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Prospects thread 2022-2023


Guadana

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On 11/3/2022 at 1:24 AM, nessus said:

The top Devils prospects right now are Nemec, Hughes, and Casey - probably pretty obvious to most of us, but these guys have a very good shot of being impact NHL players. For Hughes and Nemec is nearly a sure bet that they'll be high end guys. Casey has a bit to prove, but so far is looking like he could be something special too.

I would say the next best prospect is Mukhamadullin. He is playing a very good, complete game in the KHL, and has been doing it for his second consecutive year now. I would rank Tyce Thompson somewhere around here as well, but we know him pretty well already.

After him, there's the Gritsyuk, who I would have ranked much higher last season, but has struggled so far this season. We will see if he can redeem this season later on. Last season, he looked like he was making a case for himself for the next NHL star out of the KHL.

I have liked Okhotiuk a lot in the past, but he clearly is not ready yet.

For all of the above players, I would be more surprised if they didn't get some serious NHL time than if they did.

After this group, there's Josh Filmon who could be a big time sleeper pick from the previous draft. Tyler Brennan could very well be the team's best goalie prospect after this season. And I think a lot of us were impressed with Topias Vilen, who is starting to look like a late bloomer.

I also like Daniil Orlov as a future solid bottom pairing guy.

Everyone else, I feel has a long way to go still (Barabosha, Edwards, McCarthy, etc.), or else I'm not very high on.

There are a bunch of other guys like Stillman, Foote, and Pytlick who seem to be falling down the list, and don't seem to have the NHL future that once seemed more likely.

I would say it's a pretty impressive group, especially when you consider that there will hardly be room for many of these players over the next several years. And for a young and up-and-coming team, it's a pretty good sign that the cupboard is still stocked.

 

On 11/2/2022 at 5:53 PM, njbuff said:

Do the Devils actually have a lot of NHL prospects in the pipeline or is that wishful thinking?

nessus makes good list.

Luke and Nemec are obvious candidates to be top-NHL players. At least top-4 defensemen. Luke should work on defensive side of the game, anyway he is electric and he is one of the best prospect in three last years. Would be number 2 in 2021 redraft or would be drafted 1OA if he could be 2 weeks older.
Nemec should figure it out how translate his game on the new level. It will take some time, Devils fans should be patient with him, defensemen take more time. 

Shakir is very good defenseman. He isn`t your QB, but he is good in\against transition, has great first and long pass, has great shot - he is using it to create good rebound chances. Good on the boards. His problem is his first step and positional defense on the net. He has big potential, can be used in serious trade. His game remind me Graves but with better skating and lesser expirience. 

Casey is fun and offensive minded, but has a lot of holes in his game, especially as defenseman. But i think he will work on his game, because he is good stick handler. The question is how he will work with puck battling.  I will give you cliche - high risk\high reward. But I would say - good offensive drive game, good defensive against the rush, very questionable against the cycling or in trenches. He was converted from the forward as I remember correctly and you can easily see it in his game. 

I made breakdown of Gritsyuk game before
 

On 10/31/2022 at 4:11 AM, Guadana said:

His team started very slowly. They change coach after. He ectually doing everything he did before. And after coaching changing he has something like 6 points in 10-12 games or something like that. Nothing crazy good, but not as bad as his start. They play really bad as a team. I think the tools are there, hope he will return his production, anyway he is always watching and liking devils posts, he was interesting in Devils as organisation. And KHL is really tough league, he is Bratt-like player and his physical game for now isn`t quite good yet, he can spend one year in AHL to make a breath in easier hockey context,  adapt his game for NA ice and listen new coaching voices. 
I should watch some of his actual games and make videos, just have some busy weeks, will do it later.
 

 

Okhotiuk is very fan Devils prospect. Fast, great first step, agressive, can join the rush, will never lose puck battle. His problem is his positional game against the rushes. He doesn`t have good first pass, but he is very helpful in transition.

Walsh is Smith\Butcher 2.0 with little better skating. Never like the player, never liked all of them. 

