5 New Jersey Devils With Most To Prove At Development Camp

Nikita Popugaev

Nikita Popugaev is on this list for a whole other reason. His development has been all over the place, and has been mostly bad. Things didn’t work in the WHL, so he left and went back to Russia. Then, things weren’t working out in the KHL, so they sent him down to the minors. There, things weren’t working out either, so he left there too. Now, he’s on a one-year deal with the Binghamton Devils.

It’s going to be hard to miss Popugaev this week. He stands at 6’6, and uses a lot of that size to his advantage. Right before the Devils took him in the 4th round of the 2017 NHL Draft, he looked like a player with real upside. He was scoring like a madman with the Moose Jaw Warriors. His positioning helped him become an elite scorer for half the season.

It shows that this type of talent is there for Popugaev. It will help that he’s surrounded by professionals, and he knows he doesn’t really have anywhere else to go at this point. Players who are going to make it sometimes need a couple pushes in the right direction, but once they get near that rock bottom point, they take it to another level.

It’s time for Popugaev to take it to that level. We know he has the talent to be another late-round steal by Ray Shero. Now, he has to show he’s worth it. That starts this week. If Popugaev finds a way to stand out among the prospects, then the Devils will know they have something here.