New Jersey Devils Prospect Update: 3/8/22

Welcome to the 21st week of the 2021-22 New Jersey Devils prospect update! This week saw Chase Stillman continue to produce for Peterboroug, Artem Shlaine add 2 goals for UConn, Luke Hughes continue to star for Michigan, and Alexander Holtz return to the lineup for Utica and immediately produce. Let’s check in on each prospect now.

OHL

Chase Stillman had a goal, 3 assists (2 EV, 1 SH), +5, 2 PIM, and 8 shots across 3 games last week. Check out this highlight reel goal he scored in last Thursday’s victory over Niagara:

NCAA

Patrick Moynihan had a PP assist in Providence’s 5-4 exhibition loss to the US National Team Development Program U18 team last Friday. Providence will be the #7 seed in the Hockey East Tournament and will take on #10 Vermont on Wednesday in the Opening Round. Teams will be re-seeded after that round and with the Quarterfinals being played on Saturday.

Case McCarthy was a -2 with 12 PIM and a shot as Boston University split a series with Maine last weekend. Boston University is the #5 seed in the Hockey East Tournament and will advance directly to the Quarterfinals where they will take on #4 Connecticut on Saturday.

Artem Shlaine had 2 goals, -1, 4 shots, and won 11/19 faceoffs (57.89%) as UConn split a series with Vermont last weekend. Check out this nice tip he had for his first goal of the weekend:

Cole Brady and Arizona State were off last week. They wrap up their season against Long Island this weekend.

Ethan Edwards had an assist, +3, and 3 shots as Michigan outscored Michigan State 12-1 in their Big Ten Tournament Quarterfinals matchup last weekend. #2 Michigan swept the series 2-0 over #7 Michigan State to advance to the Semifinals on Saturday.

Luke Hughes had a goal, 3 assists (1 EV, 2 PP), +3, and 5 shots across both of those games for Michigan. Check out this awesome goal he scored:

Hughes is currently tied-2nd on Michigan with 17 goals and is 2nd in points with 36. He leads all NCAA defensemen in goals and points. His 1.00 points per game rate is tied-2nd among NCAA defensemen, trailing Jake Sanderson’s 1.14 points per game rate.

Russia

KHL & VHL

#4 Dynamo Moscow trails #5 Severstal 2-1 in the Western Conference Quaterfinals. Yegor Zaitsev had an assist, even rating, 6 shots, and averaged 17:30 across the first 3 games of the series last week.

Playoff Stats: 3 GP 0-1-1, E, 0 PIM, 0.0 SH%, 2.0 SH/GP, 17:30 ATOI

#6 Lokomotiv lost their Western Conference Quarterfinals series 4-0 to #3 CSKA. Daniil Misyul missed the opening game of the series but was a -3 with 2 PIM and an average ice time of 13:36 across the final 3 games of the series. Misyul has one more year left on his contract with Lokomotiv.

Playoff Stats: 3 GP 0-0-0, -3, 2 PIM, 0.0 SH%, 0.0 SH/GP, 13:36 ATOI

#5 Avangard leads #4 Ak Bars 3-0 in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. Arseni Gritsyuk had a goal, assist, +1, 2 PIM, 11 shots, and averaged 17:41 across the first 3 games of the series.

Playoff Stats: 3 GP 1-1-2, +1, 2 PIM, 9.1 SH%, 3.7 SH/GP, 17:41 ATOI

#3 Salavat Yulaev leads #6 Sibir 2-1 in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. Shakir Mukhamadullin had an even rating, 4 PIM, 7 shots, and averaged 15:30 across the first 3 games of the series.

Playoff Stats: 3 GP 0-0-0, E, 4 PIM, 0.0 SH%, 2.3 SH/GP, 15:30 ATOI

#1 SKA leads #8 Dinamo Minsk 3-0 in the Western Conference Quarterfinals. Zakhar Bardakov was a +1 with 2 PIM, a shot, and averaged 9:15 across the first 3 games of the series.

Playoff Stats: 3 GP 0-0-0, +1, 2 PIM, 0.0 SH%, 0.3 SH/GP, 9:15 ATOI

Finland

Liiga, Mestis, & U20-SM-sarja

Eetu Pakkila had an even rating, 3 shots, and averaged 15:05 across 2 games last week.

Topias Vilen was a -1 with 6 shots and averaged 15:31 across 3 games last week.

