Prospect Info: Devils Prospects Re-Ranked For 2022

[StevenToddIves]

Yes, I know. The season has been depressing. So, I decided to take a look towards a bright Devils future and re-rank the prospects.

First, I'll rank them by position. Then I'll give us a combined top 20 list to argue about. Wingers and D are listed by what hand they shoot with. No goalies on this list, because I suck at goalies.

Here's your color key:
Red: Future top-liner or top-pairing D, potential star
Green: Very likely NHL regular
Blue: Decent shot to be an NHL-er or long-term prospect with bottom 6/ bottom pairing aspirations
Pink: Likely AHL-caliber or prospect with remote chance for NHL
Black: Very, very long shot for NHL

CENTER:
1) Jaromir Pytlik strong two-way center with size can be bottom sixer if development goes well
2) Jesper Boqvist never achieved his draft-day promise, but speedy center still has some hope
3) Nate Schnarr might see a few games somewhere, but likely an AHLer
4) Artem Shlaine hasn't progressed much in NCAA, maybe can make AHL someday in bottom-line role
5) Benjamin Baumgartner not worth even considering signing out of Europe

The Skinny: The Devils are really weak up the middle in the prospect pool, and this will have to be addressed at the 2022 draft. There are no top 6 possibilities, and Pytlik is the only viable prospect here.


LEFT WING:
1) Arseni Gritsyuk biggest riser on this list, a quick and tenacious two-way wing who can be a top-six NHLer
2) Nolan Foote power winger with a cannon for a shot, developing into a strong middle six forward
3) Zakhar Bardakov bruising forward with a strong two-way game, could be a 4th line fixture one day
4) Samu Salminen needs to improve skating for top 6 role or improve 200-foot play for bottom 6 role
5) Aarne Talvitie injuries and setbacks have taken their toll, but high-character guy has 4th line possibility
6) Nikola Pasic likelihood of being signed out of Sweden is growing slimmer, but a decent two-way wing
7) Eetu Pakkila hasn't taken the jump the Devils hoped he would in Finnish Liiga

The Skinny: Gritsyuk looking like a first-round value really improves the outlook here, while Foote's interior/shooting game is something the Devils sorely need at the pro level.


RIGHT WING:
1) Alexander Holtz sniping winger is also an underrated passer with a very strong 200-foot game
2) Chase Stillman physicality, smarts and shot give him a high floor, but is he a mid-six or bottom-six guy?
3) Tyce Thompson has developed nicely in his 200-foot game, can play physically and score
4) Patrick Moynihan an all-situations stud at Providence, high floor as an NHL bottom 6 high-motor guy
5) Graeme Clarke has puck skills and a shot, but needs to improve his skating another level
6) Fabian Zetterlund feisty winger with some scoring pop could get his NHL chance soon
7) Marian Studenic has shown the speed and energy to fill in a 4th line NHL role in a pinch

The Skinny: with the depth and quality here, the Devils probably have the best group of RW prospects in the entire NHL right now.

LEFT DEFENSE:
1) Luke Hughes lightning-fast defenseman tearing up the NCAA right now and has superstar potential
2) Shakir Mukhamadullin minute-munching two-way D just keeps getting better in the KHL
3) Nikita Okhotyuk fast and physical D has everything you want for a bottom-pairing player
4) Kevin Bahl huge and mobile D has not progressed with the puck, but getting better on D
5) Michael Vukojevic another physical defensive D, better than expected with the puck
6) Daniil Misyul defensive defenseman is progressing very well in KHL
7) Yegor Zaitsev defensive defenseman is progressing very well in KHL
8) Topias Vilen stay at home D plays responsible, defensive-minded role in Finland's Liiga
9) Colin White not really a prospect, but has filled in at the NHL level without getting completely caved
10) Ethan Edwards basically the LD U of Michigan foes hope they see out there instead of Hughes or Power

The Skinny: with star quality on top and a ton of depth, this is the runaway best LD pool in the entire NHL.

RIGHT DEFENSE:
1) Case McCarthy strong, mobile, smart stay-at-home D has been downright excellent in Boston U.
2) Reilly Walsh has skill with the puck, but may struggle too much without it for regular NHL role
3) Viktor Hurtig long term project, will be years before we can truly evaluate this big, raw D

The Skinny: slim pickings here, but at least McCarthy has taken a big step this year. If only a few of the LD were ambidextrous...

