New Jersey Devils Prospect Update: 10/23/18

The 3rd week of the 2018-19 prospect update is here. It’s highlighted by the Devils defensive prospects continuing to stand out, Akira Schmid find a new home with the Corpus Christi IceRays of the NAHL, and Fabian Zetterlund face at least 6 weeks out due to a knee injury.

QMJHL

Jocktan Chainey had a busy week playing in 4 games for Halifax. He had no points and was a -2 with 2 PIM and 4 shots in that span.

Xavier Bernard enjoyed a productive 4 game week for Drummondivlle. He finished with 2 goals, 2 assists, +3, 6 PIM, and 14 shots. It’s still very early in the season but his 4 goals currently have him tied for 2nd among defensemen in the QMJHL. Also, his 47 shots are tops among all of the defensemen in the QMJHL.

Jeremy Groleau had 2 goals, +5, and 4 shots across 3 games for Chicoutimi last week.

OHL

Mitchell Hoelscher had an assist, +1, 2 PIM, a shot, and won 60.87% of his faceoffs over 3 games for Ottawa last week. He’s continued to anchor the 3rd line for the OHL’s top team.

WHL

Ty Smith continued to star for Spokane last week. In 4 games he had a goal, 4 assists, -1, 2 PIM, and 15 shots. His most recent game against Prince Albert on Saturday snapped a 9 game point streak to start the season. Last Thursday, Smith was added to the Team WHL Roster for the 2018 Canada Russia Series. The WHL and Russian teams will square off on 11/5 and 11/6.

NCAA

Jeremy Davies had 2 assists, -2, and 5 shots against Union on Friday. You should check out one of his assists in the tweet below. He does a great job to win possession of the puck, use his hands to maintain it, and vision to set up his teammate for the goal. Unfortunately, he missed Saturday’s game against Union due to an upper body injury.

Reilly Walsh had an even rating and 4 shots in Harvard’s exhibition loss to the USNTDP U-18 team on Saturday. They open their regular season on Saturday against Dartouth at 7:00 PM ET on ESPN+.

Matt Hellickson was a +2 with 6 PIM, and 2 shots in 2 games for Notre Dame last week as they took on Nebraska-Omaha. Notre Dame will take on Minnesota-Duluth on Friday at 7:00 PM ET on NBCSN.

Aarne Talvitie continued to have a productive start to his collegiate career. In 2 games against Niagara last weekend, he had 2 assists, +2, and 9 shots. 8 of those shots came Friday night’s game.

NAHL

Akira Schmid has a new home as he is set to join the Corpus Christi IceRays of the North American Hockey League (USA Hockey’s Tier II junior league). Corpus Christi has allowed the 5th most goals in the NAHL, 12 games into their season, so there should hopefully be an opportunity there for Schmid to earn the starting spot and help get their season on track.

Russia

KHL

VHL

MHL

Mikhail Maltsev continued to play in the VHL for SKA-Neva. In 3 games last week he had a goal, assist, +2, 5 shots, and 66.07 FO% while averaging 16:26 per game.

Yegor Zaitsev continued to play in the KHL for Dynamo Moscow. In 3 games last week he was a +1 with a shot, block, and average ice time of 15:59.

Nikita Popugaev played in one game for Amurskie Tigry of the MHL last week, scoring a PP goal while finishing a -1 with 4 shots in 16:30. He has put up at least a point in every MHL game he’s appeared in this season.

Sweden & Finland

Jesper Boqvist was held to a -1 with 4 shots in 19:06 against Malmo on Thursday. He rebounded nicely with 2 assists, +1, and a shot in 18:19 against Orebro on Saturday.

Fabian Zetterlund was a -2 with 4 shots in 10:38 against Orebro on Thursday. Unfortunately, he would play just 6:06 and put up a shot before leaving Saturday’s game against Djurgarden with a right knee injury. Using google translate of the official club announcement, it looks like Zetterlund will miss at least 6 weeks. It looks like they will try to rehab the knee and and attempt to avoid surgery if possible, but those plans could change depending on how his knee reacts. It will be interesting to see how quickly he can make it back and whether or not this affects his standing with the Swedish team for the WJC in December.

Eetu Pakkila had 2 goals, an assist, +1, and 8 shots while averaging 18:21 per game across 2 games last week.

Switzerland

Gilles Senn made his second start of the season on Friday when HC Davos lost to Geneve-Servette HC. Senn played the full game and made 40 saves on 44 shots. He is now 0-2 on the season with a 3.54 GAA and .910 SV% in the small sample size.

Your Take

Which prospects stood out to you this week? How do you feel about Akira Schmid’s move to the NAHL? Are you encouraged by Aarne Talvitie’s smooth transition to NCAA hockey? Leave your comments below and thank you for reading!