Samu Salminen had an assist, +1, 2 PIM, 2 shots, won 7/17 faceoffs (41.18%), in 17:07 of Jokerit U20’s only game last week.

Sweden

SHL, Allsvenskan, & J20 Nationell

Nikola Pasic had a PP goal, -3, 6 shots, and averaged 20:23 across 2 games last week. Check out his latest goal:

Viktor Hurtig had an assist, even rating, 2 PIM, and 4 shots across 3 games last week.

The Rest of Europe

Swiss National League, Czech Extraliga, & Czech 1.liga

Benjamin Baumgartner had a PP assist, -3, 8 shots, won 15/22 faceoffs (68.18%), and averaged 14:21 across 4 games last week. He averaged 2:37 of PP time across those 4 games.

Jaromir Pytlik had a goal, even rating, 2 PIM, 4 shots, and averaged 15:33 across 3 games last week.

Jakub Malek didn’t play in either of VHK Vsetin’s final 2 regular season games last week. This move was likely done to give him some rest ahead of the playoffs. They finished 2nd in the league and advanced directly to the Quarterfinals. That series will begin on March 10.

AHL

The Utica Comets defeated the Syracuse Crunch twice last week to remain the top team in the Eastern Conference with a 33-11-5-0 record. Their 22.9 PP% ranks 5th and their 80.0 PK% ranks 20th.

Friday 3/4: Utica defeated Syracuse 8-5. Goal scorers for Utica included Frederik Gauthier, Graeme Clarke, Brian Flynn, Alexander Holtz, Fabian Zetterlund (PP), Michael Vukojevic, Nolan Foote (EN), and A.J. Greer (EN). Flynn had 2 assists followed by Robbie Russo, Chase De Leo, Greer, Tyler Wotherspoon, Foote, Ryan Schmelzer, Gauthier, and Kevin Bahl with one each. Holtz, Greer, and Clarke had 4 shots each. Akira Schmid made 37 saves on 42 shots to earn the victory. Utica was outshot 42-27, including a 23-6 3rd period advantage to Syracuse. Utica went 1/2 on the PP and 2/3 on the PK. Here is the gamesheet and highlights:

Saturday 3/5: Utica defeated Syracuse 5-2. Chase De Leo had 2 goals followed by Graeme Clarke (PP), Alexander Holtz (PP), and Fabian Zetterlund (EN). Holtz and Brian Flynn had 2 assists each followed by A.J. Greer, Nolan Foote, Ryan Schmelzer, Nikita Okhotiuk, and Kevin Bahl with one each. De Leo led the way with 5 shots. Akira Schmid made 31 saves on 33 shots to get the win. Utica was outshot 33-24 and went 2/4 on the PP and 1/1 on the PK. Here is the gamesheet and highlights:

Notes:

• Alexander Holtz returned to the lineup after missing 2 games due to illness and picked up where he left off. Across 2 games last week he had 2 goals (1 EV, 1 PP) and 2 assists (both primary EV).
• Last week, I commented that Graeme Clarke and Nolan Foote had hit a bit of a slump. Both of these players had productive games this past week with Clarke adding 2 goals (1 EV, 1 PP) and Foote adding a goal (EN) and 2 assists (1 EV, 1 PP). Hopefully this is a sign of them heating up.
• Kevin Bahl is a physical, defensive defenseman but his uptick in production in 2022 is encouraging. He had 2 points in 19 games during the 2021 portion of the season. Since the calendar turned to 2022, Bahl has 12 points in 24 games.
• Akira Schmid’s 0.75 GSAA per 60 minutes and 0.74 GSAA per 30 shots leads all AHL goaltenders (minimum 15 games played, 50 AHL goaltenders qualify).
• Nico Daws’ 0.46 GSAA per 60 minutes ranks tied-10th and his 0.47 GSAA per 30 shots ranks tied-9th.

Coming Up: Utica will take on Syracuse on Wednesday, Toronto on Friday, and Rochester on Saturday.

ECHL

Adirondack won their first game of the week against Trois-Rivieres but then dropped 3 straight to Newfoundland. They have another busy week coming up with games against Reading on Wednesday, Worcester on Friday, and Maine on Saturday and Sunday. Adirondack is currently in last place in the North Division with a 20-28-2-0 record.

Your Take

Which players stood out to you last week? What else can you say about the incredible season Luke Hughes is having? Which Utica Comets players have impressed you this season? Leave your comments below and thank you for reading!