New Jersey Devils Prospect Update: 1/9/18

The fourteenth week of the 2017-18 prospect update is here. It’s highlighted by Michael McLeod (Gold), Fabian Zetterlund and Jesper Boqvist (Silver), and Joey Anderson (Bronze) earning medals at the WJC. Also, defensemen across the system from juniors to college to the KHL produced offensively for their teams.

WJC

Joey Anderson and Team USA fell short of their goal, but still walked away from the WJC with a Bronze Medal. Anderson had an empty net goal, 6 shots, and won 8/9 faceoffs in 25:10 in a Quarterfinal victory over Russia on Tuesday. He then had an assist, 3 shots, and won 3/6 faceoffs in 25:02 as the USA lost a Semifinal to Sweden on Thursday. Anderson did well to help the USA rebound in the Bronze Medal match with a goal, assist, +2, and 4 shots in 16:43 on Friday afternoon. He got off to a slow start in the tournament but found his production later on, finishing at a point per game clip while averaging 4 shots and 19:48 per game. Overall, I thought he gave a good account of himself as a player that can play in all-situations and be a complementary piece to provide secondary scoring. Hopefully this sets him up for a strong stretch run with Minnesota Duluth.

Michael McLeod wasn’t put into a top role for Canada like a lot of people expected this tournament. However, he was able to embrace what the coaches wanted from him, someone that could be strong on the PK and chip in secondary scoring at even strength and on the PP, and he helped Canada to a Gold Medal. McLeod had a +1, 3 shots, and won 8/13 faceoffs in 15:26 as Canada defeated Switzerland in the Quarterfinals on Tuesday. He had an assist, 5 shots, and won 8/12 faceoffs in 12:58 as Canada was victorious over the Czech Republic on Thursday. In the Gold Medal match on Friday, he helped Canada to a title with a +1 and winning 6/8 faceoffs in 9:14. It was encouraging to see him not lot his ego get in the way and do whatever was necessary to help the team win.

Marian Studenic saw his WJC come to an end as Slovakia was eliminated on Tuesday by Sweden in the Quarterfinals. He had an even rating and 2 shots in 18:12. Hopefully he can build upon the WJC experience back in Hamilton where he will get to play on a team that has further bolstered their top 6 forward group prior to the OHL trade deadline to make a serious run at the OHL title. The competition for playing time should help him continue his growth and he’ll be playing with other skilled players no matter what line he slots in on.

Mikhail Maltsev, Yegor Zaitsev, and the rest of the Russian team walked away without a medal after being eliminated by the USA in the Quarterfinals on Tuesday. Maltsev had 3 shots and won 8/18 faceoffs - his only sub 60% faceoff mark of the WJC - in 17:05. Overall, Maltsev showed a physical, two-way game and is certainly a prospect on the rise. Zaitsev had a shot in 20:55 and was named as a Top 3 Player for Russia in the tournament.

Jesper Boqvist, Fabian Zetterlund, and Sweden came away with a Silver Medal. Boqvist had a shot in 8:14 against Slovakia in the Quarterfinals, 3 shots in 12:10 against the USA in the Semifinals, and no shots in 5:20 in the Gold Medal game. Boqvist has been out most of the year and wasn’t able to find his game in the WJC. Hopefully he gets back into a routine with Brynas IF in SHL play and is able to turn his season around. Fabian Zetterlund had a beautiful end-to-end goal, 2 PIM, and 6 shots in 15:03 in Sweden’s Quarterfinal victory over Slovakia. He played just 4:34 in their Semifinal victory over the USA after taking a hard hit by Joey Anderson and sitting out the rest of the game. The following night he was a -2 with 2 PIM, and 4 shots in 12:03 against Canada as Sweden came up short. Overall, Zetterlund improved his prospect stock as he was a tireless worker at even strength and a force in front of the net on Sweden’s top PP, causing chaos for defenders. He earned praise as one of the “Surprises” in the tournament by Corey Pronman of The Athletic (subscription required) and from Mike Morreale of NHL.com:

I highly recommend giving Julie Robenhymer’s interview with the Devils Director of Amateur Scouting, Paul Castron, a read on the Devils website. He provides his thoughts on all 7 Devils prospects in the WJC and it’s an interesting insight into how he views each prospect.

QMJHL

Jocktan Chainey had a clutch week for the 1st place Halifax Mooseheads. He had the game winning goal in overtime last Tuesday against Moncton and the primary assist on the overtime, game winning goal against Saint John on Saturday. You can see his assist on the game winning goal below. Overall, in 3 games he had a goal, 2 assists, +2, and 11 shots.

OHL

Marian Studenic had an assist, +3, and 9 shots over the course of his first 2 games back from the WJC for Hamilton.

Evan Cormier made 29 saves on 32 shots in an overtime victory over Erie on Friday. The following night he made 31 saves on 36 shots in a loss to Sarnia.

WHL

Colby Sissons was a +3 with 8 shots in his first 3 games for Swift Current last week. His fourth game of the week would prove to be busy as he had 3 assists, +1, 5 PIM (Fighting), and 2 shots against Red Deer on Sunday.

NCAA

Brett Seney had an assist on the game winning goal against UConn on Friday. He finished that game with an even rating, 4 shots, and won 5/13 faceoffs. The following night against Providence, he had a PP assist, -4, 2 shots, and won 5/12 faceoffs. Last Wednesday it was announced that Seney was Hockey East Player of the Week after his 2 goals helped Merrimack upset Denver the previous Friday.

JD Dudek had an assist, +1, and 6 shots in 2 games for Boston College last week.

Jeremy Davies had 2 assists, +2, and 4 shots in 2 games for Northeastern last week.

Reilly Walsh had an assist, even rating, and 4 shots in 2 games for Harvard over the weekend.

Matt Hellickson and Notre Dame had a great weekend. Hellickson scored his first career goal on Friday and finished the weekend with 2 PP goals, +1, and 6 shots as they swept a 2 game set against Michigan. Notre Dame, the top ranked team in the country, extended their winning streak to 15 games.

KHL/VHL

KHL

VHL

Yegor Rykov had an assist for the second straight game in a row as SKA St. Petersburg defeated Traktor Chelyabinsk on Friday. He also finished the game a +2 with a shot and block in 11:21.

Nikita Popugaev saw his 3 game VHL scoring streak come to an end on Saturday as he was held to a -1 with 2 shots in 4:32.

Europe

Aarne Talvitie had 2 goals, 2 assists, +1, and 4 PIM in 2 games last week.

Gilles Senn made 20 saves on 21 shots to help HC Davos get to a shootout against EV Zug on Sunday. He would stop 3/5 attempts in the shootout but it wasn’t enough for HC Davos to pull out the win.

Your Take

What are your thoughts on the Devils prospects that competed in the WJC? Is Fabian Zetterlund a rising prospect for you? Which other prospects stood out to you this week? Leave your comments below and thank you for reading!