{"id":13541,"date":"2017-07-24T09:00:14","date_gmt":"2017-07-24T13:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=13541"},"modified":"2025-10-10T22:53:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-11T02:53:07","slug":"tsp-new-jersey-devils-prospects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2017\/07\/24\/tsp-new-jersey-devils-prospects\/","title":{"rendered":"TSP: New Jersey Devils Prospects"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to the 2017 edition of \u201cTop Shelf Prospects\u201d. \u00a0During the summer, I will feature a team-by-team look at the top prospects in the NHL. I will follow the order of the first round of the NHL draft (as if there were no trades). You\u00a0can find all the articles here<\/a>. Since we had an\u00a0extensive NHL Draft preview<\/a>, I will not be reviewing the players who were drafted this year. There have been no games since then, and my reports on them will not have changed. Today we look at the New Jersey Devils Prospects.<\/em><\/p>\n

I will link you to those articles; as well as taking a look at prospects that were acquired before this year\u2019s draft; their progress, and their chances of making the 2017-18 roster.\u00a0<\/em>I will also bring you one sleeper pick \u2013 a player who was either drafted in the 4th-round or later; or an undrafted free agent signing who I pick as a dark horse to make the NHL. The cut-off for prospects is typically 50 NHL games played or being 25 years old. These are not hard or fast rules though, and I may make some exceptions depending on the circumstances.<\/em><\/p>\n

TSP: New Jersey Devils Prospects<\/h2>\n

It was a long season for the New Jersey Devils. The team thought that adding Taylor Hall<\/a><\/strong> would give the long-suffering offense a boost. Hall had a decent season, with 53 points, but overall the Devils still had problems scoring. Their 183 goals for was third lowest in the NHL, and lowest in the Eastern Conference. The were 18 goals worse than the next lowest team in the conference. Couple that with playing in the toughest division in hockey, and their playoff chances were realistically sunk by Christmas, and the team spent much of the year looking to the future.<\/p>\n

The team’s luck would take a major change at the NHL Draft Lottery though. With the league’s fourth worst record, they went into the night with the fifth best lottery odds (due to expansion). The lottery balls fell in their favour and the Devils had the top pick in the 2017 NHL Draft.<\/p>\n

Draft Picks:\u00a0Nico Hischier<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Jesper Boqvist<\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0Fabian Zetterlund<\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0Reilly Walsh<\/strong>,\u00a0Nikita Popugaev<\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0Gilles Senn<\/strong>,\u00a0Marian Studenic<\/strong>,\u00a0Aarne Talvitie<\/strong>,\u00a0Jocktan Chainey<\/strong>,\u00a0Yegor Zaitsev<\/strong>,\u00a0Matthew Hellickson
\n<\/strong>Graduates: Pavel Zacha<\/a><\/strong>, Miles Wood<\/a><\/strong>, Joseph Blandisi<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Top Prospect: Nico Hischier<\/h3>\n

The Devils drafted Hischier with the 1st overall pick in this year\u2019s NHL draft. Prior to the draft, we did an in-depth scouting report on Hischier. As no games have been played since that report; we will not repeat it. You can\u00a0check out the report here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

#2 Prospect: Michael McLeod<\/h3>\n

Center — shoots Right
\nBorn February 3rd, 1998 —\u00a0Mississauga, Ontario
\nHeight 6’2″ — Weight 195 lbs [188 cm \/ 88 kg]
\nDrafted by\u00a0New Jersey Devils in the first round, #12\u00a0overall at the 2016 NHL Entry Draft<\/p>\n