The NCAA hockey season began this past weekend, and with it, many New Jersey Devils prospects’ seasons are finally underway. The likes of Mikhail Yegorov, Conrad Fondrk, and Ben Kevan have already played multiple competitive games, with a handful of others also getting a game under their belt.
For many, if not all of them, their deployment is changing for the better.
The New Jersey Devils might have rejuvinated hope in their college prospects
Fondrk, who endured a nightmarish inaugural campaign with Boston University in 2025-26 - one plagued by injury and an oddly underperforming roster - has been skating on their top line to begin his sophomore season. There, he’s been playing with the likes of Tynan Lawrence and Jack Murtagh, both of whom are highly-touted talents themselves. Though Fondrk has yet to find the scoresheet, it’s a substantially better situation than the fringe-roster slot he was in last season, and he should easily improve his stock as a prospect because of it.
Behind him is Yegorov, who is already one of the NHL’s most promising goaltender prospects, and he has a much-improved roster in front of him in 2026-27. Several highly-regarded freshmen are joining the group, including Caleb Malhotra, Xavier Villeneuve, Haoxi Wang, and Niklas Aaram-Olsen. Projected growth from Lawrence, Murtagh, Fondrk, and Carter Amico will also serve Yegorov and the team well. This has already been highlighted in his performances. He has won both of his games, allowing a total of one goal on 42 shots against. He looks every bit as confident as his self-tracked advanced statistics would have you believe he is.
Over at Arizona State University is Ben Kevan, who is finally getting consistent top-six deployment and time on the Sun Devils’ top power-play unit. As a result, he has a goal and an assist in two games, which is a predictable outcome when taking into account his solid production when handed that role in a limited number of games last season. In theory, it should be a great season for him, especially if he can continue scoring goals like this.
While Mason Moe is slated to begin the season on the University of Minnesota’s third line, the expectation is that he becomes more of a middle-six player throughout the season. He has scored one goal in his two games so far. 2026 second-round pick Matias Vanhanen will begin his campaign in a top-six, first power-play unit capacity. Chase Cheslock will continue being St. Thomas’s bona fide #1 defenseman, with David Rozsíval joining him this season for his first college campaign. Veeti Louhivaara will push for a starter role with the University of Connecticut. Finally, there’s Cole Brown, who should be a top-nine fixture at Notre Dame.
The overarching point is that the Devils’ college prospects are all set up to meaningfully improve this season. Between better opportunities for skaters and improved teams in front of goalies, it should be a strong year for New Jersey’s pipeline.
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