New Jersey Devils Postseason Top 25 Prospects

Who knew Jack Hughes knows his prospects? His former teammate on the USNTDP was pretty good with Providence College this past season. He also played a bottom-six role for a gold medal-winning Team USA World Juniors team. He had 15 points in 17 NCAA games. He’s starting to look like an intriguing prospect. Unlike a lot of the prospects on the list, he’s already playing the type of role he would play in the NHL. He’s a hard-nosed player who can adjust quickly. Two years ago, he had more points as an 18 year old outside of Cole Caufield and Alex Newhook. Last season, only Tyce Thompson and Parker Ford had more points on Providence. He might be the next Devils late-round steal.

Jaromir Pytlik is a player to watch this season. The issue is, it’s still a little confusing on where he is going to play next season. He could go to his old team the Soo Greyhounds as an overager. He played with HC Stadion Litomerice  of the Czech secondary league on a loan. However, he only played four games there. He might play for KalPa with Liiga. Either way, Pytlik is a very good two-way prospect that can score and do all the right things in his own end. While not the most exciting player, Pytlik doesn’t make a ton of mistakes and works his way into lineups. Wherever he ends up, he should be able to prove his development before making his next move.

The drafting of Shakir Mukhamadullin looks as confusing now as it did at pick number 20 of the 2020 NHL Draft. There are times where he looks pretty good, and his overall numbers at the World Junior Championships are actually quite impressive, but he makes some of the most glaring mistakes in hockey that almost always lead to a goal. He’s a big, lanky defenseman that can do some impressive things, but there’s still a lot of issues. He’s getting offseason shoulder surgery, and that could explain some of his issues. It sounds like the Devils are letting Mukhamadullin play in the KHL next season and will sign him to an entry-level contract the following season.

Michael Vukojevic has rocketed up the prospect list after some impressive showings in Binghamton/Newark this season. He was supposed to play another season with the Kitchener Rangers, but with the OHL in flux due to the pandemic, he was able to make the jump into the AHL. Obviously, Binghamton’s season did not go great, but there were times Vukojevic made plays one would expect to see from the forwards. He had 11 points in 31 games and recorded a -1. While +/- doesn’t usually matter, it does tell a story on a bad team. The only defensemen who had a better +/- were Matthew Hellickson and Matt Tennyson, who both only played five games. Vukojevic looked much closer to a finished product than some of the other defensive prospects, and honestly this is probably undercutting him by keeping him out of the top ten.

Akira Schmid was a prospect in flux for a long time, but now his future is pretty clear after signing an entry-level deal with the Devils this offseason. He was the beast goalie in the USHL this past season, posting a .921 save percentage in 36 games for the Sioux City Musketeers. Schmid was struggling until he got offseason hip surgery last year. Now, he looks like the goalie the Devils thought they were getting when they drafted him in 2018.