New Jersey Devils Prospect Update: 3/20/18

The twenty-fourth week of the 2017-18 prospect update is here. It’s highlighted by Brett Seney signing an ELC with the Devils, Marian Studenic excelling for Hamilton, as well as a trio of prospects - Joey Anderson, Jeremy Davies, and Matt Hellickson advance to the NCAA Tournament. The European leagues also continued on with their playoff action.

QMJHL

Jocktan Chainey had 3 assists, +3, 2 PIM, and a shot in 3 games last week. The 3 assists all came at even strength against Moncton on Friday. Kris Abbott of Eastlink TV had the below tweet of praise for way Chainey has been playing lately. Halifax finished 4th in the QMJHL and will take on the 13th seeded Baie-Comeau in Round 1 of the playoffs, with action beginning this Friday.

OHL

Michael McLeod had a goal, 2 assists, -1, 4 PIM, 8 shots, and won 69.09% of his faceoffs in 3 games last week. He was also named Best on Face-Offs for Eastern Conference players in the most recent OHL Coaches Poll. Mississauga finished 7th in the Eastern Conference and will take on 2nd seeded Barrie in the Quarterfinals which get underway on Thursday.

Marian Studenic closed out his regular season strong with 3 goals, 2 assists, +4, and 8 shots in 2 games. All 3 goals and one of the assists came against Peterborough on Saturday as he enjoyed a more prominent role with several of the Bulldogs key players being rested for the playoffs. Hamilton is the top seed in the Eastern Conference and will take on 8th seeded Ottawa in Quarterfinal action that gets underway on Thursday.

Evan Cormier made 31 saves on 38 shots in a loss to Sault Ste. Marie on Wednesday. He then made 36 saves on 40 shots in an overtime loss to London on Saturday. The following day he made 27 saves on 29 shots in a loss to Windsor. Cormier ended up leading OHL goaltenders in minutes (3,433) and was named the Best Shootout Goalie from the Western Conference in the OHL Coaches Poll. Saginaw is the 8th seed in the Western Conference and will take on on the OHL’s best team in Sault Ste. Marie in Quarterfinal action starting on Friday.

WHL

Colby Sissons had a rough end to his regular season, going without a point and being a -5 with 2 PIM in 3 games. Though he was still getting his chances with 14 shots on goal during that stretch. Swift Current is the 2nd seed in the East Division of the Eastern Conference and will take on Regina who finished 3rd in the East Division in Quarterfinal play. These two teams just closed out the regular season with a home-and-home series so they are certainly familiar with each other.

NCAA

Brett Seney had an eventful week off the ice, being named a Hockey East Third Team All-Star and signing his two-year, entry level contract with the New Jersey Devils. He also signed an Amateur Try-Out Agreement with Binghamton on Saturday so he’ll be able to get into some AHL action before the season ends.

Joey Anderson was a -1 with 2 PIM, and 3 shots in a loss to Denver in the NCHC Semifinals on Friday. The following night he was a +1 with a shot in a loss to North Dakota in the 3rd place game. Fortunately for Minnesota Duluth, they just made the cut for the NCAA Tournament. They will be the 3rd seed in the West Regional and play the 2nd seed Minnesota State on Friday at 7:30 PM ET on ESPN3. You can check out the full bracket with game times and TV information over at USCHO.

Jeremy Davies had an assist, even rating, 2 PIM, and 2 shots in Northeastern’s overtime loss to Providence in the Hockey East Semifinals on Friday. The good news is Northeastern made the NCAA Tournament as the 3rd seed in the Northeast Regional and will take on 2nd seeded Michigan on Saturday at 4:30 PM ET on ESPNews. Davies was also named a Hockey East First Team All-Star.

Reilly Walsh had a PP goal, PP assist, even rating, and 3 shots in Harvard’s overtime loss to Clarkson in the ECAC Semifinals. With that loss his first year of college hockey as come to an end though he was named to the ECAC All-Rookie Team. Walsh started the season with a strong offensive output for a freshman defensemen with 10 points over his first 13 games. He then was a bit snake-bitten with 2 points over his next 12 games even though he was still getting his chances. He did end the season strong with 8 points over his final 8 games. I’m looking forward to him taking another step further next season for Harvard.

Matt Hellickson had a PP goal, even rating, and one shot in Notre Dame’s overtime win over Ohio State to win the Big Ten Championship on Saturday. They are the top seed in the East Regional and will take on 4th seeded Michigan Tech at 3 PM ET Friday on ESPN2.

KHL/VHL

KHL

VHL

Mikhail Maltsev had a goal, assist, even rating, 2 PIM, 6 shots, and 66.6 FO% while playing between 12-17 minutes per game across 3 VHL playoff games for SKA-Neva last week. They lead their current series 3-1 and will look to advance later today to the Semifinals.

Yegor Zaitsev’s season has come to an end.

Nikita Popugaev was a healthy scratch for CSKA’s KHL playoff games last week. They lead their current series 2-1 as they look to advance to the Conference Finals.

Europe

Jesper Boqvist was a -2 with 3 shots while playing 12-17 minutes per game across 3 SHL playoff games for Brynas last week. They managed to advance out of the Wildcard Round and are currently down 1-0 in the Quarterfinals.

Fabian Zetterlund had a goal, +1, and 3 shots in 12:38 as Farjestad lost their opening game in the Quarterfinals yesterday.

Aarne Talvitie had an assist, -4, 9 shots, and 66.6 FO% in 3 playoff games last week as his team is down 2-1 in the series. He played 18:16 and 19:44 in the first two games before lasting just 2:40 in the third game due to an injury. The Leijonat website is including his postseason totals into his normal stat line (much like the NCAA does) so I’ve included those games in the table above.

Gilles Senn has helped HC Davos to a 2-2 series tie against EHC Biel-Bienne in the opening round of the NLA Playoffs. Last Tuesday he made 28 saves on 30 shots in a loss. He followed that up with 28 saves on 32 shots in another loss on Thursday. Davos fared better on Saturday as he made 27 saves on 29 shots to even up the series.

Your Take

Which prospects stood out to you this week? Are you encouraged by Studenic’s strong performance to end regular season action? Are you satisfied with Seney earning an ELC? Are you looking forward to seeing Anderson, Davies, and Hellickson compete in the NCAA Tournament? Leave your comments below and thank you for reading!