New Jersey Devils Prospect Update: 1/22/19

The 15th week of the 2018-19 prospect update is here. It’s highlighted by Fabian Zetterlund suffering a season ending injury as he re-injured his knee, Jeremy Davies earning a Hobey Baker award nomination, and Mikhail Maltsev making his return to league action.

QMJHL

Jocktan Chainey missed all 3 of Halifax’s games last week due to an upper body injury. He has now missed 11 straight games after suffering the injury on 12/28/18. It seems the team is taking his injury on a week to week basis. Halifax is currently 4th overall in the QMJHL with 67 points after 45 games played. A quick reminder that they are hosting the Memorial Cup this year so they will be playing hockey in May no matter what happens.

Xavier Bernard had a PP assist, -3, 2 PIM, and 2 shots in 3 games for Charlottetown last week. He now has no goals, 3 assists, -5, 6 PIM, and 16 shots in 10 games since being traded to Charlottetown. They are currently in 6th place in the QMJHL with 58 points after 44 games played.

Jeremy Groleau was a +2 with 3 shots in 2 games for Chicoutimi last week. They are currently in 9th place in the QMJHL with 53 points after 46 games played.

OHL

Mitchell Hoelscher had an assist, +1, 2 PIM, and won 54.55 FO% across 2 games for Ottawa. They continue to lead the OHL with 68 points after 45 games played.

WHL

Ty Smith had a PP assist, -1, and 4 shots in 2 games last week. He continues to lead WHL defensemen in assists (45) and points (49). Smith also continues to be 4th in assists out of all players in the WHL. Spokane is currently in 4th place in the Western Conference with 53 points after 43 games played.

NCAA

Jeremy Davies had a goal, even rating, 4 PIM, and 9 shots in 2 games against UMass this past weekend. Davies is currently tied for 8th in points per game (.95) and 2nd in shots per game (3.55) among NCAA defensemen. Last Tuesday, Davies was among the many players nominated for the Hobey Baker Award, for the top player in the NCAA. You can check out his goal from Saturday’s victory over UMass in the tweet below:

Reilly Walsh had a PP assist, -2, and 5 shots in 2 games for Harvard. Walsh is currently 11th in goals per game (.29) among NCAA defensemen. His 5 PP goals rank tied for 2nd among the defensemen too.

Matt Hellickson had an assist, +4, 4 PIM, and a shot in 2 games against Wisconsin last weekend. He played on the 2nd pairing and in all situations for Notre Dame. His assist came on the game tying goal on Sunday as he made a strong outlet pass to Michael Graham who buried the puck in the net.

Aarne Talvitie is out for the rest of the season due to knee surgery.

USHL/NAHL

Akira Schmid didn’t play this past week due to Omaha only playing one of their two games. They were scheduled to play on Friday but their game against Des Moines was postponed due to inclement weather.

Russia

KHL

VHL

MHL

Mikhail Maltsev had 3 assists, +1, 1 shot, and won 52.94% of his faceoffs while averaging 17:26 per game across 2 VHL games last week. This was his first VHL action since 12/19/18.

Yegor Zaitsev had one KHL game last week, finishing with an even rating, 25 PIM, and 11:35 in ice time. He received slashing and game misconduct penalties in the 2nd period.

Nikita Popugaev played 13 minutes of hockey across 2 KHL games last week. He also played in 2 MHL games where he had a goal, PP assist, +1, 5 shots, and averaged 19:27 per game.

Sweden & Finland

Jesper Boqvist was a +1 with 2 PIM, 3 shots, and average ice time of 20:19 across 2 games last week. He’s currently in a 5 game scoring drought.

Fabian Zetterlund had a PP assist, even rating, and a shot in 11:51 of game action on Thursday. Unfortunately, he re-injured his knee and the team announced on Friday he will need season ending surgery.

Eetu Pakkila had a goal, -1, 11 shots, and averaged 18:14 across 2 games last week. He continues to lead his team in goals (27) and points (47). Pakkila leads the Jr. A SM-liiga in goals and is 7th in points.

Switzerland

Gilles Senn made 40 saves on 44 shots in a loss to EHC Biel-Bienne on Saturday.

Your Take

Which prospects stood out to you this week? Leave your comments below and thank you for reading!