New Jersey Devils Postseason Top 25 Prospects

The New Jersey Devils selected eight players in the 2020 NHL Draft, and three of those players went in the 1st round. They took a lot of swings for the fences, and Artem Shlaine might be the most intriguing (even if he isn’t the highest on this list). He flipped his NCAA hockey commitment from Boston University to UConn. It was an interesting move as BU is a traditional powerhouse, but it led to more ice time right away. His season wasn’t great as he got used to the North American ice sheet and the NCAA style of play, but he put up nine points in a very strange freshman season. Shlaine needs a couple of years before we truly judge what he is going to be.

Nikola Pasic is another player that comes with some confusion on his ranking. He moved up from HockeyAllsvenskan to the SHL in the middle of a pandemic, so his drop in production was expected. He seems to be able to play with the adults in the top Swedish league, but the Devils former 7th-round pick seems to have trouble keeping his motor up for an entire game. He turns it on and he is a game-changer. Unfortunately, it doesn’t last forever. That might come with age, and he’s doing better than a lot of 20 year olds in the SHL.

Fabian Zetterlund is probably the prospect that we’ve lost the most confidence in. He was ranked 14th in the preseason rankings, and he ranked 6th in the 2019-20 midseason rankings. We were once very high on Zetterlund’s chances to make the NHL, but he needs to show something in next year’s training camp to show he’s grown from the past two years. He still has the skill and the talent, but his health and inconsistency hurt him throughout the process. He had 19 points in 34 games last season, so it’s not like he completely failed. He had a thoroughly average season, and that’s okay for a 21-year-old player. He did lead Binghamton in points, but there are just a lot of Devils prospects whose upside is higher. However, Zetterlund has a pretty clear path to have us eat crow on this ranking.

Daniil Misyul had another full season in the KHL this past year. He was given a shot with Lokomotiv, and he took it. He’s not a high-scoring defenseman, and he never will be. However, he knows how to clear the crease, and he can help his goalie by keeping his eyesight clear. He tends to have an intelligence about him on the ice when he is trying to stop the other team from scoring. He did spend a little bit of time in the MHL for the playoffs to get some extra experience. He’s probably going to be in Russia for a little bit longer before the Devils try to get him back in North America.