5 New Jersey Devils Players to Watch During Rookie Camp
The long wait for NHL Hockey is coming to close. With the regular season just around the corner, it is time for players to return to their respective organizations to either get into top gear for the regular season with the big club or show the coaches how hard they worked in the off-season to win the fight to get an opening night roster spot. This is especially true for the New Jersey Devils.
They are in a very good situation entering training camp. They have a lot competition for roster spots thanks to their young roster and very deep prospect pool. With rookie camp opening up and the prospects challenge just on the horizon, this a very good time to analyze which prospects took the extra step this offseason to further their development. They might even increase their chances of making the opening night roster. Let’s highlight five New Jersey Devils prospects to have close eyes on during rookie camp and the prospects challenge.
1. Alexander Holtz
Starting off this list, we have the Swedish sniper and winger Alexander Holtz. Holtz is coming off of a great rookie season with the Utica Comets. His shooting abilities were on full display and also showed many flashes of his playmaking abilities. Despite this, he struggled in his nine games with New Jersey.
Over the offseason, Holtz was working harder than ever back in Sweden on his strength and edgework with fellow New Jersey winger Jesper Bratt and his brother Filip Bratt. Holtz is very determined to prove himself and be an impactful player with New Jersey. However, he as a lot to prove during this upcoming camp in order to do so. It will be very interesting to see if Holtz’s training finally pays off and shows it when he plays in the prospect challenge and training camp.
2. Simon Nemec
Simon Nemec is an extremely gifted offensive-minded right-handed defensemen. He has extremely smooth skating, makes very smart breakout passes, has incredible vision, and an underrated and underutilized shot. Even though he is such a young prospect, he has as much or more professional experience that a lot of the prospects in New Jersey’s prospect system.
Nemec lit up the the Slovakian League and has the highest points per game for any defenseman under 21 years of age that played in the Slovak League. Despite the Slovak league not being as strong as other professional leagues, it is still extremely impressive for an 18 year old to play a lot of minutes and to dominate a professional league.
He also made his presence felt during development camp. Fans should be hyped for the second-overall pick in this year’s NHL Draft. Even though it is expected to see Nemec make his presence felt during this upcoming prospect challenge, it is the matter of how much his presence will be felt during these gamres. If he can immediately transfer his success from Europe and international play to the prospect challenge and training camp, he might make the roster sooner than later and make an immediate impact on the blue line. Nonetheless, Nemec is a player to watch and fans should be excited to see him play on the North American ice.
3. Kevin Bahl
Another defenseman makes the list and it is the huge left-handed defenseman, Kevin Bahl. Bahl is a shutdown left-handed defenseman that has a small flashes of offensive production. He had brief stints with New Jersey in the past two seasons, getting him a taste of intensity of hockey at the NHL level. Even though Bahl is huge, he has not been using his frame to its greatest advantage. If Bahl wants to make the to make the New Jersey roster full time, he needs to more physical. Fans should keep eyes on Bahl to see if he uses his physicality more to his advantage. If he does this, he will not only be and exciting defender to watch but a very impactful defender for his teammates was well.
4. Graeme Clarke
Graeme Clarke is a speedy winger than has a snipe of a shot. Unfortunately for Clarke, his skills have no come together like he wanted. His production this previous season did not improve from his first season with the Binghamton Devils (just they moved to Utica). He is another prospect that has a lot to prove this upcoming training camp and is determined to make strides to become a much better player. Fans should keep their eyes on Clarke during the rookies camp to see if he finally brings it all together and make a great impression with the coaching staff. With Nolan Foote still trying to get to the level he wants to be, seeing Clarke make a splash during this prospect challenge will be very encouraging since it will help increase New Jersey’s depth at scoring wing in which they need.
5. Brian Halonen
Brian Halonen is a newbie to the Devils organization and one of the older prospects in the system. He signed a contract with the team after a very impressive senior year at Michigan Tech. He reported to Utica and played with the for the remainder of their season. Even though he was not that productive, he was transitioning to a more competitive level. Halonen brings scoring, playmaking and a huge frame the fits his size. Even though he has an extremely small sample size of games played in Utica, he is a player that can possibly surprise people and make a make a huge jump in production this season. People should keep eyes on Halonen during rookie camp and the prospects challenge because he might surprise people. He might follow a similar path in development like one of the former fan favorites of New Jersey, Blake Coleman.
Honorable Mentions
1. Jack Dugan
Jack Dugan is another newbie to the New Jersey Devils organization by signing a contract with them during the offseason. The former Vegas Golden Knights prospect is reunited with current New Jersey prospect Tyce Thompson who were teammates for two seasons at Providence College. Dugan lit up there where he was over a point per game for both of his seasons there. His production during his second season at Providence College was unreal. During that season, he was almost at two points-per-game pace. Unfortunately for Dugan, his production did not transfer to the Golden Knight’s AHL team, the Henderson Silver Knights. While he was near point per game pace during his first season there but had a massive drop-off last season. Despite the drop-off, New Jersey is giving Dugan the opportunity to prove himself and be a productive player. People should watch Dugan if he plays at the prospect challenge because he might surprise people especially if Tyce Thompson and him play on the same line. With them playing together, it might reunite chemistry that might not only bring Dugan back on track but help both of them bring their games to another level. It will be an intriguing story if Dugan and Thompson both make New Jersey’s roster at some point together.
2. Chase Stillman
Chase Stillman is a gritty and speedy winger that does have a scoring touch and good playmaking abilities. Even though Stillman is not going to make New Jersey’s roster this year, people should keep there eyes on him because he is looking to bounce back from his past two underwhelming seasons in juniors. He wants show us why Tom Fitzgerald selected him late in the first round of the 2021 NHL draft.
Those were five New Jersey Devils five people should keep their eyes on during this upcoming rookie camp, prospect showcase, and training camp. Do you agree with this list? Are there any prospects that are missing from this list or should replace some players on this list? Please feel free to leave a comment below and let’s get a discussion going.