Cole Brady
As if the Devils needed more bad news at the goaltender position, Cole Brady had a bad season. It went so bad he decided to transfer out of Arizona State after he was basically relegated to a backup role after an impressive freshman season. The Sun Devils aren’t the best hockey team to play for in the league, but he’s someone who played well despite the situation. He had a .910 save percentage his freshman season, and his confidence was going up.
This season, things started to fall apart. He finished his season with a .900 save percentage, and Ben Kraws took over the starting job despite only having a .907 save percentage. Kraws did allow fewer than three goals per game while Brady was allowing close to four goals per game. Brady clearly looked worse than he did in 2020-21.
Brady is quickly falling to the sixth or seventh most important goalie in the Devils’ system. Nico Daws and Akira Schmid are the goalies to lead Utica (when Daws isn’t the starter in the NHL). Mackenzie Blackwood is still the “goalie of the future” until the Devils find a better option. Jonathan Bernier is still here until we hear his hip injury will keep him out next season. And Jakub Málek has been an exciting player in international play.
Brady announced he was going to UMass. They have a wide-open goalie competition with Matt Murray ending his college career after five years. Brady can be on a completely different list next season by taking the UMass goaltending position and playing well. He’s still a junior, and he could really show the Devils he’s more than he showed while at Arizona State.