Final takeaways from New Jersey Devils Rookie Development Camp

For the first day that the New Jersey Devils were showing off their 2025 and 2026 draft prospects, there were a lot of nice drills evaluating how players can stickhandle, skate on their edges, shoot on different-sized nets, and showcase their straight-away speed. 

The first prospect who really stood out was former third-round pick Mason Moe out of the Minnesota Golden Gophers. He looked more agile and fluid during the D+1 drills he participated in. In the slap shot contest, he was clocked in around 93 miles an hour, a respectable number for a centerman. He was one of the most accurate shooters in the drills, and he did a nice job hitting his targets, unlike David Rozsival, who was banging them out like hot cakes. 

One of the heaviest slap shots you'll see is Benjamin Kevan. He was the most accurate when it came to target practice and had a field day shooting. He is a speedster, dangler, and playmaker; however, he looks like a right-wing version of Travis Zajac, with a skill set and offensive abilities you can't hold against him. He is not that far off from a preseason camp spot to try and make the pipeline out of the NCAA route. Would not be surprised to see him make a preseason camp and try to show off his benchmarks before he could go back to Arizona State University.

David Rozsival, on the other hand, was looking like a superior version of Michael Grabner and Tomas Tatar. He was really banging home on the edge work; stickhandling was beyond expectations of a sixth-round pick in 2025, and he doesn't look like a bottom-six winger from what was observed. His development and offensive prowess with the USHL's Green Bay Gamblers was certainly detrimental for him getting used to the North American ice. His uncle is Michal Rozsival, and his genes and hard work are looking to help him land a spot in the Devils pipeline. However, he does have a spot on the St. Thomas University roster where NJ Devils draftee Chase Cheslock played. David could end up being a middle-six winger if he keeps up this amazing progression at age 19.

Alexander Command was absolutely putting on a show and made everything look so effortless. The Swedish centerman had two phenomenal shootout moves. One of which he swung in from the right side and slowed down a bit like Patrick Kane, but sped up to his forehand, backhand, and wrapped one in behind a few inches of post and behind Trenten Bennett's skate blade. Another move he made was that he came in with above-average speed on the left wing from the faceoff circle and snapped one short side when Trenten Bennett went down in the butterfly to win it in the competition.

The Devils got a good look at their most recent prospects

Luke Wilfley stood out a little bit when he came gliding in on Trenten Bennett, and he did this semi-Cotter-Kucherov shootout move but burst in the last few feet and flailed the puck forward and then tapped it home on the big man. He looks like a bottom-six garbage-goal guy, but this kid put on a shootout entertainer that earned a big amount of "whoas." It is going to be a few more seasons before he starts to gain more physical build and round out his game at the next level.

Quinn McKenzie was also very electric, and he might be a steal in the late rounds, like Lavr Gashilov, who wasn't present. McKenzie is a good skater, very shifty, and very deceptive. He saw the ice really well and made things very interesting with his skating and stickhandling. He was very close to Alexander Command in the shootout and was looking like a potential goal scorer and playmaker. Between Wilfley and McKenzie, they need to develop more over the next few seasons and eventually make the Sunny Mehta-Braden Birch pipeline. 

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