New Jersey Devils Prospect Update: 1/14/20

The 15th week of the 2019-20 New Jersey Devils prospect update saw Mitchell Hoelscher continue to be a key part of a strong Ottawa 67’s team, Ty Smith make an immediate impact upon his return for the Spokane Chiefs, Tyce Thompson continue to produce for Providence to be among the NCAA leaders in goals and points, and Arseni Gritsyuk go down with an injury in MHL action. Let’s take a look at how each prospect performed over this past week.

QMJHL

Xavier Bernard didn’t register any points for Sherbrooke but was a +4 with 4 PIM and 11 shots across 3 games last week. 8 of those shots came in Sunday’s game against Quebec.

OHL

Mitchell Hoelscher had a goal, 3 assists, +1, 6 PIM, 9 shots, and a 48.84 FO% across 3 games last week. Ottawa’s loss on Saturday snapped a 17 game win streak dating back to mid-November.

Nikita Okhotyuk had a goal, 2 assists, +1, 6 PIM, and 8 shots in 3 games. All of those points and 6 of those shots came in Friday’s game against Guelph.

Graeme Clarke is out long term following left shoulder surgery.

Kevin Bahl returned to Ottawa’s line up for Saturday’s game against Peterborough after earning a Gold Medal at the WJC. Across 2 games this past weekend, Bahl had an assist, even rating, and a shot.

Michael Vukojevic was a +2 with 6 PIM and 3 shots across 3 games last weekend for Kitchener.

WHL

Ty Smith made his return to Spokane’s line up on Friday after capturing Gold at the WJC for Canada. He was very productive in their 3-1 victory with 2 assists, +2, and 2 shots. You can see one of those assists below:

NCAA

Reilly Walsh had an assist, +2, and a shot in Harvard’s 7-0 victory over Yale on Saturday.

Matt Hellickson was a -2 with 2 shots as Notre Dame dropped both games against Michigan last weekend. You can see Hellickson in action on Friday at 6 PM ET as they take on Ohio State on the Big Ten Network.

Aarne Talvitie missed Penn State’s game against Robert Morris on Saturday as he was still attending a personal matter in Finland. It seems that he should be back for Penn State this upcoming weekend when they take on Michigan.

Tyce Thompson continued to star for Providence as they picked up wins over American International and UConn this past weekend. Thompson had 2 goals (1 PP, 1 SH), 2 assists (1 EV, 1 PP), +2, 2 PIM, 8 shots, and won 41.18% of his faceoffs across both games. These strong performances led to him earning Hockey East Player of the Week honors for the first time in his career. He is tied for 1st in goals (17) in the NCAA with Griffin Loughran and is 2nd in points (35).

Patrick Moynihan had a PP goal, +1, 9 shots, and lost his only faceoff across 2 games last weekend. You can see his goal which was assisted by Tyce Thompson below:

Case McCarthy was a +2 across 2 games for Boston University this past weekend. They played 2 exhibitions over the holiday period so this was their first regular season action since 12/7/19.

USHL

Akira Schmid joined his new USHL team in Sioux City after returning from the WJC, but it seems he is still not ready for game action. He has been out since 10/19 with a knee injury. Hopefully he can get on the ice soon for Sioux City and reclaim part of what is becoming a lost season.

Cole Brady made 20 saves on 22 shots in a victory over Omaha on Friday. He struggled on Sunday in a loss to Sioux City with just 15 saves on 18 shots. He had a .906 SV% over his first 15 games which is solid for a USHL rookie. In his struggles lately he has a .891 SV% over his last 10 games. Brady still leads all qualified rookie goaltenders in games (25), wins (13), GAA (2.90), SV% (.900), and shutouts (1).

Russia

KHL

MHL

Yegor Zaitsev had a busy week for Dynamo Moscow with an assist, +1, 4 PIM, 2 shots, and average ice time of 14:49 across 4 games.

Daniil Misyul is back with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl after helping Russia capture Silver at the WJC. He was a -2 with a 9:30 average ice time across 2 games.

Arseni Gritsyuk had an assist, +2, 3 shots, and played 10:36 before leaving the game with an injury.

Finland & Sweden

Eetu Pakkila was a -1 with 5 shots and an average ice time of 11:15 across 3 games last week.

Nikola Pasic has returned to BIK Karlskoga after helping Sweden earn a Bronze Medal at the WJC. In 2 games last week he was a -2 with 2 shots while averaging 16:42. He still leads all U20 players in the Allsvenskan with 24 points.

Your Take

Which prospects stood out to you this week? Which of these players are you expecting to see finish the season with a strong 2nd half? What do you think of Tyce Thompson’s consistent production? Leave your comments below and thanks for reading!