On today’s New Jersey Devils Daily, why fans shouldn’t worry about Cory Schneider, Pavel Zacha making a name for himself on the powerplay and a look at the Devils OHL Prospects.
Tyler Kelley with Pucks and Pitchforks takes a look at Cory Schneider’s terrible season, but sees some hope he could turn it around next season. He compares Schneider to Henrik Lundqvist and Ben Bishop, and the numbers are eerily similar. Luckily, Schneider showed no signs of regression before last season, so it is likely this will just be a blip on the radar.
New Jersey Devils: No Need to Worry About Cory Schneider
Mike Morreale with NHL.com talks about the Anderson brothers, including New Jersey Devils prospect Joey Anderson. The two players are fighting for their spot on the USA World Juniors team, with cuts coming on Wednesday. The two talked about how playing against each other all their lives helped them become better players today. NCAA hockey analyst Dave Starman actually called Joey one of the top five players in college hockey this year, which is a huge boost for the Devils and their system.
Anderson brothers aiming to play together on U.S. WJC roster
Brock Otten with the OHL Prospects blogs takes a deep look at the Devils prospects in that league. He talks highly of Michael McLeod and Blake Speers. Surprisingly, he hated the season by Nathan Bastian. He was linemates with McLeod for the surprising turnaround of the Mississauga Steelheads, taking them all the way to the championship series with the Erie Otters. He struggled offensively and didn’t progress like his Super Buddies teammate did. The article also looks at Devils prospects Colton White, Evan Cormier and Jesper Bratt.
31 Teams in 31 Days – New Jersey Devils
Speaking of prospects, three Devils products are excelling as opponents to the USA in Juniors qualifying. Jesper Bratt, who just signed his entry-level contract with the Devils, scored two goals in a big win for Sweden against USA Blue. Aarne Talvitie, the Devils sixth-round pick this year, scored the lone goal in a 4-1 loss for Finland. Jesper Boqvist also played well when he was on the ice. You can see the game recaps here (full disclosure: they are skewed for the USA team so click on the stats of each game).
USA White Tops Finland, 4-2; USA Blue Falls to Sweden, 4-3
Todd Correll with Hockey Buzz looks at a big hole in the Devils powerplay unit with the loss of Michael Cammalleri. Correll thinks Pavel Zacha could easily fit into that spot, and I agree. He could take his powerful shot to make the Devils powerplay much better, after ranking 22nd in the league last season.
The Devils should get Zacha more involved on the power play in 2017-18