New Jersey Devils Prospect Update: 3/21/17

This post will recap the 24th week of Devils prospect action for the 2016-17 season. It's highlighted by Michael McLeod producing a lot in the OHL, the CHL playoffs and NCAA tournament taking shape, some prospects seeing their seasons come to an end, and Albany having a tough week.

QMJHL

Brandon Gignac had 2 goals, an even rating, 8 shots, and 75.00 FO% in Shawinigan's final 2 regular season games. Gignac finishes the regular season with 62 points in 59 games after having 61 points in 67 games last season. Shawinigan is the #3 seed in the QMJHL Playoffs and will take on #14 Val-d'Or in the 1st round.

OHL

Sault Ste. Marie played their final 3 regular season games. Blake Speers had a goal, 2 assists, +1, 2 PIM, 9 shots, and 64.81 FO% over those 3 games. He also finished 3rd for "Smartest Player" in the Western Conference in the OHL Coaches Poll. Colton White had an assist, even rating, and 3 shots in those 3 games. Sault Ste. Marie is the #2 seed in the Western Conference and will take on #7 Flint in the Quarterfinals.

Michael McLeod continued to be an offensive threat for Mississauga. He added 4 goals, 2 assists, +4, 2 PIM, 11 shots, and a 79.69 FO% in 3 games last week. McLeod finished 2nd for "Hardest Worker" and 2nd for "Best on Face-Offs" in the Eastern Conference in the OHL Coaches Poll. More on him later. Nathan Bastian had a goal, even rating, 9 PIM, 9 shots, and 47.83 FO% in those 3 games. Mississauga still has to play their final regular season game tonight, though they did clinch the #2 seed in the Eastern Conference and will play either Sudbury or Ottawa in the Quarterfinals.

Evan Cormier made his final 2 starts of the season for Saginaw as they were eliminated from playoff contention. He made 26 saves on 27 shots in a win over Sault Ste. Marie on Wednesday. On Saturday he made 22 saves on 26 shots in a loss to Windsor. He finishes the season with a 23-19-5-2 record, 3.23 GAA, and .899 SV%. I'll have his final GA%-, GSAA, Quality Starts, etc. metrics in next week's post once the OHL regular season officially ends and I can get the final numbers to work with. Cormier now owns a career .894 SV% in 140 regular season OHL games.

WHL

Colby Sissons missed Swift Current's final regular season games due to illness. He finishes the season with 28 points in 63 games after notching 22 points in 71 games the prior season. Swift Current is the #E3 seed (East Division) and will take on #E2 Moose Jaw in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals.

NCAA

Alexander Kerfoot had an even rating, 6 shots, and won 5/11 faceoffs in Harvard's ECAC Semifinal victory over Quinnipiac on Friday. He had an assist, -1, and won 9/18 faceoffs in their ECAC Finals victory over Cornell on Sunday. Harvard is the #1 seed in the East Regional. They will take on #4 Providence in the 1st round on Friday at 4 PM ET on ESPNU. The full tv schedule can be found here. On TSN's Insider Trading, Darren Dreger mentioned that Kerfoot may not sign with New Jersey and instead opt for free agency on August 15 with potentially a move back home to Vancouver being a possibility.

JD Dudek had a +1 rating and 3 shots in Boston College's Hockey East Semifinal victory over Boston University on Friday. The following night he had 2 assists, +1, and 3 shots as Boston College dropped a close Final to UMass Lowell. The loss ends BC's season, one in which Dudek took a step forward in becoming a solid college player. He had 22 points in 40 games this season as a utility player on the wings after having just 3 points in 34 games last season as a 4th liner.

Brett Seney's season ended a few weeks ago.

Joey Anderson was a -1 with 3 shots in Minnesota Duluth's NCHC Semifinal victory over Western Michigan. He came up big in the NCHC Finals with a goal, assist, +1, and 3 shots in a victory over North Dakota. The goal, on the powerplay, came with 51 seconds left in regulation to break a 3-3 tie and was an "excuse me goal" as his centering try banked in off the defenseman. You can check out the goal here. Minnesota Duluth is the #1 seed in the West Regional and will take on #4 Ohio State on Friday at 6:30 PM ET on ESPNU.

Jeremy Davies' season came to an end last week.

UDFA Update

Tyler Kelleher was heavily linked to the Devils in recent weeks, but ultimately signed an AHL deal for the remainder of the season and all of 2017-18 with the Milwaukee Admirals, Nashville's affiliate.

The Devils were also rumored to be interested in Gavin Bayreuther, but he decided to sign with the Dallas Stars. So far I haven't seen any other reports linking the Devils to other UDFA's.

Europe

Regular Season

Playoffs

Yegor Rykov helped SKA St. Petersburg to a 4-1 Western Conference Semifinal series win over Dynamo Moscow. In 2 games last week he had an even rating, 1 block, and averaged over 10 minutes per game. They will take on Lokomotiv Yaroslavl in the Conference Finals and it looks like the games will be televised on One World Sports if my tv guide is accurate. The series starts on Thursday.

