Final Look At New Jersey Devils Prospects At World Junior Championships
The New Jersey Devils prospects had less of an impact than we hoped at the World Junior Championships.
There were some big hopes for the New Jersey Devils prospects coming into the 2021 World Junior Championships. They had a chance to be the quintessential franchise at the yearly tournament. There were major players in three of the four favorites, and there was a depth player on the other. That depth player ended up winning the only gold medal for Devils’ prospects.
It was the ending that most Devils fans rooted for since Team USA won the gold medal, beating a dominant Team Canada team in the gold medal game to boot. However, most Devils fans wanted a bigger output from its top prospects. Some looked alright, but the production didn’t follow. Others were downright laughing stocks, whether they deserved it or not (they didn’t deserve it THIS bad).
The Devils prospects were honestly outdone by the Los Angeles Kings prospects, which makes a lot of us cringe. Anaheim Ducks prospect Trevor Zegras ended up winning MVP of the tournament. Florida Panthers prospect Spencer Knight shook off a bad start to lead his team to the gold medal with a shutout in the final game. Dylan Cozens (Buffalo) and Tim Stuetzle (Ottawa) rounded out the forwards on the All-Star Team. Bowen Byram (Colorado) and Ville Heinola (Winnipeg) were the All-Star defensemen.
There are no Devils who even sniffed the All-Star team. That part of this equation is a major disappointment, but these prospects got very important experience in an international tournament that should drive them all to get better. The Devils had six prospects on five teams going into the tournament. So, how did they do?
Team USA – Patrick Moynihan
It probably feels weird starting with a fourth liner when there were so many stars in this tournament, but Patrick Moynihan is the only Devils prospect that leaves the tournament with a gold medal. He’s also one that has a higher profile than he had coming in. Moynihan is a tweener prospect at this point in his development. He currently plays for Providence College, where he’s only played two games this season.
However, he played a pivotal role for Team USA. As a fourth liner changing the pace, his role would change as the team needed him. If the goal was to keep the other team off the board, Moynihan might have more time. The Americans needed to keep Canada off the board in the gold medal game, and Moynihan ended up playing close to 12 minutes of ice time.
Moynihan did deal with an injury that led to him missing a game. That’s unfortunate, but his presence on the roster was always as an extra body who can do the little things. He only scored two points in the tournament. He comes in to lay out another player, keep the other team off the board, add in offense when he can, and try to impact the game in ways that aren’t seen in a box score.
Moynihan gutted it out after taking a hit in a game against Austria, and he would not be denied his chance to win a gold medal. His stock is higher than it’s been since he joined the Devils organization, and it all stems from his performance in this tournament.
Team Canada – Dawson Mercer
Dawson Mercer came into the tournament with the possibility of playing just about anywhere in the Team Canada lineup. This is one of the most talented Canadian lineups to play at the World Juniors, with a player like Quinton Byfield playing on the third line. He was the second-overall pick at the NHL Draft, but that’s how stacked Canada was this year. So, that leaves Mercer playing a similar role as Moynihan despite being a lot more talented.
The Devils’ 18th-overall pick at last year’s draft had a really good tournament at times, but Canada did not call his name in the gold medal game very much. He was only given nine minutes of ice time. This had a lot to do with Canada’s desperation to score a goal. It’s not like Mercer can’t score, but he’s not as reliable as a line with Dylan Cozens, a line with Peyton Krebs, or a line with Cole Perfetti.
Mercer’s upside is still sky high despite the bitter end to the tournament. He had six points in seven games at the tournament. Four of those points did come in a game against Germany where they were shorthanded and Canada scored 16 goals.
Overall, Mercer’s big performance came early in the tournament, but it seemed like he was a product of his lineup. As games got tougher, Canada relied on goal scorers over pace players. Mercer is still an NHL-caliber prospect that should jump straight to Devils camp.
Team Russia – Shakir Mukhamadullin
Okay, this one is complicated.
Shakir Mukhamadullin was public enemy number one from the prospect analysis community. This is weird, because he seemed like he passed everything but the eye test, and this community is largely based on digging deep into the numbers. Mukhamadullin was fine when looking at his game as a whole. He was great in the transition game, and his zone exits were ranked among the best defensemen in the tournament.
