New Jersey Devils Top 25 Prospects After 2018-19 Season

25. Ludvig Larsson

It was actually really hard for who we should pick for that number 25 spot. There is Cam Johnson and Ryan Murray, who the New Jersey Devils might not re-sign in the offseason, but clearly have some upside. There are a few long-shot players who could also crack the list, but we went with Ludvig Larsson.

Larsson has had an interesting journey to the Binghamton Devils. He spent the first three seasons of his college career at Merrimack College then transferred to Penn State University to play with fellow Devils prospect Aarne Talvitie. He played well as the Nittany Lions first Swedish player scoring nine goals with 16 assists over 39 games.

He came to Binghamton last season after almost everyone got hurt. He played well enough that the Devils decided to sign him again for next season. His likelihood of making New Jersey is low, but he does have a ton of upside despite starting his pro career at 23 years old.

24. Jeremy Groleau

Preface this by saying one quick thing, the Devils prospects from 15 to 24 can theoretically be put in any order and it makes sense. We start this run with defenseman Jeremy Groleau.

He spent most of his season with Chicoutimi Saguenéens of the QMJHL. He ended the season with Binghamton after signing an entry-level deal prior to the season. He had two points in five games in the AHL.

His birthday makes things very interesting for him next season. Since he’s still 19 years old, he’s forced to go back to Juniors if he doesn’t make the NHL, which he won’t. That’s unfortunate, because he’d likely do really well in Bingo. It’s only one more season, but being where he is on the rankings it will be hard to move up spending his fifth season in Juniors.

23. Eetu Päkkilä

Our own Tyler Kelley had Eetu Pakkila in his top ten (full disclosure, he didn’t add players like McLeod or Quenneville). Upon doing a little more research on him, it’s clear why some are high on this kid. He’s another reason why Ray Shero shows that no round in the draft is actually a waste. Pakkila is a 7th-round pick, like another player on this list, and after he was drafted he scored 38 goals for his Junior Finish league.

We should learn a lot more about Pakkila next season when he joins the pro Liiga playing for Ilves. The left wing was able to dominate lesser competition, but if he’s going to have a professional future, especially with the Devils, he needs to show he can play against better competition.

Pakkila could come to North America as soon as 2020, and he could eventually be really good. His ceiling is high, but his floor is very low. He could one day be an NHL player, or he could never even sniff the big leagues. Next year is huge for his development.

22. Josh Jacobs

Josh Jacobs is probably the hardest player to rank on this list. Some people think he’s a future NHL defenseman, while others point out he couldn’t even play well in the AHL. Yes, he was stuck on a pairing with less than quality all season long, but one would hope he could do more at his age. When Steve Santini was sent down to the AHL, he looked good, but Jacobs was not in the same place.

Jacobs played his first NHL game this past season. He focused on being a physical presence. However, the Devils were demolished by the Bruins in that game. The 2014 2nd-round pick has taken more time than we hoped to develop, but we can’t give up on him yet.

Jacobs has the upside to be an NHL defenseman one day. He’s 23 years old, so this is the last year we’ll see him on this particular list. The Devils will take their time with him since he’s a defenseman and they have a lot of players in a similar situation that are on the NHL roster. They don’t need him right now. He is a restricted free agent, so they have to figure out what contract they want to give him. It will likely be something short term.

21. Xavier Bernard

Xavier Bernard is such an interesting prospect. The Devils took him with their second pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, but it didn’t come until the 4th round. The big bruising defenseman seemed like a very good pick at the time by Ray Shero.

He brings one thing a lot of Devils prospects don’t have; size. He’s 6’3 and over 200 pounds. Bernard says he mirrors his game to Sharks superstar Marc-Edouard Vlasic. Obviously, it would be wonderful if he could even come close to his skill set.

Bernard is still way early in his career. He has to work on his puck movement and his offensive game, but he’s already a very skilled stay-at-home defenseman. He likes to hit, and he does it often. If he can establish himself with the puck, he could bring an old-school style of defense to the future of the Devils.