THE TOP 20
1 LD Luke Hughes
2 RW Alexander Holtz
3 LD Shakir Mukhamadullin
4 LW Arseni Gritsyuk
5 RW Chase Stillman
6 LW Nolan Foote
7 RW Tyce Thompson
8 RD Case McCarthy
9 LD Nikita Okhotyuk
10 LD Kevin Bahl
11 LD Michael Vukojevic
12 LD Daniil Misyul
13 RW Patrick Moynihan
14 LD Yegor Zaitsev
15 RW Graeme Clarke
16 LW Zakhar Bardakov
17 RW Fabian Zetterlund
18 LW Samu Salminen
19 C Jaromir Pytlik
20 C Jesper Boqvist

Click to read more...

 

[Devs3cups]

Great writeup, as usual. I pretty much have the same top 5 as you, and I really like that top 5.

 

[Captain3rdLine]

Yes, I know. The season has been depressing. So, I decided to take a look towards a bright Devils future and re-rank the prospects.

First, I'll rank them by position. Then I'll give us a combined top 20 list to argue about. Wingers and D are listed by what hand they shoot with. No goalies on this list, because I suck at goalies.

Here's your color key:
Red: Future top-liner or top-pairing D, potential star
Green: Very likely NHL regular
Blue: Decent shot to be an NHL-er or long-term prospect with bottom 6/ bottom pairing aspirations
Pink: Likely AHL-caliber or prospect with remote chance for NHL
Black: Very, very long shot for NHL

CENTER:
1) Jaromir Pytlik strong two-way center with size can be bottom sixer if development goes well
2) Jesper Boqvist never achieved his draft-day promise, but speedy center still has some hope
3) Nate Schnarr might see a few games somewhere, but likely an AHLer
4) Artem Shlaine hasn't progressed much in NCAA, maybe can make AHL someday in bottom-line role
5) Benjamin Baumgartner not worth even considering signing out of Europe

The Skinny: The Devils are really weak up the middle in the prospect pool, and this will have to be addressed at the 2022 draft. There are no top 6 possibilities, and Pytlik is the only viable prospect here.


LEFT WING:
1) Arseni Gritsyuk biggest riser on this list, a quick and tenacious two-way wing who can be a top-six NHLer
2) Nolan Foote power winger with a cannon for a shot, developing into a strong middle six forward
3) Zakhar Bardakov bruising forward with a strong two-way game, could be a 4th line fixture one day
4) Samu Salminen needs to improve skating for top 6 role or improve 200-foot play for bottom 6 role
5) Aarne Talvitie injuries and setbacks have taken their toll, but high-character guy has 4th line possibility
6) Nikola Pasic likelihood of being signed out of Sweden is growing slimmer, but a decent two-way wing
7) Eetu Pakkila hasn't taken the jump the Devils hoped he would in Finnish Liiga

The Skinny: Gritsyuk looking like a first-round value really improves the outlook here, while Foote's interior/shooting game is something the Devils sorely need at the pro level.


RIGHT WING:
1) Alexander Holtz sniping winger is also an underrated passer with a very strong 200-foot game
2) Chase Stillman physicality, smarts and shot give him a high floor, but is he a mid-six or bottom-six guy?
3) Tyce Thompson has developed nicely in his 200-foot game, can play physically and score
4) Patrick Moynihan an all-situations stud at Providence, high floor as an NHL bottom 6 high-motor guy
5) Graeme Clarke has puck skills and a shot, but needs to improve his skating another level
6) Fabian Zetterlund feisty winger with some scoring pop could get his NHL chance soon
7) Marian Studenic has shown the speed and energy to fill in a 4th line NHL role in a pinch

The Skinny: with the depth and quality here, the Devils probably have the best group of RW prospects in the entire NHL right now.

LEFT DEFENSE:
1) Luke Hughes lightning-fast defenseman tearing up the NCAA right now and has superstar potential
2) Shakir Mukhamadullin minute-munching two-way D just keeps getting better in the KHL
3) Nikita Okhotyuk fast and physical D has everything you want for a bottom-pairing player
4) Kevin Bahl huge and mobile D has not progressed with the puck, but getting better on D
5) Michael Vukojevic another physical defensive D, better than expected with the puck
6) Daniil Misyul defensive defenseman is progressing very well in KHL
7) Yegor Zaitsev defensive defenseman is progressing very well in KHL
8) Topias Vilen stay at home D plays responsible, defensive-minded role in Finland's Liiga
9) Colin White not really a prospect, but has filled in at the NHL level without getting completely caved
10) Ethan Edwards basically the LD U of Michigan foes hope they see out there instead of Hughes or Power

The Skinny: with star quality on top and a ton of depth, this is the runaway best LD pool in the entire NHL.

