The Binghamton Devils announced that they re-signed former 4th-round pick Nikita Popugaev to a contract. The New Jersey Devils prospect finally gets a chance to stick with one team.
Nikita Popugaev looked like an absolute steal when the New Jersey Devils chose him with the 98th-overall pick in the NHL Draft. There were some mock drafts that had him going late in the 1st round, and a lot of mock drafts had him going in the 2nd round. Either way, it seemed clear this was a great pick near the 100th pick.
Since the start of his draft year, Popugaev has played for nine different teams. He started with the Moose Jaw Warriors, where he was absolutely dominant. He scored 51 points in 40 games before he was traded to the Prince George Cougars. His production fell off after the trade, and he didn’t do well in the next season either. He scored just two goals in the first 13 games before heading back home to Russia.
In Russia, he started with CSKA Moskva of the KHL, but he couldn’t cut it playing against the men in that league. He bounced around between the MHL and VHL for the rest of the season.
This past season, he was given a true chance to stick in the KHL with the Amur Khabarovsk, but he only scored one goal in 36 games. He eventually came back to North America after leaving Russia mid-season, he went to the Devils, and signed an AHL contract through the end of the season.
Basically, he needed Binghamton to save his career. It was an awkward time for the Devils AHL team. There was a rash of injuries on the NHL and AHL team to the point that the Binghamton Devils were signing players off the street to play. Still, this was a great opportunity for Popugaev. He was running out of options, but the Devils gave him the chance to finally get settled in with one franchise.
More from Pucks and Pitchforks
- Should New Jersey Devils Try Load Management With Vitek Vanecek?
- New Jersey Devils Will Prove That Last Year Wasn’t A Fluke
- New Jersey Devils: Luke Hughes’ Playmaking Will Outshine His Mistakes
- New Jersey Devils: Chase Stillman’s Performance Causes Concern
- Can Devils Fans Separate Zach Parise Heartbreak From Achievements?
Popugaev took a while to get going, but eventually he got the hang of playing with this team. He scored three goals and two assists. That led to the Devils announcing on Wednesday that he will be returning again this season.
Popugaev will join a much better Binghamton team. They will likely start the season with some combination of Nathan Bastian, Kevin Rooney, Michael McLeod, Joey Anderson, Marian Studenic, John Quenneville and Brett Seney. All these players took major jumps in their production last season, and most of them got significant NHL time thanks to injuries. Those who don’t make the Devils out of training camp will solidify an AHL team that’s had a run of bad seasons.
Popugaev is unlike those players because he’s still quite far away from being an NHL regular, but because of his talent and size he’s well worth giving him plenty of time to develop. He’s 6’6, 216 lbs. There’s nobody currently in the Devils prospect pool that comes even close to that. In fact, there are only few NHL players who come close to that.
The Devils signed him for next season, and will continue to hold his North American rights. If he can continue to get better every year, he could carve out a really good career with the Devils. It’s really an easy decision for Popugaev and for the Devils. He finally gets stability to grow with one franchise, and the Devils get a big body to keep the smaller prospects like McLeod and Seney protected.