Josh Filmon is lanky boy with good skating and great shot. He is playing on the bad team and has 1.33 ppg as I remember. In the last 20 years player with more than 1.35\1.4 ppg in D+1 year have some real chance to be NHLers. Filmon is very thin, and his team isn`t good. He has good hands and legs, his two way game isn`t good, but I think he can grow a lot when will spend some time in gym and in AHL.

Mister Bardakov

On 10/31/2022 at 4:11 AM, Guadana said:

The sad thing is Bardakov was injured, but thanks God, nothing really serious. (the moment was brutal). He is very talented kid, may be he will not score 20+ goals, but he read the game like... very talented players and he is really good forechecker and zone coverager. SKA missed only one goal in 16 games or something like that when he was on the ice. He has big potential to be good defensive center.

He is best defensive forward prospect of the Devils. Great skating, great effort, great in puck battles, very fast, create high dangerous chances. The question is - where his game will be after injury. 

Topias Vilen - very smooth skater, good hands, can be your transitional defenseman, can be your shotdown guy. I think he has real NHL potential. I believe Devils will find be happy enough in the moments when cap will be tight, some defenseman will hurt, and Devils will call Vilen up. His game is look like what Marino is doing, but younger version of course.

Same with Daniil Orlov. Great  game without the puck, good transitional game. He is very young and he is far from NHL, but you never know what will going on after three four years when Luke, Nemec and Mercer will got new deals.

Barabosha is big, defensive minded defenseman with good skating for his size. Win every puck battle I saw. Who knows? Same as Orlov.

I like Charlie Leddy`s  game in USHL so much. Another defensive minded defenseman, but I think he has all the tools for defensive game. He was good positionallly, use a stick when it needs, use his body when it needs. But it is USHL and you never know how player will adapt his game for the new level.

Edwards... great skating. Great-great skating. A lot of holes in his defensive and positional game, decision making is questionable. I don`t think he has NHL potential, at least as NJD player. Same with McCarthy.

I don`t know how Pytlik is actually looking. Covid hit his career very hard.

Foote has NHL potential but his skating limit him very much. May be for specific role with specific players who can compensate his problems. Like Bardakov for example, who is very fast and will secure the puck behind the net and can pass on high dangerous area.  A lot of fans can not think about Foote very high, but he is a good prospect for now, at least he has nhl potential, because our left wing pipe line isn`t as big. He can be your fourth liner, you would not prefer to use Gritsyuk as your forth liner, of course if Wood will taste the market. If Devils will resign Wood, chances of Foote to be NJD player are not exist. Bad legs - bad fate.

 

Tyce Thompson is very talented player with good shot and skating. He is tougher than he was before, but he should need to work more on his 200 foot game and his real potential to be NJD player is center role, where he wasn`t good before even on AHL squad. He played better on the right wing, but Devils have Bratt, Mercer, Zetterlund and Bastian as right wingers, and Holtz in pipe line. 

Holtz is a very good prospect, great shot, better on boards, great passing game. Needs to work more on his skating, now he is much better than he was before. Needs to work on his 200-foot game, and he needs time. He is looking better and better every year, he always spend a year to adapt on the new level, and year after he played much better.

I don`t like Stillman, he has good hands, but he was drafted as potential power forward, but he is making wrong decisions on the forecheck, always tried to start to early, his decision making isn`t great. His production isn`t good. 

And of course Devils have very good goalie pool. Brennan, Daws, Shmid, Malek. 

 

Devils have GREAT, one of the best prospect pools. It`s not a question. The only thin part is center depth. I believe Fitz focus on it next draft, where there will be a lot of good centers.But for now it is a problem. We have only two good players with visible NHL potential as centers. It`s Bardakov and he was injured, and he has visible bottom line potential. Very good potential, but he isn`t shooter or playmaker still. And Thompson, who wasn`t good as center in AHL before. 
And I would prefer to see some young big left winger with power forward\defensive forward potential. 
LD pool and RD pool are great, right wing pool is good enough, goalie pool is good, but goalies are voodoo, you never know with them, left wing pool isn`t big, but Devils have Gritsyuk, Filmon and Foote as prospects and good left wingers in roster. And Bratt who can play left wing role in theory. Or may be Holtz will play left wing role like he did in AHL.

