5 New Jersey Devils With Most To Prove At Development Camp
The New Jersey Devils unveiled a roster of 37 players for this year’s development camp. There are some expected names, but these five have the most to prove to management.
This week’s New Jersey Devils development camp may be the most anticipated in history. Already, the Devils have prospects from their system like Ty Smith, Reilly Walsh and Jesper Boqvist making an appearance, but after the NHL Draft, this camp gets to add Jack Hughes.
He was one of 11 draft picks that will make an appearance at the Prudential Center. It’s insane the level of talent the Devils are inviting to this year’s camp. Think about this, the Devils have a pretty decent roster with names like Taylor Hall, Nico Hischier, Kyle Palmieri, P.K. Subban, Wayne Simmonds and more that will come to training camp in August, but as many as five players from this camp could make the roster.
However, to make the roster these players might have a lot to prove. Others want to prove themselves before heading overseas or to their Juniors campaign for the season. This might be the last time they will have one-on-one interactions with Devils management and coaches until next year’s camp. Then, there will be a whole new set of prospects to watch.
It took a while to get the information out of the Devils on what’s going on with their development camp. Now that we have it, we can get excited about what’s coming up for the rest of the week. Here are the five players with the most to gain, or lose, this week. Players like Hughes and Smith don’t have much to prove, because they have a ton of receipts based on their play last season. However, how some players play this week could determine what happens to them the rest of the way.
Fabian Zetterlund
Fabian Zetterlund is one of the most intriguing prospects in the New Jersey Devils system. He has a ridiculous amount of upside, but after losing ground after an injury-filled season with the Färjestad BK of the Swedish Hockey League, there are more questions than answers right now.
He signed a three-year entry-level deal in May, which literally feels like forever ago. He’s coming into camp as a member of the Devils, and could fight his way onto the Binghamton roster.
He’s only 19 years old (since he’s an overseas player, he can play in the AHL), so there’s literally nothing but time for his development. However, he’s going to want to show Devils management that with all these new faces in the fold, he’s not someone they should look past. Who knows, maybe he could become a Jesper Bratt type who makes the roster when fans thought other players had the inside track.
If you remember, Bratt’s ride up the prospect rankings started at development camp. He dominated alongside Nico Hischier, and continued that momentum through the summer. Bratt ended up making the roster out of camp, and hasn’t been off the NHL roster ever since.
Zetterlund’s journey of proof starts this week. Keep an eye on number 59.
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.
Michael McLeod
Michael McLeod was all over the place last season. He won Rookie of the Year with the Binghamton Devils, but when he was given a shot to prove himself on the NHL level, he went scoreless. That’s right, he was given 21 games to prove he was worthy of being on an NHL roster, something one should expect from a top 15 pick in his third season after he was drafted. He scored zero goals in those 21 games. Those are Cam Janssen numbers (sorry Cam).
McLeod needs to show this was a fluke. He was a decent distributor in the AHL, but still didn’t really have that scoring stroke.
In fact, McLeod seems to be missing his scoring stroke since he got hurt in Devils training camp two years ago. After an amazing season with the Mississauga Steelheads, he was forced to return to the OHL, this time without Nathan Bastian. After recovering from a knee injury, he returned to play well below expectations.
Many fans have given up on McLeod. It’s not entirely fair, but it’s also not entirely unfair. He hasn’t done anything to prove that he is worth his draft pick. In fact, at this point it’s hard to find a positive here. Yet, he’s still full of potential. He’s a 6’2 center who just turned 21 years old. There’s so much more he has left to do, but he’s running out of room to do it. After seeing John Quenneville get sent to the Chicago Blackhawks, it has to be a wakeup call for McLeod that just because you’re a former 1st-round pick doesn’t mean the Devils are keen on keeping you.
Graeme Clarke
Graeme Clarke is one of the 11 men the Devils added to their prospect pool this offseason. He might be the one with the most boom or bust potential. He fits a major need in the New Jersey Devils organization as he’s a right-handed right winger. No matter what happens during this camp, he’s going to go back to the Ottawa 67s next season.
He’s best known for a sick goal where he picked the puck up with the back end of his stick, lifted it in the air, and put it in the back of the net. That’s just next level skill right there.
In fact, some scouts called this kids hands and creativity “elite”. That’s high praise for a late 3rd-round pick.
However, with all that skill, there’s got to be a reason why he fell where he did. He wants to show the Devils he can stand out among a huge prospect pool. Again, the Devils made 11 draft picks last month. The competition is going to be fierce.
Clarke can be one of those players that comes into camp with low expectations and really impresses. With players like Jack Hughes, Ty Smith, and even players with NHL experience like Joey Anderson and Brett Seney, Clarke can fall under the radar. Then, he can stand out in the mix. This is Clarke’s chance to show Shero, head coach John Hynes and the rest of Devils brass what they have to look forward to.
Jesper Boqvist
So, one week ago Jesper Boqvist would not make this list. It seemed like close to a lock that he was going to get a major look in training camp. Then, there was a ton of rumors surrounding the Devils and major players like Mitch Marner and Nikita Gusev. Those two would obviously be guaranteed spots on the NHL roster, a spot that would otherwise go to Boqvist.
Maybe the Devils are waiting to see what Boqvist does in development camp before they make future NHL roster moves. It seems farfetched that the Devils would put roster moves on hold. However, it seems odd that after all that smoke, a week later there’s nothing close to fire.
If Boqvist comes into camp and really impresses, then Shero may hold off on making other roster moves. Or maybe the Devils are looking for Boqvist to prove himself beyond a shadow of a doubt. He’s been really, really good in the SHL based on his age.
There’s a lot he can prove during this week. He’s playing alongside Hughes, who’s a lock to play on this roster. If he proves he can be in this phenomenal talent’s league, then this could be everything the Devils want to know. They could still go after Gusev, or another comparable roster player, and still allow Boqvist to make the team, but the pressure would be off knowing that he’s ready for the big time.