New Jersey Devils: How Prospects Are Doing Outside The U.S.

Finland

Nick Merkley

Devils 23-year-old forward prospect Nick Merkley was acquired in the Taylor Hall trade last December, and while older he has only played 5 NHL games. He is currently playing for Assat in Finland, a middle of the line team 12 games into the season. While not the best league in the world, in fact it is probably closer to the fifth best, it is still a professional league with good players and veterans.

Merkley has four goals and nine points in those 12 games. Just like Jesper Boqvist, Merkley has gotten off to a fantastic start. He might not be a key piece going forward or the big part of the Taylor Hall trade, but the Devils like all teams need depth going forward who can score. What he does this season is hard to guess. but in a regular season he was likely to play bottom six in the NHL or be at the top of the AHL. His four games with the Devils were rather impressive netting two points. With the Binghamton Devils, he kept up the strong play with 19 points in 28 games. It would have been interesting to see if he could keep up a strong pace the rest of the year and he could become a very good player for the Devils if he keeps up the consistent and strong play.

Janne Kuokkanen

Another Devil playing in Finland this season, Janne Kuokkanen is suiting up for Karpat, another middle of the pack team. They have played only 10 games and Kuokkanen has played in all of them only getting three points so far. A bit of a disappointing start, but after such a strong year in the AHL it is not something that should be read into to much. Their is a lot of time left and hopefully he finds his stride this season.