New Jersey Devils: 5 Prospects Facing Make-Or-Break Seasons

Colton White

This one might be outdated very, very quickly. The Devils placed defenseman Colton White on waivers on Friday. It made very little sense as White showed some good prowess in the first two games of the season. With the Devils down both Damon Severson and Ty Smith, White stepped into the lineup. Now, after showing he’s a capable sixth or seventh defenseman, the Devils have opened him up to every team in the league. This should go well.

Anyway, let’s say White returns to the Devils. It’s clear that he isn’t as important to this franchise as Mason Geertsen or Christian Jaros, two players they’ve acquired over the past few months. He’s one of those draft picks that was a part of that weird 2015 NHL Draft that had both Lou Lamoriello and Ray Shero at the helm. Who knows how Tom Fitzgerald looks at White as a prospect.

They have to know there’s a good chance he’s leaving, so if he does return (say another team puts him on waivers), White has to prove that he can be someone who can regularly jump into the NHL lineup. He has to be a legit top-line defenseman when he goes down to Utica. That will be difficult with so many talented players already there, but he needs to play better than Kevin Bahl, Michael Vukojevic, and Nikita Okhotyuk.

White has some NHL skills, but there are some holes he needs to fill. His 5v5 numbers were great in those two games. He was on the ice for eight high-danger chances, and the other team only got three high-danger chances while he was on the ice. Not sure how he can prove himself more to the Devils, but it’s clear he has to. At 24 years old and with a lot of young defensemen coming up, he’s running out of time.