The New Jersey Devils have a long line of prospect successes. They have some first-round wins, including former number-one overall NHL Draft picks Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes. They have some hits in the second and third rounds like Damon Severson, Blake Coleman, Nico Daws, and Seamus Casey. They even have some late-round gems, like Jesper Bratt, Yegor Sharangovich, and Miles Wood. However, there were times where the Devils prospect pool looked insane, but many of those prospects flamed out.
The literal million-dollar question is, "Why do valuable prospects end up failing to become NHL regulars?" Teams spend hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars to scout and eventually select between five and nine prospects in the draft every year. Then, they spent millions more to create a positive development experience. Still, the best teams in the league see it work about 20% of the time.
When looking at Devils draft picks, if we assume 250 games played can at least be considered a "win," this team has 12 such players drafted since 2010. The Devils drafted 79 players from 2010 to 2019 (Dawson Mercer has just under 250 games, so this seemed like the only possibility). So, the Devils are hitting on around 15% of their draft picks.
However, not all successes and failures are created equally. There are a few who seem like they should become superstars, and there are others who developed like they would turn into long-term NHL players. They all failed, but without much explanation. Let's dig in.
5 New Jersey Devils prospects who should have been great, but they ended up becoming failures.
1. Aarne Talvitie
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We start with Aarne Talviite because at least there’s an excuse here. Talvitie always looked like a steal when the Devils got him in the sixth round of the 2017 NHL Draft. He was a high-upside Finnish player with the right skill and mentality to become an eventual NHL player. The biggest question was whether he would ever come to North America without a guaranteed shot at the show.
Then, Talvitie decided to go to college. He signed with Penn State, which was trying to establish its hockey program. It seemed like a win-win, as the Nittany Lions got a great player who’s already shined on the international stage. He was exceptional in his first year with Penn State and eventually became the force for Finland in the U20 World Juniors tournament. He led Finland to the Gold Medal Game, but he suffered a serious knee injury that ended everything.
Talvitie was never the same after the knee injury. What looked like a sixth-round steal never played an NHL game. He went on to play three seasons in Happy Valley, but his numbers dropped every year. The same thing happened once he signed in the AHL. He just couldn’t recover from the knee injury he suffered at the World Juniors; at least, that’s the story that makes sense.