The New Jersey Devils prospect pool continues to improve. We’re here today to provide a 1-25 ranking of the best ones the Devils still have claims to.
New Jersey Devils general manager Ray Shero has done a masterful job turning the New Jersey Devils empty cupboard of prospects into players people actually care about. When he took over as GM, the Devils prospect pool wasn’t even worth ranking.
Taking a look at the 2014 Devils prospect camp, there are only three players on that entire roster that became regular Devils players. Miles Wood, Damon Severson and Blake Coleman are still decent members of the team, but back in 2014 zero of the teams prospects turned into stars, let alone team leaders.
Now, the Devils prospect pool has at least 10 players that feel like locks to one day be NHL players, then at least another ten that could make it to the big show if things work out correctly.
We will take a look at the Devils prospect pool prior to the NHL Draft, and will likely do an update later this summer. We have a very interesting pool of prospect because they come in all shapes and sizes, from all parts of the world and in varying levels of professional and amateur leagues.
A quick precursor of how we determined who was a prospect and who isn’t. There are only two rules:
1. They cannot be guaranteed a roster spot come October.
That means some of the Binghamton players that were forced to spend so much time on the roster last season are still considered under this format. Also, while we are assuming that a specific defenseman playing for Spokane will make the cross-country trip to the Garden State, but it’s hardly guaranteed. In the same breath, Mackenzie Blackwood is guaranteed a spot on this roster, so he’s no longer eligible.
Another side note, we’re not thinking of the 2019 NHL Draft at all. Of course Jack Hughes or Kaapo Kakko would be tops on this list, but since we don’t know who’s going where, or if something crazy happens like they trade the pick, then this would be moot. Just easier at this point to ignore the draft entirely.
2. They must be under the age of 24
Once a player hits 24 years old, it becomes harder and harder to make a true impact on the NHL roster. Not to say it’s impossible (look at Blake Coleman), but we had to make some age a stopping point, and this seemed like the right time.
A player like Kevin Rooney we guess is technically a prospect, but he feels more like a tweener NHLer. He doesn’t feel like a player that’s considered in the same breath as Michael McLeod or Jesper Boqvist.
Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get to number 25.