5 Binghamton Devils Who Could Eventually Debut With New Jersey

The Binghamton Devils are off to a hot start. The NHL Devils could be looking to pluck players from the team eventually.

Both New Jersey and Binghamton Devils are having successful starts to their season in the standings. COVID-19 pause aside, if fans knew the New Jersey Devils would be 4-3-2 after nine games, most would sign up for that start. If we learned that Mackenzie Blackwood missed six of those games, then everyone would be on board with this. Then, add in a Binghamton team that’s started the season 2-0-1, and everyone is excited about the season’s start.

The Devils have already missed two weeks of action that they’ll have to make up. So basically, the Devils have to play 47 games over three months. There will be plenty of back to backs and four-game weeks. Since the Devils already dealt with a coronavirus outbreak, it’s unlikely it will happen again.

However, with the schedule so condensed, the worry has to be keeping everyone healthy. The Devils have depth. They signed Sami Vatanen right before the season started. Add him to Connor Carrick, Matt Tennyson, and Will Butcher, and the defense doesn’t really have a lot of space to add players on that unit. Still, the Binghamton defense is pretty talented, and they have the most likely players to come to the NHL.

There’s still talent at the forward position, too. The Devils’ young guns are rocking and rolling to start the season. At some point, the Devils will want to take a closer look at them in the NHL. They already took a closer look at Mikhail Maltsev and Nick Merkley. Who could be added to that list?

Nolan Foote

Nolan Foote almost got into a game already, making the Devils roster and eventually going to the taxi squad. He’s been moving between Binghamton and the team’s taxi squad. When he was with the B-Devils, he scored three points in three games. He scored a very nice goal against Wilkes Barre that tied the game.

He already has an NHL-level shot. There are other aspects of his game that need work, but since he has something that’s good enough for the big leagues, he’s an intriguing option for Lindy Ruff. The head coach didn’t have to leave him on the NHL roster to start the season. The team put Merkley through waivers just to keep Foote there.

Speaking of waivers, Foote can move up and down between New Jersey and Binghamton (which play in the same arena) without going through waivers. That kind of flexibility is what the Devils really covet. They don’t want to lose an asset just to look at them in the NHL. If it doesn’t work, they’d have to pass through waivers to go back to the AHL.

Foote is a very interesting prospect. He gets wonderful grades almost universally, and he’s shown that there’s at least something there. What it is is still up in the air, but it’s clear he is going to get a shot on the NHL roster at some point this season. That’s why he’s spent time on the taxi squad. The Devils want him close by. Eventually, he’ll be where he belongs.

Brett Seney

The Devils have seen plenty of Brett Seney already, and he is just a player they will always give a chance to while he’s in the organization. How long he will be in the organization is still up in the air, since he’s in the final year of his deal. He will be a restricted free agent. Honestly, don’t be terribly surprised if Seney might go to the Seattle Kraken in the expansion draft. Obviously, Seattle has to build an entire organization and not just take the 29 best players. They only have 23 spots on the NHL roster. They also need depth. That’s neither here nor there.

Seney is a great depth piece. He’s very small, so that limits some of the things he can do on the ice. He has a point per game to start the season. His only goal came 24 seconds into overtime in the second game of the season. It’s was a great play where he crashed the net and took a pass from the corner.

That’s what Seney brings. He’s sneaky in the offensive zone. He somehow continues to get away from defenders and puts himself in those high-danger areas. The Devils do have players who do that now, but if say a Miles Wood gets injured, don’t be surprised if Seney gets a call up.

Seney is unlikely to be a full-time NHLer. He has 53 NHL games throughout his career, and he’s already 24 years old. There’s still some room for growth, and maybe he can eventually play to the level of a Stephen Gionta, but for now he’s a really fun depth piece.

Kevin Bahl

Kevin Bahl, like Foote, has been a player that’s spent some time on the taxi squad. Unlike Foote, Bahl has actually missed games for Binghamton because he was on the taxi squad. He made his pro debut on February 10th. It was clear his size was something that stood out. You hear people talk about his size, but seeing it is something else.

That kind of size always intrigues NHL coaches and GMs. It’s probably why Ray Shero was so adamant in getting Bahl in the Taylor Hall trade. Now, he’s playing in the AHL as a shutdown guy. The Devils could always use a shutdown guy.

The Devils currently have a ton of blueliners who are offensive in nature. P.K. Subban is falling off considerably from his peak, Will Butcher seems to be struggling once again as he hasn’t found a niche in the offense, Matt Tennyson has struggled, but still finds himself in the lineup, and Sami Vatanen is trying to get acclimated to a new roster even if it is his old team. This could give Bahl an opening to make his NHL debut.

The Devils will likely keep moving Bahl between Binghamton and the taxi squad. Being that close to the team will eventually lead to coaches trusting him for at least one game. They will want to see what he can do with all that size. He’s getting practice time with NHL players, so that’s only going to make him better.

Gilles Senn

The Devils currently have four different goalies on the roster that would have to go through waivers. It’s a much better situation than they were facing immediately before the season started when Corey Crawford suddenly retired. They have Mackenzie Blackwood coming off the COVID-19 protocol list, Eric Comrie and Aaron Dell off waivers, and Scott Wedgewood, who signed for his second stint this past offseason. Something will likely have to give and one player won’t be on the roster soon.

It’s likely either going to be Dell or Comrie who has an extremely short career with the Devils. It will likely lead to the Devils having three goalies on the main roster and taxi squad. If the Devils lost two of those players through waivers, then they have a hard decision to make. It likely means one of Binghamton’s goalies have to be on the taxi squad. To start the season, they’ve elected to make that Gilles Senn.

If this season taught us anything, we need to prepare for any possibility. Senn has already had to suit up for the Devils after injuries struck the Devils goalie position. It’s the Murphy’s Law of positions. The Devils know that there will be a lot of goalies on the stat line if Blackwood ends up missing any more time. Senn was good at times last season, although he’s still far away from NHL ready. The Devils will likely be forced to give him a shot as Evan Cormier and Jeremy Brodeur still not close to NHL-level talents. Cormier could build to that, but right now Senn is the most likely candidate to get a goalie game under his belt in the NHL.