On October 5th, the New Jersey Devils signed goaltender prospect Ken Appleby to an entry-level contract. The 20-year old North Bay, Ontario native played the previous year in the OHL with the Oshawa Generals. He started 50 games while posting a GAA of 2.08 and SV% of .924. He was one of Oshawa’s key contributors in their championship run to the Memorial Cup, where they defeated Connor McDavid and Dylan Stromes’ Erie Otters in the finals. After this stellar season, Appleby went undrafted. There isn’t much he has going against him. He possesses the talent and he also fits the physical profile teams look for in goalies nowadays (6’4″ 205 lbs).

So coming into the offseason, Appleby was a man without a job. He took part in both the St. Louis Blues and New Jersey Devils training camps before deciding to go with the Devils. He joined Mackenzie Blackwood and Scott Wedgewood as the only goaltender options in the system. He hung with Blackwood through most of rookie camp, seemingly matching and at points surpassing our second round pick’s ability. After his impressive showing, he was invited back to New Jersey’s preseason camp. Part of the way through, he was optioned off of the NHL roster but remained under his tryout contract.

Here we are now, Appleby is a New Jersey Devil (or at least property of the organization). His most probable course will take him through the ECHL before he gets a crack at Albany’s roster, which already includes the goaltenders Yan Dennis (injured) and Scott Wedgewood. This signing is looking promising for the Devils. The past periods of having a barren goaltending pool behind our NHL starters is pretty much over. The Devils essentially dropped Maxime Clermont, replacing him with arguably two of the OHL’s best goaltenders last year in Blackwood and Appleby. This signing projects well because in today’s NHL we have seen a rise in the importance of a back up goalie. Cam Talbot, Andrei Vasilevsky, and New Jersey’s own Corey Schneider are testaments to how good back up goalies can be.

Appleby may not be the next Vezina winner, but he adds much-needed depth to the Devil’s farm system. As stated in a previous post regarding Mackenzie Blackwood, goaltenders are like fine wine in that they need time to really get good. We don’t know in 5 years what our goaltending situation will be. Schneider may be old and past his prime, Kinkaid may not be around, or good enough to start. It is comforting to know that the Devils have 2 extremely promising goaltenders in the system with the potential to be NHL contributors.

The signing of Appleby might not seem like much, but it does have a great deal of importance. Goalies are a vital part of any team, and we all know the good ones don’t just grow on trees. It’s better to have depth than to lack it, and this signing provides just that.