 4 games, adding a goal, assist, -2, 2 PIM, 7 shots, and won 39.47% of his faceoffs.

Evan Cormier went 1-0-1 last week. He made 27 saves on 28 shots in a victory over Flint on Friday. The following night he made 27 saves on 32 shots in an overtime loss to Kitchener. On Monday he made 27 saves on 32 shots in a victory over Sarnia.

WHL

Colby Sissons was a +2 with 4 PIM across 3 games for Swift Current last week. While he's a defense first prospect, he now has 0 points over his last 12 games.

NCAA

Alexander Kerfoot had a goal, assist, +3, 2 PIM, 4 shots, and won 38.71% of his faceoffs across 2 games for Harvard.

JD Dudek had an assist, even rating, 2 PIM, and 4 shots in 2 games against Vermont for BC last week.

Brett Seney had a goal, 2 assists, +1, 4 PIM, and 8 shots in 3 games for Merrimack.

Joey Anderson was held off the scoresheet with an even rating, 4 shots, and won 1/3 faceoffs in 2 games for Minnesota Duluth.

Jeremy Davies had an assist, +1, 2 PIM, and 2 shots in 2 games for Northeastern.

Europe

Yegor Rykov was a -2 with 2 PIM, 6 shots, 3 blocks, and averaged 11:26 in ice time across SKA's final 3 regular season games. The playoffs get underway today and SKA is the 2nd seed in the Western Conference and will take on 7th seeded Vityaz.

Mikhail Maltsev had 2 goals, +3, 6 shots, and won 51.43% of his faceoffs while averaging around 15 minutes in ice time per game across SKA-Neva's final 3 regular season games. They are the 2nd seed and will take on the 15th seeded HC Ryazan, starting on Saturday.

Jesper Bratt had 2 goals, -1, 6 shots, and averaged 10:08 in ice time across 3 games for AIK last week. His 2 goals against Almtuna IS on Sunday snapped a 7 game streak without a goal.

AHL

Albany went 2-2 last week and currently sit 1st in the North Division by points with 62 points after 55 games. 2nd place Syracuse is a point behind with 3 games in hand. Their all situation PDO is currently 99.78%. They currently have a Shots For% of 52.15%. The PP is currently operating at 18.53% which is 13th in the league, while the PK is at 85.06% which is 4th in the league.

Injury Update: Scott Wedgewood (shoulder), Jan Mandat (illness), Brandon Gormley (illness), and Blake Pietila (upper body injury) all remain sidelined.

Transactions: Sergey Kalinin cleared waivers and was assigned to Albany on 2/18 before being traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs organization. Viktor Loov came back the other way and is now with Albany.

Wednesday 2/15: Albany defeated Syracuse 6-1. Blake Coleman, Brian Gibbons, Ben Sexton, and John Quenneville had a goal and an assist each. The other goal scorers for Albany were Kevin Rooney and Vojtech Mozik. Andrew MacWilliam and Reece Scarlett had 2 assists followed by Max Novak, Ryan Kujawinski, Petr Straka, and Yohann Auvitu with one each. Quenneville had 7 shots followed by Sexton with 5 as the Devils outshot the Crunch 35-27. Mackenzie Blackwood made 26 saves. Albany went 3/8 on the PP and 7/7 on the PK. Here is the gamesheet.

Friday 2/17: Albany defeated Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 4-0. Blake Coleman, Ben Sexton, Max Novak, and Nick Lappin had the goals. Brian Gibbons and Yohann Auvitu had 2 assists followed by John Quenneville, Carter Camper, Lappin, and Rod Pelley with an assist each. Coleman had 5 shots as the Devils outshot the Penguins 34-24. Mackenzie Blackwood earned the 24 save shutout. Albany went 0/3 on the PP and 1/1 on the PK. Here is the gamesheet.

Saturday 2/18: Albany lost to Bridgeport 3-2. Carter Camper and Nick Lappin had the goals. Lappin, John Quenneville, Camper, and Jacob MacDonald had an assist each. Karl Stollery and Brian Gibbons had 4 shots each as the Devils outshot the Sound Tigers 33-28. Ken Appleby made 25 saves. Albany went 2/2 on the PP and 3/3 on the PK. Here is the gamesheet.

Monday 2/20: Albany lost to Utica 3-2. Carter Camper and Ryan Kujawinski had the goals. Petr Straka, Josh Jacobs, and Kevin Rooney had an assist each. Reece Scarlett and Nick Lappin had 4 shots as the Devils and Comets each had 35 shots. Mackenzie Blackwood made 32 saves. Albany went 0/6 on the PP and 5/6 on the PK. Here is the gamesheet.

Coming Up: Albany takes on St. John's on Friday and Saturday.

ECHL

Brandon Baddock missed all 4 of Adirondack's games last week due to injury.

Prospect of the Week

Blake Speers earns this week's honors after adding 3 goals, an assist, 12 shots, and winning 61.22% of his faceoffs in 3 games. Averaging 1.21 Pts/GP, 3.84 SH/GP, and a 58.92 FO%, it's clear he's enjoying his final season in the OHL.

ADevil of the Week

I'm going to give this week's honors to John Quenneville. The playmaking center had a goal, 3 assists, and 12 shots in 4 games last week for Albany and continues to be a force for the Devils. Hopefully he can keep it up for the remainder of the season and perhaps earn another call-up to New Jersey.

Your Take

How do you feel about the seasons that Speers and Quenneville are having? What about Albany's recent run of games? Leave your comments below and thank you for reading!