A slew of monster trades over the years has taken some quality draft picks and prospects away from the New Jersey Devils, but the pool of players may not be as shallow as some originally thought.
As analyst Scott Wheeler of The Athletic continues his 2025 rankings of every NHL team's prospect pool, the Devils consistently feigned an appearance towards the bottom of the league, instead clocking in at a respectable 17th. This is actually five places higher than the 22nd-place ranking they received from Wheeler a year ago, thanks in large part to the offseason additions of prospects like Anton Silayev, Mikhail Yegorov, and Herman Traff.
Of course, most Devils fans have heard all about players like Silayev, Yegorov, Simon Nemec, and Seamus Casey, but an unheralded name, Cam Squires, drew a flattering comparison from an anonymous coach in his junior league, according to Wheeler.
Cam Squires was given high praise by a professional scout.
Wheeler quotes one anonymous QMJHL coach on Squires: “I think he can be a [Tyler Toffoli] type. Not a pretty skater, but he makes up for it with anticipation offensively and defensively with a good stick or getting above early to make up for the skating. Shoot in stride shooter first, but some underrated moves at times. Strength is where he (can) make the greatest gains and continue to play fast with poise.”
While Toffoli was only with New Jersey for 61 games, Devils fans can generally think back on his tenure in Newark positively. Acquired for Yegor Sharangovich and a 2023 third-round pick, Toffoli featured in a top-six role for the Devils, scoring 26 goals, 18 assists, and 44 points before being jettisoned for a 2024 third-round pick and a 2025 second-round pick.
In 79 games between the Devils and the Jets, Toffoli finished with 33 goals, 22 assists, and 55 points - the third-most productive season of his NHL career overall and the second-most prolific in the goals column.
As for Squires, the 19-year-old was drafted 122nd overall by the Devils in the fourth round of the 2023 NHL Draft, fresh off a 30-goal, 60-point campaign with the QMJHL's Cape Breton Screaming Eagles. Squires followed that up with 33 goals, 39 assists, and 72 points in 66 games in his D+1 year, and he has 16 goals, 30 assists, and 46 points in 47 games so far this season. The Charlottetown, P.E.I., native has also donned the 'A' for Cape Breton in each of the last two seasons.
Given how badly the Devils have struggled with their depth scoring in 2024-25, fans will be happy to hear that help is in the pipeline and on the way up to the NHL. Squires becoming half as good a goal-scorer as Toffoli would be quite the revelation indeed.