New Jersey Devils: 5 NHL Draft Prospects Third-Round Targets

Carey Terrance – C – Erie Otters

This one is just like other New Jersey Devils targets. The Devils look for speed and skating and hope the rest plays itself out. It’s worked out really well, especially in the later rounds. Casey Terrance can skate with the best of centers.

We went over this in the second-round piece, but the Devils need to add centers to the prospect pool. Their top 25 prospects at around midseason had zero centers. That’s nearly impossible, especially for the second best prospect pool in the league. However, Tom Fitzgerald has Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier on the roster, along with Dawson Mercer who can play center when needed.

Terrance gives the Devils a really skilled center. He loves the dirty areas, playing between the dots in the offensive zone. Going to the net will lead to more goals and more opportunities. This led to a 30-goal season for the Erie Otters this season.

Terrance has a lot of traits that make Jack Hughes great. He can steal the puck based on his defensive instincts, and he can take it the other way. He has better size than Hughes, but he’s like the poorest man’s Hughes at this point, especially since he is currently missing that playmaking ability that originally made the Devils star great. Terrance has the tools, but he’s missing the execution on a few fronts. That’s why he’s available in the third round (theoretically).