New Jersey Devils: Development Camp Prospect Update
By Ken Jones
The New Jersey Devils ended the 2016 Development Camp yesterday with the Red and White Scrimmage. White prevailed 4-3 in comeback fashion, netting all 4 of their goals in the second and final stanza. Here’s some quick impressions on a few of the participants.
Best Player On The Ice
This was an easy call for me. Michael McLeod, the New Jersey Devils’ 2016 first round selection, wowed the crowd in the first period with his end-to-end rushes. And, despite the one area of his game the experts say needs improvement, his hands and his finishing, he looked pretty solid as he opened the scoring on a breakaway on the first period. He left the game in the second period after sustaining a hard hit, but, to that point, he was a force. He looks like a keeper!
Puck Moving Defenseman
Former Junior Hockey teammates Michael McLeod and Nathan Bastian both had impressive showings in the Red And White Scrimmage
Perhaps this is my own ignorance, but I was pleasantly surprised at how many times Joshua Jacobs jumped into the attack and showed some puck carrying ability. He showed a ton of confidence. It will be interesting to see if he’s able to sustain that style of play against higher level competition in training camp.
Road Runner
There is no disputing the skating ability of Brett Seney. Made quite a few great rushes. He’s awfully small, but fun to watch. Have to wonder however if he’ll ever be able to win enough puck battles to make him a viable option in John Hynes’ eyes.
Top Shelf
Nate Bastian showed some serious offensive skill in the second period. Scored one goal on a great short side top shelf laser and second later in the period. There is a lot more to Mr. Bastian than the fact he was Michael McLeod’s linemate with the Mississauga Steelheads. You could see why some scouts have compared him with James Van Riemsdyk. One game does not a JVR make, but Bastian certainly did look good.
Pleasant Surprises
Kevin Rooney or J.D. Dudek, of Providence College and Boston College respectively, are not top end NHL prospects, but they both had good games. Rooney carried and passed the puck well, Dudek the same with a goal and an assist. Both were fun to watch. And the shootout effort of Austin Cangelosi was a true delight, he dazzled the crowd with a super quick stick-handling exhibition as he approached the net before scoring for the Red Team after the regular game concluded.
Mountain Man
MacKenzie Blackwood sure is big! Listed at 6 foot, 4 inches, he looks every bit of that and more. He uses his imposing figure to stand his ground in the net, making shooters commit first and giving attackers only a sliver of net to target on most attempts. Adding him to the list which includes Cory, Keith and Scott gives the Devils some pretty impressive depth between the pipes. And that enumeration of Devils’ backstops both present and future does not even include Ken Appleby, who also impressed today.
A Concern
With the departure of Adam Larsson and David Schlemko, I think all Devils fans are hoping Steven Santini can fill some of that void and do it quickly this season. I didn’t think today was his best day, he was beaten around the corner by Jacobs in the first period and a bit tentative defending a rushing forward on a goal on the second. That being said, I thought he played really well as a debutante against Toronto to close last season last April, and he showed some good bursts of speed carrying the puck in the scrimmage. So, hopefully, the Red and White tussle was just one of those days and he bounces back in September. The Devils really need him to do so.
Absent
Pavel Zacha, Joe Blandisi and John Quenneville all missed the scrimmage due to injury. All three are expected to be fully recovered by training camp.