RIGHT DEFENSE:
1) Case McCarthy strong, mobile, smart stay-at-home D has been downright excellent in Boston U.
2) Reilly Walsh has skill with the puck, but may struggle too much without it for regular NHL role
3) Viktor Hurtig long term project, will be years before we can truly evaluate this big, raw D

The Skinny: slim pickings here, but at least McCarthy has taken a big step this year. If only a few of the LD were ambidextrous...

THE TOP 20
1 LD Luke Hughes
2 RW Alexander Holtz
3 LD Shakir Mukhamadullin
4 LW Arseni Gritsyuk
5 RW Chase Stillman
6 LW Nolan Foote
7 RW Tyce Thompson
8 RD Case McCarthy
9 LD Nikita Okhotyuk
10 LD Kevin Bahl
11 LD Michael Vukojevic
12 LD Daniil Misyul
13 RW Patrick Moynihan
14 LD Yegor Zaitsev
15 RW Graeme Clarke
16 LW Zakhar Bardakov
17 RW Fabian Zetterlund
18 LW Samu Salminen
19 C Jaromir Pytlik
20 C Jesper Boqvist

Is Salminen not more of a Center? Or has he been playing more as a winger now?

 

[StevenToddIves]

Is Salminen not more of a Center? Or has he been playing more as a winger now?

I feel unless Salminen improves his skating and 200-foot game, he projects to the wing at the professional level. His best tools are also his hands and shooting, which would play up on the wing.

 

[ChicksDigTheTrap]

Thanks for the great post. It is a shame we do not have more C potential. Looks like Mercer will be staying at C .

 

[Rydev]

Thanks for the great post. It is a shame we do not have more C potential. Looks like Mercer will be staying at C .

If Dawson Mercer's offensive potential can go up from top-6 linemates, then Id assume we have to try that first - then handle a 3C with FA or trade.

Not during this season but in the off-season. A veteran would be good, too.

 

[Better Call Sal]

Great write up as always. The good news is that Nico, Jack, Dawson (and McLeod to a lesser extent) help soften the blow of a weak center crop currently.

I really gotta check out some BU games to watch McCarthy the way you speak about him. It makes me excited to have a defender of that ilk coming up through the ranks.

 

[ChicksDigTheTrap]

If Dawson Mercer's offensive potential can go up from top-6 linemates, then Id assume we have to try that first - then handle a 3C with FA or trade.

Not during this season but in the off-season. A veteran would be good, too.

The problem is that without anyone in the system it would mean multiple years of stop gap veteran 3 Cs and they are not always available. Also the Devils should be a cap team soon so signing UFAs may not be easy. I would rather have more of a "top 9" with an energy line mentality as opposed to a "top 6" mentality and having Mercer at C allows for that.

 

[Tao Jersey Jones]

9) Colin White not really a prospect, but has filled in at the NHL level without getting completely caved

 

[StevenToddIves]

Great write up as always. The good news is that Nico, Jack, Dawson (and McLeod to a lesser extent) help soften the blow of a weak center crop currently.

I really gotta check out some BU games to watch McCarthy the way you speak about him. It makes me excited to have a defender of that ilk coming up through the ranks.

Thank you for the kind words. I'm just happy to be working for you guys... for free. Any idea how much Pronman gets paid for this stuff?

I would say McCarthy is comparative stylistically to a right-shooting Siegenthaler. Not flashy, pretty good with the puck but prefers the simple play unless an opportunity is obvious. Very, very tough to play against defensively, a high-compete battler, and can dial up the physicality without skating around looking for it all the time.

 

[Emperoreddy]

How confident are we that Luke is a LD. He seems to play the right side almost exclusively right now

 

[StevenToddIves]

How confident are we that Luke is a LD. He seems to play the right side almost exclusively right now

Honestly, we can speculate all day but it probably depends on who is head coach when he's ready to make a push for the Devils line-up in two years.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Honestly, we can speculate all day but it probably depends on who is head coach when he's ready to make a push for the Devils line-up in two years.

It creates an interesting situation depending where he lines up.

Assuming the Devils resign Graves, you could potentially do a left side of Graves, Muk, Smith and a right side of Dougie, Hughes, Severson.

It makes it possible to avoid having to give Severson a boatload of money to resign. Though it does weaken the left side which doesn't have a true top pairing guy on there.

