New Jersey Devils Prospect Update: 4/24/18

The twenty-ninth week of the 2017-18 prospect update is here. It’s highlighted by Marian Studenic earning 2 assists in 3 straight games for Hamilton as they are on the verge of advancing to the OHL Championship. Also, Colby Sissons has helped Swift Current in their Conference Finals series in the WHL and Mikhail Maltsev has earned a contract extension with SKA while still competing in the VHL Finals.

QMJHL

Jocktan Chainey’s season came to an end on 4/11 but the Devils brought him in to skate with the extra players on 4/18 as reported by Chris Ryan on twitter. Hopefully he’ll be able to use the experience of being around a NHL team in the playoffs to his advantage as he heads into the offseason.

OHL

Michael McLeod was one of the players recalled from Binghamton to skate with New Jersey during the playoffs. Like with Chainey, I hope he’ll be able to find the brief experience valuable. Also, the Binghamton Devils twitter account posted the below video of McLeod discussing how the professional game compares to juniors:

Marian Studenic has helped #1 Hamilton get out to a 3-0 series lead over #3 Kingston in the Eastern Conference Finals. He has 2 assists in each of those 3 games in the past week as well as a +7, 2 PIM, and 10 shots. He’s remained a solid two-way threat as 2nd line RW for the Bulldogs this postseason. Studenic is a consistent contributor even when he’s not on the scoresheet so it’s been nice to see him getting rewarded as of late. Studenic now has 2 goals, 10 assists, +14, 4 PIM, and 28 shots in 13 playoff games. Hamilton will look to close out the series tonight.

WHL

Colby Sissons and #E2 Swift Current are up 2-0 over #C2 Lethbridge in their Eastern Conference Final series. In the opening 2 games of the series last week, Sissons had 2 assists, an even rating, 2 PIM, and 10 shots. Sissons now has 2 goals, 12 assists, an even rating, 18 PIM, and 54 shots in 16 playoff games. Also, check out this highlight reel that the WHL posted on their YouTube channel:

NCAA

Brett Seney was named Team MVP for Merrimack on Friday night. He led the team in scoring all 4 years of his collegiate career but this is is his 1st time winning the MVP. Congrats to Seney!

KHL/VHL

KHL

VHL

Mikhail Maltsev had an eventful week on and off the ice. Right now his SKA-Neva St. Petersburg team is down 3-1 to Dynamo St. Petersburg in the VHL Finals. In 4 games this past week he had an assist, an even rating, 2 PIM, 15 shots, and a 51.5 FO% while playing between 15-23 minutes per game. SKA-Neva will look to keep the series alive tomorrow. Off the ice, SKA announced that they have extended his contract, though I haven’t been able to find out for how long. Regardless, I’m happy to see that news as it means he will continue his development with the club as well as have the opportunity to fight for a place with the senior team. Maltsev won’t turn 21 until next March so he has time on his side and I think this is a beneficial move for him at this stage of his career.

Nikita Popugaev saw his season come to an end as CSKA fell 4-1 in the Gagarin Cup Finals to Ak Bars Kazan. Popugaev didn’t see the ice in the Finals and finished the playoffs with a goal, +1, 0 PIM, 2 shots, and average ice time of 2:42 in 5 games. CSKA is a tough team to break into so I’d expect to see him split time between them and Zvezda Chekhov of the VHL next year. He’ll turn 20 in November and I’m interested in seeing how he plays in his first full season back in Russia since 2014-15.

Europe

Gilles Senn is still preparing for the upcoming WHC with the Swiss national team.

Your Take

What do you make of Marian Studenic’s recent production in the playoffs for Hamilton? What about Maltsev extending his contract with SKA? Leave your comments below and thank you for reading!