New Jersey Devils: Prospect Challenge Roster Is Brilliant

The New Jersey Devils have mostly been a bad hockey team for the better part of a decade. As a result, the biggest thing that the fans have been interested in has been prospects. We all want to see these kids turn into stars so that the team can start winning. With lottery tickets like Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier combined with good first-round selections like Ty Smith, there is a nice little core building.

This weekend, we are going to be able to witness some of these prospects in the system play together against other top prospects from around the league. The New Jersey Devils are participating in a prospect round robin with the Boston Bruins and Buffalo Sabres.

There are some really nice players that we are going to be able to see in this challenge. The roster has 13 forwards, seven defensemen, and three goaltenders. It is going to be interesting to see how this all works with them on the ice together. The roster includes:

Forwards: 

• Alexander Holtz
• Tyce Thompson
• Dawson Mercer
• Nolan Foote
• Nate Schnarr
• Fabian Zetterlund
• Luke Stevens
• Tyler Irvine
• Patrick Grasso
• Jordan Kaplan
• Chase Stillman
• Aarne Talvitie
• Graeme Clarke

Defensemen: 

• Reilly Walsh
• Joe Masonius
• Zach Biggar
• Jeremy Groleau
• Michael Vukojevic
• Nikita Okhotiuk
• Kevin Bahl

Goalies:

• Akira Schmid
• Nico Daws
• Mareks Mitens

The New Jersey Devils have a lot of great prospects to be excited about this year.

There are a few names that stick out more than others. For one, Dawson Mercer has been getting a lot of attention. As a first-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, we know that some big things are ahead for him. He has so much skill that will really help New Jersey really soon.

The same goes for Nolan Foote and Alexander Holtz. They are both goal scorers that seem to have shots ready to compete at the pro level. It will be interesting to see when either of them makes it to the NHL but it could be sooner than later. With some of the premier centers that the Devils have, it will be fun to see these snipers play with them.

There are some solid defensemen on this list as well. Kevin Bahl and Reilly Walsh are probably the two closest to the NHL but they might begin the year in Utica. New Jersey’s blue line looks a lot different now than it did last year and it is for the better. By the time one of these two needs to step in, they should be fully ready to go.

It is really nice to finally have hockey back. The first game tonight is against the Buffalo Sabres prospects at 7 pm and the second game is on Sunday against the Boston Bruins at 1 pm. This roster is loaded with talent so hopefully, we see it all on display this weekend.