If Luke is on the left, and I assume Muk develops into a NHL player then one of Smith or Graves potentially becomes expendable.

 

[Monsieur Verdoux]

It creates an interesting situation depending where he lines up.

Assuming the Devils resign Graves, you could potentially do a left side of Graves, Muk, Smith and a right side of Dougie, Hughes, Severson.

It makes it possible to avoid having to give Severson a boatload of money to resign. Though it does weaken the left side which doesn't have a true top pairing guy on there.

If Luke is on the left, and I assume Muk develops into a NHL player then one of Smith or Graves potentially becomes expendable.

What about Siegenthaler? I think he has been better than Graves.

 

[Emperoreddy]

What about Siegenthaler? I think he has been better than Graves.

I completely forgot about Siegs, and how dare I since he has been fantastic.

 

[StevenToddIves]

It creates an interesting situation depending where he lines up.

Assuming the Devils resign Graves, you could potentially do a left side of Graves, Muk, Smith and a right side of Dougie, Hughes, Severson.

It makes it possible to avoid having to give Severson a boatload of money to resign. Though it does weaken the left side which doesn't have a true top pairing guy on there.

If Luke is on the left, and I assume Muk develops into a NHL player then one of Smith or Graves potentially becomes expendable.

Siegenthaler has been the Devils best defenseman this year, we're not including him?

I am extremely optimistic about Mukhamadullin. He's looking like a better pick every day.

I also think the Devils will key on a pair of RD with their top-10 pick this year, either Nemec or Jiricek. Either of those two would certainly alter the picture. That's why it's so tough to speculate on three, four years down the line. I think we can assume Hamilton will still be here and Hughes/Mukhamadullin will be emerging on that blueline, but everything else is up in the air. Devils would be wise to keep Graves and Siegenthaler around too. Severson can still go either way, though I really like him. Smith is a guy who might be more valuable in an off-season trade to bring in a power/scoring forward for the top 6.

 

[Hockey Sports Fan]

The sooner that best group of right wing prospects turns into a strong group of NHL right right wingers, the better. Love the write up, thanks!

 

[Captain3rdLine]

It creates an interesting situation depending where he lines up.

Assuming the Devils resign Graves, you could potentially do a left side of Graves, Muk, Smith and a right side of Dougie, Hughes, Severson.

It makes it possible to avoid having to give Severson a boatload of money to resign. Though it does weaken the left side which doesn't have a true top pairing guy on there.

If Luke is on the left, and I assume Muk develops into a NHL player then one of Smith or Graves potentially becomes expendable.

I’d honestly be okay if they let Graves go and focused on keeping Severson. I also don’t think any of our LD have legitimate top pairing potential other than L.Hughes if he turns out and it doesn’t make sense to have Severson on the 3rd pairing IMO and we should definitely try to keep him.
This is an idea of what I could see and would like to see our d group looking like in 3 years assuming we don’t draft either of the top dmen this year and don’t make any big moves.
Hughes Hamilton
Siegenthaler Severson
Smith Mukhammadullin

Smith and Siegenthaler or even Mukhammadullin could be switched depending on how they perform. I’m not that high on Graves, concerned about Smith, and not sold on Mukhammadullin but am curious to see how he turns out. How Hughes turns out is so important. If we took Nemec in this years draft I would be ecstatic and our d core would be so well set for the future. I’m not sold on Jiricek as of right now. If we take one of them Severson becomes much more expendable.

 

[HobokenIrish]

awesome as always. Thanks for taking the time to do this

 

[Guadana]

I don`t wanna change a lot in my rankings.

Y
THE TOP 20
1 LD Luke Hughes
2 RW Alexander Holtz
3 LD Shakir Mukhamadullin
4 LW Arseni Gritsyuk
5 RW Chase Stillman
6 LW Nolan Foote
7 RW Tyce Thompson
8 RD Case McCarthy
9 LD Nikita Okhotyuk
10 LD Kevin Bahl
11 LD Michael Vukojevic
12 LD Daniil Misyul
13 RW Patrick Moynihan
14 LD Yegor Zaitsev
15 RW Graeme Clarke
16 LW Zakhar Bardakov
17 RW Fabian Zetterlund
18 LW Samu Salminen
19 C Jaromir Pytlik
20 C Jesper Boqvist

Okhotyuk is higher than Stillman, Foote and Mccarthy of course. And Tyce is higher than Stillman and Foote too. He was lookin much more ready for NHL than Foote. Hope his recovery will go smoothly.
I really can`t wait to see when coaches will give a chance for Nikita to play. I like his game year ago and rank him very high, but now I like his game even better. I know he is walking on the blade with his game, but I like it, I think if he has good pack for NHL defenseman.
Foote have very bad skating and speed and I wanna have some expectations, but trying to stop them.

