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New Jersey Devils: Prospect Pyramid Headed Into 2021-22

By Vincent Parise

Sep 29, 2021; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; New Jersey Devils center Dawson Mercer (18) celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal against the Washington Capitals during the third period at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 29, 2021; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; New Jersey Devils center Dawson Mercer (18) celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal against the Washington Capitals during the third period at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports /
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New Jersey Devils, Dawson Mercer
Dawson Mercer is selected by the New Jersey Devils. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images) /

The New Jersey Devils are an interesting hockey team going into 2021-22. They haven’t been a good team in a long time, so relying on drafting and developing has been a big focus for a while. The Devils’ goal has been to get quality prospects to fill its pool with talent. They have done that in many different ways over the years, and now there are prospects who are close to NHL ready and looking to fight for spots on the roster.

There has been some lottery luck over the recent past. They won it in 2017 and 2019 along with multiple other top-10 picks mixed in there. With that and some other big trades for picks or prospects, they have a group of players that a lot of people would say are good.

Steve Dangle is a wildly famous Sportsnet personality, podcast host, and hockey YouTuber. He has invented a tool known as the “Prospect Pyramid”. This is the third year in a row where I used the tool to rank the New Jersey Devils farm system the same way he does for the Toronto Maple Leafs’ prospects. (Here’s last season’s prospect pyramid and the season before’s prospect pyramid.)

The project has six tiers of players. Tier one is for the elites of the elite. The top prospects of any given year for any given team are seen as top prospects. When you think of Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews, or most other number-one picks, those are the types of prospects who make tier one. From there, you put the players in each tier that they fit best in.

The New Jersey Devils have a lot of great prospects that are at different points.

Tier One:

Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes are two prospects that would be considered that tier in recent memory. In 2021, there isn’t anyone worth considering for that spot. This doesn’t by any means mean that their farm is weak. It just means they don’t have that superstar prospect that is expected to light it up right away.

Tier Two:

Tier two is loaded with players who could be as productive as tier one players but there is slightly more development to come. Dawson Mercer, Luke Hughes, and Alex Holtz fit that mold for New Jersey. Luke, the younger brother of Jack, will be playing his college hockey at Michigan this year. As for the other two, they are each trying to make the NHL roster right now and have a great chance to do so. The preseason has been awesome for them so far.

Tier Three:

  • Nolan Foote
  • Tyce Thompson
  • Graeme Clarke
  • Reilly Walsh
  • Kevin Bahl
  • Chase Stillman
  • Shakir Mukhamadullin

This is a really nice group of players. Obviously, it is impossible for them all to make the Devils right now, but they do all have a chance to be NHL players someday. It seems like Nolan Foote has a legit chance to make the team and get some good ice time as soon as this year.

Reilly Walsh and Kevin Bahl are both defensemen with things to learn but could be good if a spot ever opens up. It may be hard for them to crack the NHL lineup any time soon but you never know what happens.

Chase Stillman and Shakir Mukhamadullin are both players that the New Jersey Devils drafted in the first round well above their projected slates. That automatically makes them extremely interesting players to follow over the next few years.

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