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New Jersey Devils: John Quenneville In No-Mans Land In Current System

By Nick Villano

BRIDGEPORT, CT - NOVEMBER 7: John Quenneville #17 of the Binghamton Devils awaits a face off during a game against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers at the Webster Bank Arena on November 7, 2018 in Bridgeport, Connecticut. (Photo by Gregory Vasil/Getty Images)
BRIDGEPORT, CT - NOVEMBER 7: John Quenneville #17 of the Binghamton Devils awaits a face off during a game against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers at the Webster Bank Arena on November 7, 2018 in Bridgeport, Connecticut. (Photo by Gregory Vasil/Getty Images) /
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The New Jersey Devils have an issue with one of their top prospect. John Quenneville is too good for the minors, but doesn’t really have a place on the NHL roster.

It’s often said in sports that there are “good problems.” Ones that teams in a worse situation wish they could complain about. The New Jersey Devils have one of those “good problems.” His name is John Quenneville. He made the Devils out of training camp, but only lasted five games before he was sent down to the minors. The team went 4-1-0 in those five games, but despite their struggles, head coach John Hynes hasn’t called him back up.

Quenneville has been great as of late. He has an eight-game point streak, and scored two goals against the Syracuse Crunch on Wednesday night. After a slow start, he has nine points in nine games. He’s found his stroke. That’s exactly what the Devils wanted from him when they sent him back to Binghamton.

The issue is, he now deserves to come back to the main roster, but there’s not really a place for him. Who should the Devils send down for Quenneville? Brett Seney has been good on the main roster, and he gets better game by game. He just scored his first goal, and seems to have really good offensive instincts.

Joey Anderson is a firecracker on that fourth line. He’s been doing something really good with the minutes he’s been given. He might just have one point, which was the downfall for Quenneville, but he’s been doing other things well.

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Even if the Devils decide to send Anderson down to Bingo, with Brian Boyle and Nico Hischier returning soon, and Drew Stafford the man to be the healthy scratch, there’s still nowhere to put Quenneville.

So, the big question becomes, what do we do with Quenneville? Well, there are three options. The Devils can either let him excel in Binghamton, hope he’s willing to wait until next year, and go into the season with him in the plans. They can force him on the Devils roster, and hope he works out. Or, they could trade him.

Quenneville is what they call in baseball a quadruple A player. It means a guy who’s too good for the minors, but he’s not good enough to make his way on the NHL roster. Even though he’s played well enough to be an NHL player, it’s hard to take someone out of the lineup for him.

If Quenneville keeps producing like he has in Bingo, then the Devils will eventually find a place for him. Just like it happened for Pavel Zacha, one the Devils get some injuries Quenneville will get the call. However, until then he will just keep being a big fish in a little pond.

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