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New Jersey Devils Prospect Update: 4/3/18

Week 26 of the 2017-18 prospect update saw Marian Studenic signed by the Devils, Michael McLeod and Evan Cormier’s OHL careers come to an end, while postseason action continues on for other prospects.

Washington Capitals v New Jersey Devils
Marian Studenic was signed to an entry level contract this past week. The versatile winger is a welcome addition to the Devils organization.
Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

The twenty-sixth week of the 2017-18 prospect update is here. It’s highlighted by the Devils signing Marian Studenic, prospects Michael McLeod, Evan Cormier, and Fabian Zetterlund see their playoff runs end, while Joey Anderson and Matt Hellickson gear up for Frozen Four action this Thursday and possibly Saturday.

QMJHL

Name Pos. Age Team GP G A Pts +/- PIM SH% SH/GP Pts/GP
Jocktan Chainey D 18.58 Halifax 66 7 33 40 21 56 6.31% 1.68 0.61
Height: 6'0 A1 Pts1 EVG EVA EV Pts PPG PPA PP Pts SHG SHA SH Pts NHLe
Weight: 195 15 22 5 18 23 2 13 15 0 1 1 12

Jocktan Chainey had 2 goals, 2 assists, +3, 4 PIM, and 8 shots in #4 Halifax’s final 3 games of their Round 1 series against #13 Baie-Comeau. Halifax won the series 4-1 to advance to the Quarterfinals. Chainey’s goal in the opening period of Game 5 ended up being the series winning goal and you can see it down below:

OHL

Name Pos. Age Team GP G A Pts +/- PIM SH% SH/GP Pts/GP FO%
Michael McLeod C 20.17 Mississauga 38 16 28 44 -1 34 13.33% 3.16 1.16 64.65%
Height: 6'2 A1 Pts1 EVG EVA EV Pts PPG PPA PP Pts SHG SHA SH Pts NHLe
Weight: 195 17 33 9 22 31 5 5 10 2 1 3 29
Name Pos. Age Team GP G A Pts +/- PIM SH% SH/GP Pts/GP FO%
Marian Studenic RW 19.44 Hamilton 62 20 28 48 24 14 13.79% 2.34 0.77 38.46%
Height: 6'1 A1 Pts1 EVG EVA EV Pts PPG PPA PP Pts SHG SHA SH Pts NHLe
Weight: 170 19 39 14 20 34 4 8 12 2 0 2 20
Name Age GP GS W L OTL SOL GAA SV% GA%- GSAA GSAA/60
Evan Cormier 20.41 61 58 24 24 8 0 3.18 0.900 94 11.03 0.19
Height: 6'3 Team SO SO% QS QS% RBS RBS% BO BO% EVG% PPG% SHG%
Weight: 200 Saginaw 3 5.17% 30 51.72% 14 24.14% 7 12.07% 73.08% 23.63% 3.30%

Michael McLeod’s junior career came to an end on Sunday but he went out with a bang. In 4 games last week he put up 5 goals, 3 assists, +4, 11 PIM, 14 shots and won 68.89% of his faceoffs as #7 Mississauga fell 4-2 in their Eastern Conference Quarterfinals series to #2 Barrie. He finished the playoffs with 6 games played, 6 goals, 4 assists, 10 points, +3, 11 PIM, and a 63.04 FO%. McLeod always seemed to step up in the playoffs in his OHL career with 46 points in 33 games over the last 3 postseasons. I imagine he’ll be on his way to Binghamton soon. As a parting note, check out his goal from Game 3 last Tuesday:

Marian Studenic had 2 assists, +1, 2 PIM, and 4 shots in 3 games last week as #1 Hamilton defeated #8 Ottawa 4-1 in their Eastern Conference Quarterfinals series. They will take on #4 Niagara in the Conference Semifinals next. It’s notable that Studenic was moved up to 2nd line RW on a line with Nicholas Caamano and Ryan Moore. Let’s see if they stick together going forward and if he thrives in a more offensive role. Yesterday, the Devils announced that they have signed Studenic to his three-year, entry-level contract. They will have the option of sending him back to Hamilton next season or playing him in the AHL with Binghamton.

Evan Cormier saw his junior career come to a close last Wednesday when #8 Saginaw was swept by #1 Sault Ste. Marie in their Western Conference Quarterfinals series. In his final start he made 23 saves on 27 shots as Saginaw fell to the OHL’s top team. Cormier finished his OHL career with a .896 SV% in 201 regular season games and .853 SV% in 12 playoff games. It will be interesting to see if the Devils offer him a contract or if he becomes a free agent. The Devils goaltending prospect pool is a bit questionable right now as Mackenzie Blackwood and Ken Appleby both have struggled in AHL action this season while Gilles Senn was average at best in the NLA. The signing of Cam Johnson could prove to be a boost to the prospect pool but he’s coming off of an up and down NCAA career. I think Ray Shero will continue to look for ways to bolster this group but I don’t think Cormier will fit into his plans.

