Ranking New Jersey Devils Goalie Prospects After Cole Brady’s Performance
The New Jersey Devils have a decent amount of goalie prospects in different points of development.
The New Jersey Devils clearly value having a lot of prospects at the goaltender position. They’ve drafted a goalie in every single draft since Ray Shero/Tom Fitzgerald took over the front office. That’s six years in a row now that they’ve drafted a goalie. It started with Mackenzie Blackwood in 2015, and they did it again this season when they took Nico Daws in the 3rd round of the NHL Draft.
With that said, it’s not like there is much of a guarantee at the goalie position for the future. Blackwood is hopefully the man between the pipes for the next decade, but the Devils still need to find someone to work as a tandem. The Devils did not feel like anyone outside of Blackwood was ready, but they still felt the need to move on from Cory Schneider. So, they signed veteran Corey Crawford to a two-year deal.
The prospects behind Blackwood still need a few years to prepare for the NHL. Some development could lead to some very decent careers. The Devils currently have five prospects they still have some sort of rights to. They are the five goalies drafted since they took Blackwood in 2015.
Here, we rank the goalies by most likely to actually have a role in the future of this team. Most of them will be assessed based on when they can actually make the NHL. Blackwood is exempt since he’s already there.
5. Evan Cormier
Evan Cormier is in a real pickle this season. He’s shown flashes in the past, but his most likely spot should be in the ECHL. Here’s the problem, the Devils ECHL team, the Adirondack Thunder, announced they were one of the teams that would not be playing at all this season. So, there isn’t really a place for Cormier to go.
Cormier was actually really good two seasons ago. It was unexpected since it appeared the Devils were going to lose his rights. Then, he signed with the Binghamton Devils, who were devastated by injuries, after his season with the University of Guelph. He was really good for a stretch, but the magic wore off.
Last season, he was part of a tandem in Binghamton, but he was not very good. He ended up with a .883 save percentage in the AHL, and eventually, he was relegated to the ECHL. He wasn’t great there either. He had an .885 save percentage in 15 games for the Thunder.
Cormier is signed for this season, so the Devils will hold him somewhere. There will likely be expanded rosters across the board, so maybe he can be an extra in the minors. He is a fine depth piece, but if he is in the NHL, something likely went very, very wrong for the Devils. He’s 23 years old, so there is still a little rope here, but time is running out.
4. Akira Schmid
Akira Schmid had a rough season, and the start of this one isn’t going so hot either. He allowed three goals on 26 shots for the Sioux City Mountaineers of the USHL. Some of this should be taken with a grain of salt since lesser leagues usually give up more high-danger chances to quality forwards, but based on the stats Schmid is regressing horribly every season.
Still, Schmid is likely going to sign an entry-level contract next offseason. The Devils will want to get a good look at him themselves. He has a ton of talent, and he’s the only other member of the 2018 class outside of Ty Smith that is still under Devils’ control.
To salvage this class, the Devils will want to get something out of Schmid. Even if he’s a future AHL starter, that’s at least something. The Devils would be happy if they get a long-term AHL starter and a fill-in for the future.
Schmid has shown signs of being a really good goalie, but he’s incredibly inconsistent. He will look like a future NHLer for three games but fall off the map the next week. If he can find some kind of consistency, he has the skill set to be a decent goalie. Since he’s only 20 years old, his NHL future is way too early to tell, but it seems like multiple Devils prospects have jumped him in the rankings.
3. Cole Brady
Cole Brady has moved up this ranking in just the past week or two. He’s been quite good for Arizona State against the best competition in NCAA hockey. First, he faced a stacked Michigan team. While he didn’t win either game he appeared in (he came in for Evan DeBrouwer in the first game), but he was extremely competitive in the second game.
In his third game of the season, he held Michigan State to just one game through regulation and overtime. The NCAA ruled that Arizona State is not allowed to play shootouts for whatever reason, so that game ended in a tie. Brady is still looking for his first win, but he has a .929 save percentage through three games against some high-scoring opponents.
Brady is making some terrific saves this season, but he has to stop some of those easy goals. There are at least two he’d like to have back. Still, he is making up for it by dominating for stretches of the game. The Arizona State team is going to struggle on offense, so Brady has his word cut out for him, but he has the skills to make it work.
Brady is 6’5 and just 19 years old. It is way early to make any true decisions on what his future holds, but it’s going to be fun watching his career with the Sun Devils. This season, he should get a lot of ice time as a freshman. He could end up being the biggest steal among these players.
2. Gilles Senn
Gilles Senn took over the starting job for the Binghamton Devils last season. He was really, really good, especially down the stretch as the B-Devils were fighting for a playoff spot. The former 5th-round pick is the oldest player on the list despite only being taken in 2017. He’s already 24 years old, so it makes sense that Senn is the closest to being ready for NHL action.
Last season, Senn had a .901 save percentage in 27 games for Binghamton. There are games where he can absolutely dominate. The February 21st game against the Charlotte Checkers comes to mind when he stopped 47 of 48 shots en route to a 2-1 win. The Devils needed every single save he made, and he is the sole reason they were still in that game. He even stopped future teammate Janne Kuokkanen four times.
Senn is much more comfortable playing in North America, and that should translate whenever the AHL season starts. As we said, Senn is the one player on this list that could basically step into a backup role with the New Jersey Devils. However, it would be much better for him to get starting minutes in Binghamton. Now he has Scott Wedgewood in Binghamton to split time with him. This will help him grow to have an NHL veteran on the bench with him.
1. Nicolas Daws
Nico Daws was the only goalie to appear on Pucks and Pitchforks’ official top prospects list. He came in a 17 after the Devils spent their first pick outside the 1st round on the Guelph Storm standout. Daws had a rough first season in juniors, but last year he was great. He led the OHL in save percentage and made the Team Canada World Juniors team after he was basically an afterthought going into the season.
Daws is a little older than most draft picks, especially being taken in the 3rd round. He’s going to turn 20 years old in a couple of weeks. That’s still a lot of development time for a goalie, and he’s projected to have the best career of any of the Devils’ prospects.
Daws will likely skip his last season with the Storm after he signed a professional contract in Germany’s Deutsche Eishockey Liga. He will play for ERC Ingolstadt, who is currently sitting in 7th place in the league. This will give Daws a chance to jump right into a playoff fight with plenty of season left to play.
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Daws has a chance to take over as a starter in a pro league as a teenager. The German league isn’t exactly one of the top leagues, but it’s still a great experience for him. There wasn’t a lot left for him to do in Guelph. Plus, waiting for the end of January to start training camp would have pushed his development back. This actually makes him an even better prospect.