We should not worry about prospect pool of Devils organisation. Some have real top line potential, some have real bottom line nhl potential, some have  potential at least. The most important thing is Devils have great roster group and will use their prospects as patches in bad situation, when this prospects will grow in AHL or in Europe. Like every good big clubs do. The Devils are finally in a good situation as organisation with young but deep roster pool and big prospect pool. We will have alternatives for players who will not work or wants bigger role\money.

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1 hour ago, Guadana said:

 

nessus makes good list.

Luke and Nemec are obvious candidates to be top-NHL players. At least top-4 defensemen. Luke should work on defensive side of the game, anyway he is electric and he is one of the best prospect in three last years. Would be number 2 in 2021 redraft or would be drafted 1OA if he could be 2 weeks older.
Nemec should figure it out how translate his game on the new level. It will take some time, Devils fans should be patient with him, defensemen take more time. 

Shakir is very good defenseman. He isn`t your QB, but he is good in\against transition, has great first and long pass, has great shot - he is using it to create good rebound chances. Good on the boards. His problem is his first step and positional defense on the net. He has big potential, can be used in serious trade. His game remind me Graves but with better skating and lesser expirience. 

Casey is fun and offensive minded, but has a lot of holes in his game, especially as defenseman. But i think he will work on his game, because he is good stick handler. The question is how he will work with puck battling.  I will give you cliche - high risk\high reward. But I would say - good offensive drive game, good defensive against the rush, very questionable against the cycling or in trenches. He was converted from the forward as I remember correctly and you can easily see it in his game. 

I made breakdown of Gritsyuk game before
 

 

Okhotiuk is very fan Devils prospect. Fast, great first step, agressive, can join the rush, will never lose puck battle. His problem is his positional game against the rushes. He doesn`t have good first pass, but he is very helpful in transition.

Walsh is Smith\Butcher 2.0 with little better skating. Never like the player, never liked all of them. 

Josh Filmon is lanky boy with good skating and great shot. He is playing on the bad team and has 1.33 ppg as I remember. In the last 20 years player with more than 1.35\1.4 ppg in D+1 year have some real chance to be NHLers. Filmon is very thin, and his team isn`t good. He has good hands and legs, his two way game isn`t good, but I think he can grow a lot when will spend some time in gym and in AHL.

Mister Bardakov

He is best defensive forward prospect of the Devils. Great skating, great effort, great in puck battles, very fast, create high dangerous chances. The question is - where his game will be after injury. 

Topias Vilen - very smooth skater, good hands, can be your transitional defenseman, can be your shotdown guy. I think he has real NHL potential. I believe Devils will find be happy enough in the moments when cap will be tight, some defenseman will hurt, and Devils will call Vilen up. His game is look like what Marino is doing, but younger version of course.

Same with Daniil Orlov. Great  game without the puck, good transitional game. He is very young and he is far from NHL, but you never know what will going on after three four years when Luke, Nemec and Mercer will got new deals.

Barabosha is big, defensive minded defenseman with good skating for his size. Win every puck battle I saw. Who knows? Same as Orlov.

I like Charlie Leddy`s  game in USHL so much. Another defensive minded defenseman, but I think he has all the tools for defensive game. He was good positionallly, use a stick when it needs, use his body when it needs. But it is USHL and you never know how player will adapt his game for the new level.

Edwards... great skating. Great-great skating. A lot of holes in his defensive and positional game, decision making is questionable. I don`t think he has NHL potential, at least as NJD player. Same with McCarthy.

I don`t know how Pytlik is actually looking. Covid hit his career very hard.