WHL

Name Pos. Age Team GP G A Pts +/- PIM SH% SH/GP Pts/GP
Colby Sissons D 20.22 Swift Current 72 13 58 71 46 69 6.37% 2.83 0.99
Height: 6'2 A1 Pts1 EVG EVA EV Pts PPG PPA PP Pts SHG SHA SH Pts NHLe
Weight: 190 36 49 8 28 36 5 26 31 0 4 4 23
Name Pos. Age Team GP G A Pts +/- PIM SH% SH/GP Pts/GP
Nikita Popugaev LW 19.38 Prince George 13 2 5 7 -13 4 4.08% 3.77 0.54
Height: 6'5.5 A1 Pts1 EVG EVA EV Pts PPG PPA PP Pts SHG SHA SH Pts NHLe
Weight: 210 1 3 0 1 1 2 4 6 0 0 0 12

Colby Sissons had 3 assists, -6, and 14 shots in 4 games last week as #E2 Swift Current defeated #E3 Regina 4-3 in their Eastern Conference Quarterfinals series.

NCAA

Name Pos. Team GP G A Pts +/- PIM SH% SH/GP Pts/GP FO% NHLe
Brett Seney LW Merrimack 37 13 19 32 -4 48 14.77% 2.38 0.86 42.98% 27
Height: 5'10 Age League A1 Pts1 EVG EVA EV Pts PPG PPA PP Pts SHG SHA SH Pts
Weight: 180 22.10 Hockey East 13 26 5 7 12 7 11 18 1 1 2
Name Pos. Team GP G A Pts +/- PIM SH% SH/GP Pts/GP FO% NHLe
Joey Anderson RW Minnesota Duluth 34 11 16 27 14 20 9.48% 3.41 0.79 13.04% 28
Height: 6'0 Age League A1 Pts1 EVG EVA EV Pts PPG PPA PP Pts SHG SHA SH Pts
Weight: 195 19.80 NCHC 11 22 6 9 15 4 7 11 0 0 0
Name Pos. Team GP G A Pts +/- PIM SH% SH/GP Pts/GP Blks NHLe
Jeremy Davies D Northeastern 36 6 29 35 18 39 7.32% 2.28 0.97 47 30
Height: 5'11 Age League A1 Pts1 EVG EVA EV Pts PPG PPA PP Pts SHG SHA SH Pts
Weight: 188 21.34 Hockey East 16 22 3 8 11 3 18 21 0 2 2
Name Pos. Team GP G A Pts +/- PIM SH% SH/GP Pts/GP Blks NHLe
Reilly Walsh D Harvard 33 7 13 20 -2 16 9.59% 2.21 0.61 22 13
Height: 6'0 Age League A1 Pts1 EVG EVA EV Pts PPG PPA PP Pts SHG SHA SH Pts
Weight: 185 18.96 ECAC 6 13 0 4 4 7 9 16 0 0 0
Name Pos. Team GP G A Pts +/- PIM SH% SH/GP Pts/GP Blks NHLe
Matt Hellickson D Notre Dame 38 3 9 12 4 12 6.98% 1.13 0.32 26 9
Height: 6'0 Age League A1 Pts1 EVG EVA EV Pts PPG PPA PP Pts SHG SHA SH Pts
Weight: 181 20.04 Big Ten 4 7 0 7 7 3 2 5 0 0 0

Brett Seney is now up to 3 assists, -2, 4 PIM, and 17 shots in 6 games with Binghamton. If you haven’t already, I recommend checking out Jeff’s post from Friday on Seney and the impression he’s making in Binghamton.

We have some Frozen Four action coming up! Joey Anderson and Minnesota Duluth will take on Ohio State at 6 PM ET on ESPN2 this Thursday. Matt Hellickson and Notre Dame will take on Michigan at 9:30 PM ET on ESPN2 this Thursday. The National Championship game is Saturday at 7:30 PM ET on ESPN.

KHL/VHL

KHL

Name Pos. Team GP G A Pts +/- PIM SH SH% SH/GP Pts/GP FO% ATOI
Mikhail Maltsev C SKA St. Petersburg 18 0 5 5 5 4 24 0.00% 1.33 0.28 55.88% 8:16
Height: 6'3 Age League A1 Pts1 EVG EVA EV Pts PPG PPA PP Pts SHG SHA SH Pts NHLe
Weight: 205 20.07 KHL 3 3 0 5 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 18
Name Pos. Team GP G A Pts +/- PIM SH SH% SH/GP Pts/GP Blks ATOI
Yegor Zaitsev D Dynamo Moscow 28 0 2 2 0 30 14 0.00% 0.50 0.07 11 9:32
Height: 5'11 Age League A1 Pts1 EVG EVA EV Pts PPG PPA PP Pts SHG SHA SH Pts NHLe
Weight: 185 19.93 KHL 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 5
Name Pos. Team GP G A Pts +/- PIM SH SH% SH/GP Pts/GP FO% ATOI
Nikita Popugaev LW CSKA Moscow 12 0 1 1 0 2 5 0.00% 0.42 0.08 0.00% 4:39
Height: 6'5.5 Age League A1 Pts1 EVG EVA EV Pts PPG PPA PP Pts SHG SHA SH Pts NHLe
Weight: 210 19.38 KHL 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 5