Mikhail Maltsev and SKA-Neva are currently tied 2-2 in their 2nd round series against Rubin Tyumen. In 3 games last week Maltsev had a goal, assist, -2, 2 PIM, 10 shots, and 58.54 FO% while averaging just under 15 minutes per game.

Jesper Bratt and AIK had an interesting week. He helped AIK to a victory over Almtuna IS with an even rating and 1 shot in 7:16 of icetime as they won their HockeyAllsvenskan Playoff Group. Unfortunately, their season would come to an end in the best of 3 Playoff to the SHL Qualifiers which they lost 2-1 to BIK Karlskoga. He was a -1 with 2 shots in 13:50 in the first game. In the next game he had a goal, +1, and 3 shots in 15:16. He only played 1:18 in the third game, all of it in the opening period, which suggest there may have been an injury. I haven't been able to find anything concrete on that though. He managed to increase his point production by 5 points in 2 less regular season games this year, despite a cold streak in the middle of the season. He doesn't turn 19 until the end of July and I'm excited to see what next year holds for him.

AHL

Albany went 0-1-2 last week and currently sit 2nd in the North Division with 72 points in 64 games. Their all situation PDO is currently 99.51%. They currently have a Shots For% of 52.42%. The PP is currently operating at 17.69% which is 16th in the league, while the PK is at 84.91% which is 2nd in the league.

Injury Update: Scott Wedgewood (shoulder) and Ben Sexton (upper body) were sidelined.

Transactions: John Quenneville was returned to Albany on 3/14 and recalled by New Jersey the next day.

Friday 3/17: Albany lost a 2-1 shootout decision to Springfield. Jacob MacDonald had the goal with Kevin Rooney and Seth Helgeson earning the assists. MacDonald also had 6 shots as the Devils and Thunderbirds each had 29 shots. Brian Gibbons, Shane Harper, MacDonald, Carter Camper, Rod Pelley, and Max Novak all failed to convert in the shootout. Mackenzie Blackwood made 28 saves in the game and stopped 5/6 in the shootout. Albany went 0/2 on the PP and 1/2 on the PK. Here is the gamesheet.

Saturday 3/18: Albany lost to Syracuse 2-1 in overtime. Brian Gibbons had the goal with Karl Stollery and Seth Helgeson earning the assists. Carter Camper had 6 shots followed by Gibbons and Jacob MacDonald with 5 each as the Devils outshot the Crunch 42-28. Ken Appleby made 26 saves. Albany went 0/3 on the PP and 3/4 on the PK. Here is the gamesheet.

Sunday 3/19: Albany lost to Springfield 3-0. Carter Camper had 5 shots as the Devils outshot the Thunderbirds 34-25. Mackenzie Blackwood made 22 saves on 24 shots. Albany went 0/3 on the PP and 2/2 on the PK. Here is the gamesheet.

Coming Up: Albany will take on Bridgeport tomorrow, Utica on Friday, and Providence on Saturday.

ECHL

Brandon Baddock didn't make any appearances last week.

Prospect of the Week

The red hot Michael McLeod picks up another prospect of the week honor after adding 4 goals, 2 assists, 11 shots, and 79.69 FO% in 3 games last week. A man possessed, he now has 10 goals, 12 assists, and 31 shots over his last 11 games. I'm really hoping he can translate this into some big playoff performances to further his development.

ADevil of the Week

It was a rough week for Albany with no real standout player so I'm going to highlight two ADevils this week. First, we have Jacob MacDonald who has turned into a really solid contributor from the blue line since joining the team in January. Last week he had a goal and 12 shots over the course of 3 games. The 24 year old was never much of a point producer in college with Cornell (0.20 Pts/GP in 104 games) but has found his scoring touch at the professional level. He has a 0.60 Pts/GP in 110 ECHL games and now has 0.58 Pts/GP in 24 games with Albany as a threat at even strength and on the powerplay. While his 10.91 SH% is higher than what I would expect him to be able to repeat, he may prove to be a nice find as a solid back end defenseman.

The other ADevil I want to highlight is rookie goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood. So far his rookie season in the AHL has been a disappointment with a .902 SV% in 28 games. A far cry from what he was able to accomplish as the top goaltender in the OHL last season. Albany lost both of his starts last week but Blackwood was solid with a .943 SV%. He has put together 3 nice starts in a row now with a .949 SV% in that stretch. It's been an inconsistent season for very young netminder but he certainly has a lot of time on his side as he doesn't turn 21 until next December. Hopefully he can use the experience he gained this season, along with his natural ability, to develop into a solid goaltender at the professional level.

Your Take

What are your thoughts on the seasons that Cormier, Dudek, Davies, and Bratt had? What do you expect from McLeod going forward? Leave your thoughts below and thank you for reading!