Foote has NHL potential but his skating limit him very much. May be for specific role with specific players who can compensate his problems. Like Bardakov for example, who is very fast and will secure the puck behind the net and can pass on high dangerous area.  A lot of fans can not think about Foote very high, but he is a good prospect for now, at least he has nhl potential, because our left wing pipe line isn`t as big. He can be your fourth liner, you would not prefer to use Gritsyuk as your forth liner, of course if Wood will taste the market. If Devils will resign Wood, chances of Foote to be NJD player are not exist. Bad legs - bad fate.

 

Tyce Thompson is very talented player with good shot and skating. He is tougher than he was before, but he should need to work more on his 200 foot game and his real potential to be NJD player is center role, where he wasn`t good before even on AHL squad. He played better on the right wing, but Devils have Bratt, Mercer, Zetterlund and Bastian as right wingers, and Holtz in pipe line. 

Holtz is a very good prospect, great shot, better on boards, great passing game. Needs to work more on his skating, now he is much better than he was before. Needs to work on his 200-foot game, and he needs time. He is looking better and better every year, he always spend a year to adapt on the new level, and year after he played much better.

I don`t like Stillman, he has good hands, but he was drafted as potential power forward, but he is making wrong decisions on the forecheck, always tried to start to early, his decision making isn`t great. His production isn`t good. 

And of course Devils have very good goalie pool. Brennan, Daws, Shmid, Malek. 

 

Devils have GREAT, one of the best prospect pools. It`s not a question. The only thin part is center depth. I believe Fitz focus on it next draft, where there will be a lot of good centers.But for now it is a problem. We have only two good players with visible NHL potential as centers. It`s Bardakov and he was injured, and he has visible bottom line potential. Very good potential, but he isn`t shooter or playmaker still. And Thompson, who wasn`t good as center in AHL before. 
And I would prefer to see some young big left winger with power forward\defensive forward potential. 
LD pool and RD pool are great, right wing pool is good enough, goalie pool is good, but goalies are voodoo, you never know with them, left wing pool isn`t big, but Devils have Gritsyuk, Filmon and Foote as prospects and good left wingers in roster. And Bratt who can play left wing role in theory. Or may be Holtz will play left wing role like he did in AHL.

We should not worry about prospect pool of Devils organisation. Some have real top line potential, some have real bottom line nhl potential, some have  potential at least. The most important thing is Devils have great roster group and will use their prospects as patches in bad situation, when this prospects will grow in AHL or in Europe. Like every good big clubs do. The Devils are finally in a good situation as organisation with young but deep roster pool and big prospect pool. We will have alternatives for players who will not work or wants bigger role\money.

A great post Guadana, seriously well done. Does Barkakov seem like a player who wants to come on over to the US if you know? If they can get him in the system and let him adjust in the AHL that would be a big boost to their AHL part of their system. They have scoring up the middle to get a physically dominant good skating center would be something. I don't and have never been a big believer in #20 even though he has been decent the past 5 games, but I give much of that credit to  his linemates who are both playing really well.

I have not watched Michigan yet, but Casey seems dynamic on all the highlights, and during the draft the reports said he was not afraid of physical play so if he can be taught the defensive game, that's another great asset to have. I really want to get Mook over here and see how he does before I trade him away, but if he has a lot of value I understand selling high on him.

 

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9 hours ago, Patrick Sundstrom Ghost said:

A great post Guadana, seriously well done. Does Barkakov seem like a player who wants to come on over to the US if you know? If they can get him in the system and let him adjust in the AHL that would be a big boost to their AHL part of their system. They have scoring up the middle to get a physically dominant good skating center would be something. I don't and have never been a big believer in #20 even though he has been decent the past 5 games, but I give much of that credit to  his linemates who are both playing really well.

I have not watched Michigan yet, but Casey seems dynamic on all the highlights, and during the draft the reports said he was not afraid of physical play so if he can be taught the defensive game, that's another great asset to have. I really want to get Mook over here and see how he does before I trade him away, but if he has a lot of value I understand selling high on him.

 

I think you were not a big believer in Bardakov  because you didn't watch him a lot. If you didn't watch my video of his actions, you can find it here. Of course he isn't 100% nhl player because you never know with his scoring ability. I have little chat with his father when he was injured(novemver 2nd, he returned and played btw, iron man. If Blackwood were injured the same way, we would never see him), so he has one more year and its too early, world is the place now where we can't make big plans.

