Top 20 New Jersey Devils prospects developing with gusto

[devilsblood]

Boucher has looked really good this year. I think he's thriving playing on the line with Zajac and Palmieri. He's definitely a lot more confident, and is making a difference. And I agree that he was never used properly before. He needs to be in a top 6 role, and he's shown what he can do when given that chance. I know his points don't blow you away right now, but it's not because of his play. The points will come. I have no doubt.

Past 3-4 games Bouch has been real impressive. Had the multi point game, but has just been more active and getting quality chances. Not to mention ringing shots off the post.

 

[SladeWilson23]

Past 3-4 games Bouch has been real impressive. Had the multi point game, but has just been more active and getting quality chances. Not to mention ringing shots off the post.

Yea he's been huge in the absence of Cammy. When Cammy gets back, I really hope Boucher stays with Zajac and Palmieri.

 

[JimEIV]

Since 1990 is silly. The NHL has changed an incredible amount from that point - college players were largely an afterthought, Europeans had just started trickling in. A player like Brian Rafalski would never go unsigned out of college now, because now teams know that Brian Rafalski is a thing that can happen. Let's just do this simply - here is a list of forwards whose first NHL game comes 25 or later, from 2005-2006 on, with the caveat that the lockout wiping out an entire year does alter things in that first season: The list

It is not good. You have a future top line player in Johan Franzen. You have other top 9 forwards in Joel Ward, David Moss, Ville Leino, Matt Read, Leo Komarov, Carl Soderberg and Jori Lehtera. In the case of the latter 2, they were drafted high but never signed. There's guys like Justin Fontaine and Michael Raffl who seem to be NHL keepers. There's Europeans who showed promise like Cervenka and Brunner who went back to Europe. The rest of the list - and it numbers 140 players - is mostly a lot of future 4th liners and never was-es. It's a really hard league.

1990 was the advent of the NCAA and Euro player...I will end this now. We are not speaking the same language. I respect your knowledge, no matter how misguided and lacking of of real world experience it is.

 

[Oneiro]

What about an individual team's success rate with bringing in players over the age of 25?

Have we been historically better than other teams when we've decided to do it?

 

[Triumph]

What about an individual team's success rate with bringing in players over the age of 25?

Have we been historically better than other teams when we've decided to do it?

Almost no one does that, though, plus I don't think it would matter much since a lot of the old scouts are no longer working for the Devils. Here I will patronize Jim's attempted goalpost shift and look at the Devils since 1990. We have Oduya and Rafalski and Madden - obviously this is gonna be better than most franchises through this time period alone. Oh look, we also have Kasatonov, Fetisov, Semak, and Starikov - huh, bet that's gonna happen again where a ton of old Russian players decide to come over.

Yeah, the Devils have traditionally found some good, older players. It's just less likely to happen now. Scouting is way better now than it was 20 years ago - teams are looking in more places to find good hockey players. The distance between the NHL and the college/junior game has shrunk since the 90s as well. The league is getting younger. All this adds up to the fact that we see fewer and fewer older players breaking into the league and having success. I expect the KHL will continue to spit players westward if the ruble continues to lag behind the dollar as much as it is now, but they'll usually be younger than 25.

 

[devilsblood]

What about an individual team's success rate with bringing in players over the age of 25?

Have we been historically better than other teams when we've decided to do it?

Well in the relatively recent past we've rushed guys if anything.

But guys who started in the NHL 22 or younger. Boucher, Blandisi, Larsson, Merrill, Sev's, JJ, Ted's, Rico, Bergfors, Gelinas, Zajac, Parise.

Guys who first saw NHL time later in their careers? Gio, Helg, Kalinin, Sislo, Greene. (i know I'm missing guys here).

I think Jim does earn points with the argument that with the College hockey gaining more prominence, we do see more guys who have followed that route and entered the league at older ages. So the non traditional route has been more traveled in recent years. However the traditional route is still the route most often taken, by a very wide margin, especially by the better players in the league.

In regards to Coleman this is getting ahead of ourselves. He still hasn't played an NHL game. We are hoping that he can impress to the point of earning legit NHL minutes as a 25 year old. And imo, when that is the hope, I have a hard time putting such a player high up on the prospect list.

 

[KovalSNIPE]

I wouldn't say Wood is a complimentary player. He's over a PPG and is a threat every time he's on the ice and he drives the play.

 

[Feed Me A Stray Cat]

What about an individual team's success rate with bringing in players over the age of 25?

Have we been historically better than other teams when we've decided to do it?

The Devils might have been a bit ahead of the curve in the mid to late 90s, but that doesn't really have any application now. We have different owners, management, coaching and scouting.

 

[Oneiro]

No, I know that. I was just asking more to see if anyone has a track record that shows they do a better job of identifying and developing 25+ players.