It took the New Jersey Devils a bit to announce their roster for the upcoming Prospect Challenge in Buffalo, but it finally came to light yesterday. I wouldn’t say there were many, if any, surprises on it, but it gives a good glimpse at who the Devils have in the system that could hopefully be making contributions soon. The team is set to play three games: tonight against Columbus, tomorrow night against Buffalo and Sunday afternoon against Boston. While all of those clubs have prospect pools of differing talent levels, it should still be a good indicator and test for New Jersey’s group. That being said, here is where my focus is going to lie while watching the games this weekend.
The Alternate Captains
In the Devils’ roster release, they noted that Seamus Casey, Ethan Edwards and Shane Lachance were named as the leadership group for the weekend. Of those three, I think Casey is the least surprising. Of the entire group that the Devils are bringing, I think most to all would agree that Casey is the closest player to being NHL ready. Heck, some would even argue he is NHL ready. Edwards is another prospect that the organization has been high on and he has been developing for some time, so again not a surprise. I do think for both of these defenders, they will need to have a strong showing. While Casey is projecting in my mind as first injury call-up at worst, I think Edwards might have some more proving to do; there are other defenders coming up in the system and five years after being drafted now, he may have to show he’s not in danger o being passed up by others.
Lachance, the only forward of the leadership group, is a bit more of an interesting decision. Acquired from Edmonton last season, Lachance was signed to an entry level deal that begins this year and spent the end of last season with Utica. While it was only two contests, he did put up two points across them. He might spend most or all of this season in Utica, but he may have already jumped some of the Devils’ other forward prospects in the eyes of management. I will definitely be keeping my eyes peeled for any impact he can make. No prospect is ever an NHL guarantee, but with two years of college hockey under his belt, Lachance might be closer than we realize. Speaking of forwards I’ll be interested in watching.
Lenni
Speculation has already begun that Lenni Hameenaho might push for an NHL roster spot as early as this season and for good reason. Posting 51 points in 58 contests with Assat of Liiga this past year, Hameenaho should get a good look to see if he can be another supplemental scoring piece to augment the Devils’ core this season. A strong Prospect Challenge would be a good first step in that process. If Hameenaho is truly on the cusp of the NHL, or NHL ready, then he should be able to outwork, outthink and outplay many of the opposing players he’s up against this weekend. While I haven’t had him penciled in to make the NHL team, I also don’t think it is outside the realm of possibility. He’s definitely going to have eyes on him simply for his draft position and recognition among Devils fans, but I’m also hoping eyes stay glued to him because he’s on the ice skating circles around his opposition.
Goaltending?
With three goalies on the roster, I’m not sure how the Devils plan to split the minutes. I will say Jakub Malek hopefully gets more than one look during this weekend. Trenten Bennett is a massive prospect in terms of size, but considering he was just drafted, I don’t think nearly as much is going to be expected from him just yet. Tyler Brennan, meanwhile, has seemed to fall out of favor, at least on this website. While still just 21, he’s struggled to play his way up the organizational depth chart. He will definitely see some minutes, and hopefully they can be confidence building minutes for the upcoming season.
Back to Malek though as he easily has the most of my attention at this position. He has also been playing Liiga (with Ilves) and over the past couple seasons has posted save percentages of .915 and .910. While the decline in save percentage might alarm some, his goals against dropped this season to 2.09 from 2.32 in 2023-24. If he’s allowing just over two goals per game, I’m a bit less worried about the save percentage because he’s stopping enough pucks to give his team a chance to win. It will be interesting to see how he’s progressed and where he slots in for Utica this season.
Your Take
I will say before closing that I’m disappointed that Anton Silayev and Mikhail Yegorov are not participating, but I understand given their respective league situations and their current development tracks. It will be a good weekend to start seeing young Devils in action, and more importantly than anything else it means that Devils hockey is back!
What are your thoughts on the Prospect Challenge for when it opens tonight; do you expect strong showings from the leadership group? Are you holding high expectations for Hameenaho or are they a bit more tempered? Any other plays not mentioned that you are particularly looking forward to seeing in action? Leave any and all comments below and thanks as always for reading!