Shakir is signed, he will play in the system next year. I would prefer to watch him in nhl context too, before trading. I was talking about trading because Shakir is a very good but not critical asset for us. For now he is number 4 prospect. But he is left defenseman. We have Bahl and Okhotiuk, who are NHL ready for the big part of nhl teams, I saw some of worser defensemen who play against us. We have Vilen who has real potential to be at least 6-7 defenseman(combo of good skating and good defensive tools) after 2 years. We have Orlov who has same potential  to compete for the spot after 3-5 years. I was disappointed when our scouting group prefer Orlov over Koromyslov in the moment, I didn't watch him, but watched a lot of Koromyslov's games, but this year I watched Orlov in KHL and he played very good for 18 yo player. Like I said - its a "Siegenthaler/Marino" concept - good defensive abilities with very good skating, he can help with shutdown and with transition the puck, very good stick work against opponents. 

So if they want to catch big fish on the market - they can offer Shakir as a part. Of course they can tryst their players and try to build Tampa Bay level defense and use top 4 level players in bottom pair. Im not against this idea. I would not even trade for forward. I like what organisation have and I think about future Luke/Nemec/Mercer deals. But I still have worries about goalie position and how Devils will win goalie duels against top goalies with good defensive system in front of them.

I watched three Michigan games this year. Ofcourse we should understand that NCAA isn't very structured and isn't good defensive league. Better than WHL or OHL of course. Im watching different leagues from time to time when games are going at the comfort time for me. The problem with Casey is some of his defensive tools will not gonna work against older/bigger/stronger players. He was good on the boards in USHL. What he will gonna do against 6'2/200+  players is a big question. We can't deny it until we will see. Imagine he will meet Brady Tkachuk on his wing. I like his game, how he can find good place for dangerous shots, how he is playing with his stick against opponents, may be he will adapt his game like Girard did. Btw he was criticized for his defensive game, but its ok, we have some players to compensate it. He is a long road prospect, he can play 3-4 years in NCAA, after that he can spend a couple of years in AHL for adapting his game and learning physical stuff in actual context. And it would be the time when Dougie's deal will end. So I'm not worry about him, he is very talented, most of his tools are very good, he has enough time to gain some weight and learn how to play against bigger and tougher players. Its not the easy task but NHL is not the league with easy road to.

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I don't think I ever commented on Bardakov, but if I had it would have been a very positive view point from myself.

I liked him as soon as they picked him and I read about him, I have a very strong going all European after the 3 or 4th rd slant.

I did see one of your videos on Bardakov, I will look for others, thank you by the way for all of them...

He is signed until the end of 2024 or did you mean the end of this coming season, so 2023?

I don't believe there are many under the radar junior players in Canada or HS kids in the US that are going to turn into special players, this is not the case for me when it comes to Europeans.

Of course if there are athletic traits in US or Canadians kids where they had injuries or on bad teams and or late development for them I am okay with taking them, but I think too many of later round picks are thrown away.

I much prefer going with Euro kids who have a higher possibility of not being seen as much after round 3, and thus they could turn into something again with my preference of going for high ceiling kids at forward since we have seen many late round picks turn into top players.

 

 

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On 11/5/2022 at 12:08 PM, Patrick Sundstrom Ghost said:

I don't think I ever commented on Bardakov, but if I had it would have been a very positive view point from myself.

I liked him as soon as they picked him and I read about him, I have a very strong going all European after the 3 or 4th rd slant.

I did see one of your videos on Bardakov, I will look for others, thank you by the way for all of them...

He is signed until the end of 2024 or did you mean the end of this coming season, so 2023?

I don't believe there are many under the radar junior players in Canada or HS kids in the US that are going to turn into special players, this is not the case for me when it comes to Europeans.

Of course if there are athletic traits in US or Canadians kids where they had injuries or on bad teams and or late development for them I am okay with taking them, but I think too many of later round picks are thrown away.

