New Jersey Devils Prospect Update: 3/19/19

The 23rd week of the 2018-19 prospect update is here. It’s highlighted by the CHL regular season coming to an end with all of the Devils prospects moving onto the playoffs, the NCAA conference tournaments which saw all of the Devils prospects advance, Mikhail Maltsev get his first postseason goal in KHL action, and Jesper Boqvist see his season come to an abrupt end in the SHL.

QMJHL

Jocktan Chainey was a +1 with 5 shots across Halifax’s final 3 regular season games last week. They are the top seed in the Eastern Conference and will take on #8 Quebec in the Conference Quarterfinals.

Xavier Bernard was a -1 with 6 PIM and 10 shots across Charlottetown’s final 3 regular season games last week. They are the #4 seed in the Eastern Conference and will play #5 Cape Breton in the Conference Quarterfinals.

Jeremy Groleau missed all of Chicoutimi’s games this past week due to a shoulder injury suffered on 2/24. He is expected to miss 2-4 weeks so hopefully he makes it back at some point during the playoffs. Chicoutimi is the #6 seed in the Eastern Conference and will take on #3 Rimouski in the Conference Quarterfinals.

OHL

Mitchell Hoelscher had an assist, even rating, 4 PIM, 2 shots, and won 39.13% of his faceoffs across Ottawa’s final 3 regular season games last week. They finished as the top team in the OHL and Hoelscher appeared in every single game for the 67’s. As the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference they will play #8 Hamilton in the Conference Quarterfinals.

WHL

Ty Smith had 3 assists (2 EV, 1 PP), -1, 2 PIM, and 3 shots in 2 games for Spokane last week. Smith finished 4th in defensemen scoring with 69 points in 57 games. His points per game rate of 1.21 ranked 2nd among the defensemen just 0.06 behind the leader, Josh Brook. His 62 assists put him in a 4th place tie among all WHL skaters along with fellow defender Dawson Davidson. Spokane is the #U2 seed in the Western Conference and will take on #U3 Portland in the Conference Quarterfinals.

NCAA

Jeremy Davies had a PP assist, -1, and 6 shots as #3 Northeastern knocked out #6 Maine in 2 games in the Hockey East Quarterfinals. They will take on #5 Boston University in the Semifinals on Friday. Should they win that game, they would advance to the Championship game on Saturday against the winner of #1 UMass - #7 Boston College.

Reilly Walsh had a PP goal, PP assist, -2, and 7 shots in 2 games as #4 Harvard knocked out #5 Dartmouth in the ECAC Quarterfinals. You can see his goal in the second tweet below this paragraph. They will take on #3 Clarkson in the Semifinals on Friday. You can watch that game on ESPN+ at 7:30 PM ET. If they win that game, they would take on the winner of #2 Cornell - #8 Brown in the Championship game on Saturday. Yesterday Walsh was named to the ECAC Hockey Third-Team. Harvard coach Ted Donato had this to say on his development:

Matt Hellickson had an even rating in #2 Notre Dame’s 2-1 victory over #3 Minnesota in the Big Ten Tournament Semifinal. They will take on #4 Penn State for the Championship on Saturday. You can catch that game on the Big Ten Network at 8 PM ET.

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

USHL/NAHL

Akira Schmid made 22 saves on 24 shots in a victory over Sioux Falls on Friday. He still leads USHL goaltenders with a .930 SV%.

Russia

KHL

VHL

MHL

Mikhail Maltsev had a goal, assist, +2, 2 PIM, 13 shots, and won 42.86% of his faceoffs while averaging over 11 minutes per game across 3 playoff games last week. #2 SKA currently leads #3 Lokomotiv 2-1 in the Western Conference Semifinals. You can see his goal in the tweet below. He now has a goal, 2 assists, +1, 6 PIM, 21 shots, 61.2 FO%, and 10:21 ATOI through 8 playoff games.

Yegor Zaitsev was a -1 with 2 PIM, 3 shots, and average ice time of around 12 minutes per game across 3 playoff games last week. #5 Dynamo currently trails #1 CSKA 2-1 in their Western Conference Semifinal. In 9 playoff games so far he has a goal, -2, 4 PIM, 7 shots, and 12:41 ATOI.

Sweden & Finland

Jesper Boqvist had 2 shots in just 7:08 of a game last Tuesday as he had to exit due to injury after a collision with a teammate. Unfortunately, he missed his team’s final regular season game and they ended up coming just short of making the playoffs. He ended up finishing 2nd on his team in scoring with 35 points in 51 games. Among U21 players in the SHL, Boqvist finished tied for 2nd in scoring and 3rd in points per game with a 0.69 rate. Corey Masisak has this update on Boqvist’s near term plans:

Fabian Zetterlund is out for the season due to knee surgery.

Eetu Pakkila had a goal, +1, and 2 PIM as Kärpät U20 swept HPK in 3 Quarterfinal games last week.

Switzerland

Gilles Senn and HC Davos will take on SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers in the Playout Final. The best of 7 series is set to begin on 3/26 and potentially last until 4/9.

Your Take

Which prospects stood out to you this week? How do you feel about the regular seasons that the Devils CHL prospects put up? What about the year Boqvist had in the SHL? Leave your comments below and thank you for reading!