Three Devils Prospects Who Should Be Up To The Weekend’s Challenge
It may still be summer, but hockey is back this weekend.
No, it’s not games that count, but young players from the Devils and Bruins will be trekking to Buffalo to play in a three-team round-robin called the Prospects Challenge.
It’s a far cry from NHL competition, but sometimes during these contests you can get a good read on players who can be helpful in games that matter down the line. For example, I can recall Sabres wing Victor Olofsson displaying a nasty shot from the right dot in the 2019 Challenge and figured this guy is going to be a dangerous weapon on a power play. Sure enough, he has planted 18 such goals in his two seasons in Buffalo.
With regard to the Devils, defenseman Ty Smith had a marvelous tournament after his first-round selection in the 2018 NHL Draft and then carried that momentum into training camp. He nearly made the big club, which would have been an amazing accomplishment for an 18-year old who was not all that physically mature.
No harm that he didn’t, since it was clear that Smith’s skillset would be translatable to the modern NHL soon enough. Most expected him to use that extra season in Spokane to fine tune his game in time for the 2019-20 season.
Except that those plans were waylaid by the Devils pairing Smith with the godawful Colby Sissons at the 2019 Challenge. Smith’s confidence went down the toilet from watching so many pucks end up in the Devils’ net that weekend, mostly from Sissons’ incompetence, and, after the malaise carried over into a mediocre preseason, it was back to Spokane for another go-round.
Smith, of course, eventually made it to The Show last season, presumably for good, and fared well enough to finish seventh in the Calder Trophy voting for rookie of the year.
So, who will be the next Devil to shine at the Challenge and get a leg up on showing the organization they are capable of making a difference at the highest level this season? There’s a pretty decent sized list to choose from because while this franchise hasn’t been successful on the ice for a while, they are oozing with prospects from years of stockpiling extra draft picks and young players. Among those the Devils announced will be participating this weekend, here are three whose performances I will be eyeing most intently:
Alexander Holtz
Jack Hughes was a darling of the analytics community last season. If you look at things like puck retrieval, zone entries, and scoring chances created, Hughes played like a top-line center as a 19-year old.
Then why, pray tell, did he finish with a rather modest 31 points in 56 games?
Aside from his own finishing struggles, which should improve as he is gets stronger, Hughes was shackled by his linemates’ limitations. Yegor Sharangovich’s 16-goal production on Hughes’ left wing as a rookie was eye-opening but Janne Kuokkanen, a bottom-six forward at best who served the longest on Hughes’ right wing; tallied a mere 8 times in 50 games.
Whether it’s this season or sometime in the near future, Holtz, New Jersey’s 7th overall selection in the 2020 Draft, will be given a long look as a potential Hughes running mate. The right winger is a pure sniper, though he isn’t coming off an especially strong season in Sweden, including his one-goal output in five games at the World Junior Championships.
In Buffalo, I won’t be looking at Holtz’s goal production so much as whether he possesses the tools to warrant a roster spot in New Jersey this season. Can he get into the dirty areas where most NHL goals are scored? Can he win puck battles? Can he kick his skating into high gear to be a weapon in transition?
Chances are that Holtz will be ticketed for AHL Utica after a preseason look, but a solid two games in the Challenge could make the Devils think long and hard about hastening his timeline.
Nolan Foote
The Devils sported the league’s fourth-worst power play last season. A big factor in their ineptitude was the lack of a solid net-front presence. Listed at 6-foot 3 and 196 pounds, Foote, 20, has the size, shot, and compete level to fill that role.
Injuries have kept Foote off the ice for significant chunks of the last two seasons and he didn’t make much of an impact (1 goal, 1 assist) during his six-game cup of coffee in New Jersey last season, but the team’s general lack of depth on the wing gives him a real shot at earning a spot in the opening day lineup.
Since he’s not a top skater and or known for his penalty killing, Foote has to show he’s a force to be reckoned with in the offensive zone to cement that promotion. Potting a few from the area around the blue paint this weekend will go a long way toward proving to the organization that he’s ready.
Kevin Bahl
Credit Devils general Manager Tom Fitzgerald for bringing in some beef to his previously diminutive blue line this offseason. On the left side, Fitzgerald traded for Ryan Graves (6-foot 5, 220 pounds) and re-signed trade deadline acquisition Jonas Siegenthaler (6-foot 3, 210 pounds) to complement Smith.
That doesn’t mean that the 6-foot 6, 230-pound Bahl’s services in New Jersey won’t be necessary this season. Aside from the potential for injuries to defensemen, we should acknowledge that Siegenthaler is not a very good player.
Like Foote, Bahl got a taste for the NHL game at the end of last season. In seven games, he showcased what makes him a special prospect. This kid moves people and has an incredible reach with his stick. And for a big man, he doesn’t lumber on the ice.
The issue with Bahl is reading the game at high speeds. At 21, he’s going to get beat and make mistakes in coverage. The Prospect Challenge, where Bahl will be one of three alternate captains, will hopefully be a runway for him to display improvement in his defensive responsibilities before he heads into training camp next week.