New Jersey Devils Prospect Update: 10/16/18

The 2nd week of the 2018-19 prospect update is here. It’s highlighted by the Devils QMJHL defensemen staying productive, Ty Smith continuing his hot streak to start his WHL season, the NCAA season getting underway, and Gilles Senn finding some ice time. Let’s take a look at how the prospects performed over this past week.

QMJHL

Jocktan Chainey had 2 assists (1 EV, 1 PP), +2, 2 PIM, and 5 shots across 3 games for Halifax last week.

Xavier Bernard had 2 PP goals, -2, 8 PIM, and 11 shots across 3 games for Drummondville last week. Both of the goals came against Baie-Comeau on Thursday.

Jeremy Groleau put up an assist, +2, 2 PIM, and 7 shots in 3 games for Chicoutimi last week.

OHL

Mitchell Hoelscher continued to center the Ottawa 67’s third line this past week. In 3 games he had a +1, 2 PIM, 2 shots, and won 52.27% of his faceoffs.

WHL

Ty Smith continued his hot start to the season by adding a goal, 3 assists, +3, and 8 shots in 2 games last week for Spokane. He now has produced a point in every game he’s played in this season. You can check out his first goal of the season from a game against Moose Jaw on Saturday in the tweet below:

NCAA

Jeremy Davies helped Northeastern get off to a strong start this season with two victories over Sacred Heart. The top pairing defenseman for the Huskies was a +1 with 4 shots in the opening game on Friday. The next night he added a goal and an assist with a +3 and 3 shots. I recommend checking out The Northeastern Hockey Blog to get an in-depth look at how Davies performed over the opening weekend of the season.

Reilly Walsh and Harvard don’t open their season until 10/27 against Dartmouth at 7 PM on ESPN+. It looks like their exhibition on 10/20 against the USNTDP U18 team will air on ESPN+ at 7 PM.

Matt Hellickson had an assist, -1, 2 PIM, and 4 shots across Notre Dame’s opening two games of the season. It appears that he’s playing in a top 4 role to start the season.

Aarne Talvitie helped Penn State to two victories over Clarkson to open their season. He was held to a -2 with a shot in the opening game of the series. He came alive with a goal, an assist, +2, and 4 shots in the second game of the weekend. He appears to be playing RW on the 3rd line as he adjusts to the college game.

Russia

KHL

VHL

MHL

Mikhail Maltsev played in 2 VHL games last week, scoring 2 goals along with a +2, 5 shots, 70.59 FO%, and average ice time of 13:22 per game. His faceoff skills now have him up to a 67.53 FO% on the season.

Yegor Zaitsev appeared in 2 KHL games last week, going even with 2 PIM, 2 shots, 4 blocks, and an average ice time of 18:25 per game.

Nikita Popugaev played in 1 KHL game last week, against his former club CSKA. He had an even rating, 2 PIM, and 2 shots in 12:41.

Sweden & Finland

Jesper Boqvist and Brynas IF had the week off and will resume play on 10/18 against Malmo.

Fabian Zetterlund had an even rating and 2 shots in 10:53 of his first game last week. He found more success in his second match of the week with a goal, an assist, +2, 2 PIM, and 2 shots in 15:53.

Eetu Pakkila had a goal, -2, 2 PIM, and 13 shots while averaging 19:01 per game across 2 games last week.

Switzerland

Gilles Senn finally made his regular season debut for HC Davos this season. Unfortunately it occured in a 3-2 loss to ZSC Lions. Senn did do his part to give HC Davos a chance by making 31 saves on 34 shots in 58:37.

Akira Schmid still hasn’t found a new landing spot since being waived after one appearance with the Lethbridge Hurricanes of the WHL. Swiss Hockey News had this report from last Wednesday:

As the team manager of the SCL Tigers Marco Bayer tells the Berner Zeitung, their goal is it to find another team overseas for the young goaltender. If that should not be possible, Sweden might also be an option. Switzerland also remains an option.

Your Take

Which prospects stood out to you this week? Are you excited or concerned about any players in particular? Leave your comments below and thank you for reading!