At the goalie position, everything seemed to go wrong all at once for the New Jersey Devils organization.
Jacob Markstrom's horror show performances became more than just a one-off thing, while the ageing Jake Allen has become increasingly prone to clunkers of his own. The Devils were never going to carry three goalies, so Nico Daws, who is now at the right age to become a full-time NHLer, was not and is not a factor going forward unless an injury takes place.
Even at the prospect level, things were not going well. Jakub Malek had been demoted to the ECHL after a brutal start to his first full season in North America, and top prospect Mikhail Yegorov, who was incredible for Boston University last season, looked nothing like his old self.
Fortunately, though, the 19-year-old Russian has completely changed his fortunes with a string of strong performances in the NCAA, and now some concerned Devils fans can breathe again.
Mikhail Yegorov is back to being a star prospect for the New Jersey Devils
Yegorov has now won six of his last 10 games--more than half of his seasonal total of 11 wins in 21 total games played--and has overall been dominating the crease lately.
In his last five, the Devils prospect has allowed just eight goals on 105 shots (.924%). In his last 10, Yegorov has been beaten only 22 times on 260 shots (.915%).
Boston, overall, just has not been as strong of a team this season under head coach and former Devils forward Jay Pandolfo. Other Devils prospects, like Ben Kevan and Conrad Fondrk, have underperformed much worse than Yegorov did in the early goings of the season.
Fortunately, Yegorov, who is arguably much more important to the future success of the Devils organization than the other two, has turned his sophomore NCAA campaign completely around in short order. Now if only Markstrom and Allen can do the same at the NHL level, the vibes around the team may truly start to pick back up.