However, he made some of the worst mistakes of any player at World Juniors. He made multiple terrible plays that directly led to goals. It didn’t help that Yaroslav Askarov was not at his peak, but his defensemen needed to do more to take the stress off of him. Mukhamadullin took chances away from the other team overall, but he had some glaring issues that have to get fixed.
It’s clear the Devils need to get Mukhamadullin out of Russia as fast as possible. The Devils shouldn’t overreact to one tournament, but these types of mistakes don’t just fix themselves. He needs the best coaching in the world to get to the next level. He’d be so much better off if he came to Binghamton next season to develop than he would be playing another season in the KHL.
This tournament as a whole should have looked really good for Mukhamadullin. He stayed on Russia’s top line the entire time. There were times where he shut the other team down with a great poke check or athletic maneuver. His decision making leaves a lot to be desired, but to say his tournament was “bad” is also not true. He looked like a boom or bust player at this point, but an 18 year old who is still developing on the blue line needs to know when the “boom” is worth the risk.
Team Russia – Arseni Gritsyuk
Arseni Gritsyuk was one of the best performers of the New Jersey Devils prospects. He was actually one of the best players for Russia over the entire tournament. He had four points over six games and often played a middle-six role for a good Russia team. In the bronze medal game, which Gritzyuk missed with an injury, his absence was glaringly obvious.
Gritzyuk provided a spark every time he was off the bench for the Russians. Outside of Semyon Chistyakov, he probably grew his stock most of any Russian player. Gritsyuk went from a player with little expectations outside of the hope he could eventually move up to the KHL to a talented prospect with scoring upside.
It was unfortunate that he missed the bronze medal game. Getting him as much experience in this tournament as possible was always going to be a good thing. His jersey was hanging up during the game, so clearly he made a mark on his teammates. Hopefully, his injury isn’t serious. He’s one Devils player coming out of this tournament that will likely miss time. We saw before how that impacted Aarne Talvitie.
Gritsyuk still had a positive experience overall. He got a chance to play really well against a stacked Canada team. He was one of the only Russian standouts in that game.
Team Sweden – Alexander Holtz
Alexander Holtz had a shot to be the best player in this tournament. He was on a line with other prized forward Lucas Raymond. They were supposed to be centered by prized 2021 prospect William Eklund, but he was one of the many Swedish players that had to miss the tournament because of Covid-19 infections. It ended up really impacting Sweden’s chances to win the World Juniors.
Holtz and Sweden didn’t even make the semi-finals, as they were taken out by Finland on a final-minute go-ahead goal. The Devils future sniper looked great at times, but the expectations for him were high, and he just didn’t hit them. He scored one goal, and it was kind of fluky. Holtz shot the puck from behind the net off the back of Yaroslav Askarov. It was a cool goal, and it shows good decision making, but his insane shot was not on display this tourney.
He only scored that one goal in five games during World Juniors. That is not acceptable from Holtz’s biggest stage he will have until he makes the NHL. This isn’t to say Devils fans should be worried. He looked good overall, but he just couldn’t put the puck in the net. This happens to shooters.
Holtz was probably the most impactful player on Sweden, and if they had a full squad, things would probably be different. It’s disappointing overall. He’s heading back to Sweden now where he will once again go back to a line with Eklund. Hopefully, he takes this experience and turns red hot with motivation.
Team Czech Republic – Jaromir Pytlik
Jaromir Pytlik had a chance to look really good on a short-handed Czech Republic team. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be. They did not have a lot of drafted players on that Czech team, so Pytlik had the perfect chance to sign after the Devils drafted him in the 4th round. He only lasted one game before an injury knocked him out for the rest of the tournament. After he made the team last season, he was ready to make a real impact.
Pytlik looked really good in that one game. He had an assist against Sweden in a 7-1 rout against them. He missed the upset of the Russians. The Czech team was already low on talent compared to the rest of the teams in the tournament. Losing Pytlik was the nail in their coffin.
Overall, the tournament was fine for Devils prospects. Nobody really stood out. This is what happens when the two teams who made it to the gold medal game (Canada and USA) had Devils players on their fourth line. There was a chance things could have been great and Devils fans could have felt great about its prospects. It’s not like there’s any reason to feel worse about them, outside of the injuries, so that’s a positive.
Next. Shakir Mukhamadullin's Mistakes Outshine Production. dark
However, nobody really made themselves known as a superstar yet. There’s still plenty of time for all of them.