Good evening, everyone.
Last night, the New Jersey Devils prospects took on the Columbus Blue Jackets prospects at LECOM Harborcenter in Buffalo, New York as part of the 2025 Prospect Challenge. I had wanted to post this last night ahead of that matchup, but I ran into some technical difficulties in the afternoon. Fortunately, Gerard had posted a bit of a preview for what Devils fans can look forward to in their games. So, while I was unable to get this open post up in the afternoon, there was that post when the site came back online in the evening.
Per the Sabres’ announcement, the Devils have games at the following times:
- 9/11/25: vs. Columbus at 7:00 PM EST (completed, won 8-2)
- 9/12/25: vs. Buffalo at 7:00 PM EST
- 9/14/25: vs. Boston at 12:00 PM EST
In the game last night, of which you can see the highlights below, the pace of play seemed to resemble more of a scrimmage than a pre-season style game, though there was still some intensity. Shane LaChance, who had a disallowed goal in the first period before scoring one in the third period, got into a fight with Ryder Boulton. Mikael Diotte and Seamus Casey looked great offensively from the right side, with Diotte scoring twice and Casey scoring once. Casey, in particular, looked out of place skating against lesser developed prospects. Fourth liners Nathan Lecompte and Tag Bertuzzi also had three points each, which Lecompte scoring two goals.
It will be hard for the Devils to match that sort of easy dominance tonight and on Sunday afternoon, but they will be livestreaming the game once more on the team’s website. Sam Kasan noted in that preview that Buffalo’s squad is stacked with draft picks, including four first-round picks, so hopefully the pace of play is a touch on the higher end tonight.
With that said, treat this open post like a gamethread for the remaining two games. I will update the post with highlights from the second and third game as they are posted onto the team’s YouTube page.