On Wednesday, the New Jersey Devils held a public access event as part of their annual summer development camp. A group of Devils prospects spent a few days training and doing community service. The week was capped off by a skills competition for the fans, who packed the RWJBarnabas Health Hockey House to see some of the team’s top young prospects.
The three Russians drafted this past Saturday by New Jersey did not participate due to travel conflicts. Those players are defenseman Nikita Shcherbakov, forward Lavr Gashilov, and goaltender Daniil Rusakovich. All other 2025 and 2026 draftees were there. With all that being said, how did the skills competition go, and who impressed the most at each event?
Hardest Shot
The day started out with the prospects competing in a hardest shot competition. Every player got three shots and the three players with the hardest shots after the preliminary round moved onto a final.
2025 third-round pick Mason Moe won in the end. He topped out at 93 mph on his first go and 92 mph in the final round to secure the victory. Conrad Fondrk also fired off some impressive shots, making it to the final round, but falling just short.
Moe had 12 points in 33 games for the University of Minnesota last season. He is expected to play there again this upcoming season.
Obstacle Course
The second event of the morning was a classic skills competition obstacle course. Each player had to deke through a number of orange pucks, before skating around some obstacles, scoring into a small net, hitting a target on a big net, hitting two smaller nets, and then hitting the net on the other side of the rink. This event was timed with the two players who completed the course the fastest moving on to a final round.
Those two players were 2026 second-round pick Matias Vanhanen, and 2026 seventh-round pick Quinn McKenzie. Of the two, McKenzie was the one to come out on top, although both impressed with their skating and accuracy.
Accuracy Shooting
The third event was another timed one. Each player had to hit four targets attached to a goal. Once again, the players with the top two times competed in a final round. 2025 second-round pick Ben Kevan stole the show this time around, winning with a time of 16 seconds in the final after hitting all four targets in 14 seconds in the preliminary round. No one else came particularly close.
Kevan had 10 points in 34 games for Arizona State University last year. He is slated to play there again this upcoming season.
The other notable part of this event was the lone goaltender Trenton Bennett being allowed to take a few shots. He, unsurprisingly, didn’t hit any of the targets, but got a large round of applause anyways.
Bennett had an .896 save percentage in the OHL last season. He is slated to play with the Flint Firebirds in the same league this season. He committed to play college hockey at St. Lawrence University in 2027-28.
Shootout
The final event of the morning was a shootout. Each player got to take a shot on Bennett, who towered in the net at 6-foot-8. The only two players to score in the initial round of shots were 2026 sixth-round pick Luke Wilfley and the team’s 12th overall pick from last Friday, Alexander Command. Wilfley lost the puck initially which fooled Bennett, allowing him to slide the puck five-hole. Command made a nice move to the forehand to beat Bennett and advance.
Wilfley and Command each shot three times before another goal was finally scored. Command came in on the forehand and beat Bennett with a perfect shot under the glove over the pad for the win. He impressed in every aspect on Wednesday morning.