I much prefer going with Euro kids who have a higher possibility of not being seen as much after round 3, and thus they could turn into something again with my preference of going for high ceiling kids at forward since we have seen many late round picks turn into top players.

 

 

You talked about Shakir(don’t know why I thought you were talking about Bardakov). Again - that’s only on your side. It doesn’t change the game and potential of Shakir. He is number 4 prospect now and one of successful prospects from 2020.

Bardakov signed two year deal this summer. Btw he is playing now and take assists yesterday in his second game after return.

The problem with American players is American/Canadian hockey system overall. CHL leagues and USHL are very weak leagues. There are enough talents, but leagues aren’t very structured and not very good defensively. Most of european and russian leagues have vertical structure, where better players can play in higher league with better competition, where better players have a chance to play with better competition. They train with each other’s often. And AHL is a worser league than KHL and SHL. And I think that AHL power may be isn’t even fourth. Gap is huge. And if your player is good enough for AHL, but isn’t good enough for NHL, he is in limbo of development. Reason why many NA players outside of top 2-3 rounds can’t develop often in better players. I like NCAA as league, especially for 1-3 development course. It’s a good competition for younger players. European players has that luxury everywhere and can work on different aspects of the game in different context and compete. So I think it’s not about talent, than more about right system of hockey organization. 

 

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Speaking of big and small faith in a big but thin 20-year-old defenseman.

He scores today.


 4 goals, 11 points in 27 games for now, 15-36 TOI, +14 -3 +\- +11. 87.4% of complete passes (7th defenseman in the league).

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11 minutes ago, Guadana said:

Speaking of big and small faith in a big but thin 20-year-old defenseman.

He scores today.


 4 goals, 11 points in 27 games for now, 15-36 TOI, +14 -3 +\- +11. 87.4% of complete passes (7th defenseman in the league).

You watch any full games of him recently? Curious how he’s progressing defensively beyond the points. 

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19 minutes ago, Nicomo said:

You watch any full games of him recently? Curious how he’s progressing defensively beyond the points. 

I`m not watching every of his game, but some of his game I`m watching. He made a huge step in development of his defensive game from the draft day. Still needs to work on his first step. Salavat missed only three goals 5 on 5 with him on the ice. He lost the puck few days ago on the blue line in PP and opponent scores.  Still has some things in the game to work on. He is tall dude and imagine some bad moments of Graves or Hamilton on the short distance that happened because both or tall and  need more fractions of a second to turn around. It exist in his game. 
In general, I am happy with his game and his development, I just don't want to cherrypicking.

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Damn...scary how deep the Devils are in defensive prospects right now...Luke, Nemec, Muk and Seamus (and of course not like Okhotiuk and Bahl have been written off)...wasn't so long ago we'd be hoping that a player like Walsh might turn into something, by default. 

Sad that there won't be room for all of them...but damn what a good problem to have!  Gonna be a serious chip in there to help fill a need elsewhere, should the Devils ever need to go in that direction.   

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I was looking at a post at allaboutthejersey earlier and I saw a name of a young goalie I remember seeing on here during one of the draft posts this year.

Dmitri Nikolayev is only 22, and I think Guadana mentioned him as a possible pick up either in the draft all as a free agent back then, I just looked up his numbers and they are silly in the KHL.

He seems to be a free agent after this season, so if Fitz and Marty, plus the other scouts are on this kid, I think it would be a very good thing.

What can you tell everyone about him Guadana? Does he want to play in the NHL, does he have a preference of where he wants to go if he does or is he planning on staying home for another couple of years?

Any information you have is muchly appreciated.

 

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6 hours ago, slasher72 said:

This latest "rumor out of Canada" that the Devils are hotly pursuing Josh Anderson is entertaining. Fitz would need to be committed to psychiatric care if he traded Luke Hughes, Simon Nemec, or Alex Holtz for a 28 yr-ol Anderson, as this host speculates. 

 

They’re fvcking delusional up there.   

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