New Jersey Devils Prospect Update: 11/26/19

The 8th week of the 2019-20 New Jersey Devils prospect update is highlighted by the productive play of the Devils collegiate prospects such as Tyce Thompson, Patrick Moynihan, Reilly Walsh, and Case McCarthy, as well as continued production by the Devils European based prospects in Eetu Pakkila and Nikola Pasic. Let’s take a look at how each prospect performed this past week.

QMJHL

Xavier Bernard had a goal, -7, 4 PIM, and 5 shots across 3 games last week. Charlottetown is currently 4th in the Eastern Conference with 32 points after 27 games played. You can check out his breakaway goal below:

OHL

Mitchell Hoelscher had an empty net goal, +4, 2 PIM, 3 shots, and won 46.67% of his faceoffs across 2 games last week. Ottawa is currently 2nd in the East Division with 34 points after 23 games played but they do have the 2nd highest wining percentage in the league at .739.

Nikita Okhotyuk has continued to be sidelined since leaving Ottawa’s game vs. Oshawa on 11/8 in the 2nd period with an injury.

Graeme Clarke is out long term following left shoulder surgery.

Michael Vukojevic was a -4 with 2 PIM and 3 shots across 3 games last week. Kitchener is currently in last place in the Midwest Division and Western Conference with 18 points after 21 games played.

WHL

Ty Smith made his return to the line up on Saturday after missing a few games due to the Canada Russia Series and a minor injury. Against Winnipeg he was a +1 with a shot. Spokane is currently 3rd in the US Division with 26 points after 22 games played.

NCAA

Reilly Walsh had a PP assist, -1, and 2 PIM in Harvard’s victory over RPI on Friday. Harvard is now off to a 6-0 start to their season. You can check out Walsh’s latest assist below:

Matt Hellickson was a -2 with 5 shots across 2 games for Notre Dame this past weekend. Notre Dame is off to a 8-2-2 start to their season.

Aarne Talvitie had an even rating and won 8/19 faceoffs in Penn State’s victory over Ohio State on Friday. He didn’t appear in Saturday’s game but it appears that was to manage his workload. David Eckert reported a week ago that Penn State Head Coach Guy Gadowsky was planning on managing his workload (along with other players) when possible. Penn State is 10-3 to start the season.

Tyce Thompson has continued to be one of the biggest bright spots for the Devils prospect system this season. This past weekend he had 2 goals, an assist, +2, 9 shots, and won 7/10 faceoffs. Corey Pronman recently named Thompson in his “Biggest Risers from the 2019 NHL Draft” in his recent column at The Athletic. Thompson is getting close to matching last year’s point total of 25 points in 42 games as he already has 22 points in 14 games this season. You can catch one of his recent goals below:

Patrick Moynihan had a goal, assist, +1, 2 PIM, 4 shots, and won his only faceoff across 2 games this past weekend. Providence is 7-4-3 to start the season.

Case McCarthy had an assist, +1, 2 PIM, and 3 shots across 2 games last weekend. Boston University is 4-4-5 to start the season.

USHL

Akira Schmid missed both of Omaha’s games last week due to a “lower body injury” that has him on the IR. He has now missed 9 games in a row since being injured on 10/19. Omaha is currently 7th in the Western Conference with 17 points after 17 games played.

Cole Brady made 16 saves on 19 shots in a victory over Des Moines last Friday. The following night he made 32 saves on 35 shots in a victory over Lincoln. Fargo is currently 3rd in the Western Conference with 19 points after 15 games played.

Russia

KHL

MHL

Yegor Zaitsev was a -1 with 4 shots and an average ice time of 10:20 across 2 games last week for Dynamo. They are currently 4th in the Western Conference with 39 points after 31 games played.

Daniil Misyul was a +1 with an average ice time of 5:53 across 2 games last week for Lokomotiv. He now has 6 straight games with under 10 minutes of ice time per game. Lokomotiv is currently 7th in the Western Conference with 35 points after 31 games played.

Arseni Gritsyuk had a goal, even rating, 6 shots, and averaged 19:32 across 2 games last week. Omskie Yastreby is currently 1st in the Eastern Conference with 48 points after 30 games played.

Finland & Sweden

Eetu Pakkila had a goal, -2, 7 shots, and averaged 16:11 per game across 2 games last week for KOOVEE as he continues to settle in nicely. He now has 3 goals and 6 assists over his last 9 games. KOOVEE is currently 2nd in the league with 36 points after 18 games played.

Nikola Pasic had an assist, even rating, 2 PIM, a shot, and averaged 12:10 per game across 2 games. Pasic also earned praise from Corey Pronman of The Athletic for his impressive season so far in his column on risers from the 2019 draft class. BIK Karlskoga is currently 3rd in the league with 48 points after 23 games played.

Your Take

Which prospects stood out to you this week? Have the strong seasons by Thompson and Pasic changed your opinion of them? Leave your comments below and thank you for reading!