Chase isn`t deserve to be in top-7 in my vision. I have a lot of questions from his game and production is not the first or even second. He sholud walk through a long distance to balance his game and find his way to be NHL player.

I root for Shakir, but he still has homework to study.

1 LD Luke Hughes
2 RW Alexander Holtz
3 LW Arseni Gritsyuk
4 LD Nikita Okhotyuk
5 LD Shakir Mukhamadullin
6 RW Tyce Thompson
7 LW Nolan Foote
8 LD Kevin Bahl
9 RD Case McCarthy
10 LD Michael Vukojevic

 

[StevenToddIves]

Great writeup, as usual. I pretty much have the same top 5 as you, and I really like that top 5.

Thanks for the kind words. I was seeing everyone just arguing and arguing on the main Devils boards so I figured I'd give us all something to be happy about. I agree our top 5 is terrific, and we can go so far as to say our top 12 holds up well against any team in the league -- it's excellent. Watching Misyul this year in the KHL, I was thinking he's a pretty sure bet to be a very good third-pairing LD in the NHL and he couldn't even crack my top 10.

 

[StevenToddIves]

The sooner that best group of right wing prospects turns into a strong group of NHL right right wingers, the better. Love the write up, thanks!

Thanks for the kind words. I think the Devils threads need more kind words and happy thoughts right now. Yes, the rebuild is going slower than we like, but we have a burgeoning core of Hughes/Hischier/Mercer/Hamilton/Bratt with L. Hughes/Holtz/Mukhamadullin/Gritsyuk on the way. That's a tremendously exciting thought for the future, especially with another top 10 pick coming in the 2022 draft to throw their name in with that group.

 

[StevenToddIves]

awesome as always. Thanks for taking the time to do this

Thank you for saying this.

 

[StevenToddIves]

I don`t wanna change a lot in my rankings.



Okhotyuk is higher than Stillman, Foote and Mccarthy of course. And Tyce is higher than Stillman and Foote too. He was lookin much more ready for NHL than Foote. Hope his recovery will go smoothly.
I really can`t wait to see when coaches will give a chance for Nikita to play. I like his game year ago and rank him very high, but now I like his game even better. I know he is walking on the blade with his game, but I like it, I think if he has good pack for NHL defenseman.
Foote have very bad skating and speed and I wanna have some expectations, but trying to stop them.

Chase isn`t deserve to be in top-7 in my vision. I have a lot of questions from his game and production is not the first or even second. He sholud walk through a long distance to balance his game and find his way to be NHL player.

I root for Shakir, but he still has homework to study.

1 LD Luke Hughes
2 RW Alexander Holtz
3 LW Arseni Gritsyuk
4 LD Nikita Okhotyuk
5 LD Shakir Mukhamadullin
6 RW Tyce Thompson
7 LW Nolan Foote
8 LD Kevin Bahl
9 RD Case McCarthy
10 LD Michael Vukojevic

That's a great list too, @Guadana -- we're thinking similarly as usually, just in different languages.

Just FYI, my biggest struggle in my rankings was Mukhamadullin or Gritsyuk at #3 behind Hughes/Holtz. I went Mukhamadullin, but of course I see your logic, as well.

 

[Rydev]

The problem is that without anyone in the system it would mean multiple years of stop gap veteran 3 Cs and they are not always available. Also the Devils should be a cap team soon so signing UFAs may not be easy. I would rather have more of a "top 9" with an energy line mentality as opposed to a "top 6" mentality and having Mercer at C allows for that.

Well finding a 3-4 year deal for a veteran 3C that isn't too expensive shouldn't be too hard, but I cant name anyone off the top of my head so as for examples I cant make many.

But as for the top-9 vs top-6, Id agree with Mercer at 3C as like a Kadri-like scoring role he had in Toronto.. but that would require us having multiple top-6 wingers and, in reality, we only have one right now in Bratt.

If a Holtz and a Tatar were putting up top-6 numbers, id agree with your idea. But Im more focused on Dawson reaching his ceiling and also helping out a Nico, maybe expanding his offensive game a bit.

Im all for Mercer as a long-term 3C but I think Itd be beneficial to us for him to play top-6 minutes until our wingers are steady enough to make the move down.