VHL

Name Pos. Team GP G A Pts +/- PIM SH SH% SH/GP Pts/GP FO% ATOI
Mikhail Maltsev C SKA-Neva 25 5 12 17 12 10 50 10.00% 2.00 0.68 57.95% 15:33
Height: 6'3 Age League A1 Pts1 EVG EVA EV Pts PPG PPA PP Pts SHG SHA SH Pts NHLe
Weight: 205 20.07 VHL 8 13 4 11 15 1 1 2 0 0 0 21
Name Pos. Team GP G A Pts +/- PIM SH SH% SH/GP Pts/GP FO% ATOI
Nikita Popugaev LW Zvezda Chekhov 14 3 2 5 0 2 18 0.00% 1.29 0.36 N/A 11:39
Height: 6'5.5 Age League A1 Pts1 EVG EVA EV Pts PPG PPA PP Pts SHG SHA SH Pts NHLe
Weight: 210 19.38 VHL 1 4 3 1 4 0 1 1 0 0 0 11

Mikhail Maltsev had a goal, +3, 6 PIM, 11 shots, and won 60% of his faceoffs while playing between 14-18 minutes per game over 3 games last week for SKA-Neva. #2 SKA-Neva is currently up 3-0 on #3 Neftyanik in the VHL Semifinals.

Nikita Popugaev’s only appearance last week came in Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals as #2 CSKA took on #1 SKA. He played 4 shifts for 3:02 of ice time. CSKA is currently down 2-1.

Europe

Name Pos. Team GP G A Pts +/- PIM SH SH% SH/GP Pts/GP FO% ATOI
Jesper Boqvist C Brynas IF 23 3 10 13 -1 2 43 6.98% 1.87 0.57 N/A 15:25
Height: 6'0 Age League A1 Pts1 EVG EVA EV Pts PPG PPA PP Pts SHG SHA SH Pts NHLe
Weight: 179 19.44 SHL 8 11 3 10 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 29
Name Pos. Team GP G A Pts +/- PIM SH SH% SH/GP Pts/GP FO% ATOI
Fabian Zetterlund F Farjestads BK 35 3 4 7 -2 6 32 9.38% 0.91 0.20 N/A 8:51
Height: 5'11 Age League A1 Pts1 EVG EVA EV Pts PPG PPA PP Pts SHG SHA SH Pts NHLe
Weight: 180 18.62 SHL 4 7 3 4 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 10
Name Pos. Team GP G A Pts +/- PIM SH SH% SH/GP Pts/GP FO% ATOI
Fabian Zetterlund F Timra IK 8 2 3 5 2 0 23 8.70% 2.88 0.63 50.00% 17:28
Height: 5'11 Age League A1 Pts1 EVG EVA EV Pts PPG PPA PP Pts SHG SHA SH Pts NHLe
Weight: 180 18.62 Allsvenskan 2 4 1 2 3 1 1 2 0 0 0 32
Name Pos. Team GP G A Pts +/- PIM SH SH% SH/GP Pts/GP FO% ATOI
Aarne Talvitie C Blues U20 44 34 25 59 27 34 225 15.11% 5.11 1.34 52.21% 19:11
Height: 5'11 Age League A1 Pts1 EVG EVA EV Pts PPG PPA PP Pts SHG SHA SH Pts
Weight: 198 19.15 Jr. A SM-liiga 16 50 26 17 43 6 7 13 2 1 3
Name Age GP GS W L OTL SOL GAA SV% GA%- GSAA GSAA/60
Gilles Senn 22.10 30 28 13 10 1 3 2.92 0.905 107 -5.52 -0.19
Height: 6'5 Team SO SO% QS QS% RBS RBS% BO BO% EVG% PPG% SHG%
Weight: 192 HC Davos 1 3.57% 14 50.00% 4 14.29% 5 17.86% 81.18% 17.65% 1.18%

Fabian Zetterlund had an assist, -2, and 2 shots while playing around 5-7 minutes per game in his final 2 games of the playoffs as Farjestad was eliminated.

Your Take

Which prospects stood out to you this week? How do you feel about the signing of Marian Studenic? What are your thoughts on Michael McLeod’s OHL career now that it has come to an end? Do you have any Frozen Four predictions? Leave your comments below and thank you for reading!