Yesterday, we examined the forward prospects current playing for the AHL’s top team, the Utica Comets (you can find that article here). The Comets have the third-fewest goals allowed in the league. That is thanks in large part to their young defensive core and rookie goaltending duo. How exactly are the Devils’ defensive and goaltending prospects progressing?
AHL – Defensemen
Kevin Bahl
The six-foot-six defensemen is apparently being penciled in as a future top-four defenseman for New Jersey by many fans. However, not so fast. Bahl has been one of the more underwhelming prospects given his perceived status within the system this year. He has played in 32 games for Utica posting 11 points – including a recent three-point game. This is a comfortable increase in comparison to last year’s production, which is good from an offensive standpoint.
Per AHL Tracker, Bahl only has a Game Score per game (GS/G) of 0.21. This rating is 22nd of 27 Utica skaters this season. It also ranks third-worse among seven Utica defenseman. This Game Score (GS) does take into account defensive impact – as Corsi-against and goals-against are both included in the formula. In terms of the AHL as a whole, Bahl’s grading out about league-average. Not ideal for a supposed higher-tier prospect in a overall good system.
Furthermore, watching Bahl on a nightly basis paints just an okay picture. He makes the occasional nice play defensively with his long reach breaking up an opponent chances. He, to the delight of many fans, does like to use his body on occasion. However, most of the time he goes unnoticed (which is not necessarily a bad thing) or will make some questionable plays due to poor decision-making or skating issues. At the end of the day, Bahl definitely still has an avenue to the NHL. However, his ceiling appears more of a bottom-pair, penalty-killing defenseman at-most.
Nikita Okhotiuk
Okhotiuk has played 35 games for Utica this season, totaling seven points. The defensive-first former second-round pick, like Bahl, grades out poorly via the GS metric. His 0.21 rating only outdoes Jeremy Groleau in terms of Utica defenseman. And Groleau isn’t exactly a quality AHL-level player.
Okhotiuk has showed some nice signs this season. He likes to use his body and the core for a defensive-defenseman is there. However, he is still adjusting to making the correct reads and ensuring he is in the right position. Okhotiuk still has plenty of developing to do, if it goes right he may be able to be a NHL contributor one day. A bottom-pairing, defensive-first defenseman appears the most likely right now.
Michael Vukojevic
The 20-year old defenseman has played 24 games in the AHL and four in the ECHL this season. He has totaled eight points in those 24 AHL games. Vukojevic grades out slightly better than both Bahl and Okhotiuk via the GS metrics and also fits the defensive-defenseman prototype.
Even though the former third-round pick has showed some promise, it is not all that encouraging the organization relegated him to an ECHL role. Now, this has a lot to do with the logjam of left-handed defenseman, so it was most likely just a paper move to get him minutes. Nonetheless, Vukojevic has a long way to go in his development so projecting a ceiling is a tad difficult. He, like the other defenseman on this list has a path to the NHL in a lesser role if everything goes right.
Reilly Walsh
Walsh has been one of the Devils’ most impressive prospects in their system this year. The 22-year old, right-handed defenseman has six goals and 24 assists in 38 games. This total is third-best on the Comets and his assist total ranks second. Walsh’s 0.73 game score is by far the highest on Utica and ranks fifth among all AHL defensemen who have played more than 13 games.
Walsh’s offensive game is what he is built upon. He is a great skater and is extremely smart with the puck in the offensive zone. His vision, as the below portrays, is top-notch and he does a good job getting pucks through and on net. His defensive game is a work in progress, but has shown signs of improvement this season.
As it stands, it appears to be a pretty safe bet Walsh becomes a NHL defenseman. He may be somewhat limited due to his defensive ceiling. And pairing him with a defensive-minded defenseman at the next level may be ideal. Regardless, Walsh should be a valuable fringe-second pair defenseman with a knack for generating on the power play. Dare we say, what Devils’ fans thought Ty Smith was going to be.
AHL – Goaltenders
Nico Daws
Nico Daws, who did not fair so well in his last NHL start, has had a terrific season for Utica. He has appeared in 17 games and owns a 11-3-2 record. In these appearances, he has compiled a save percentage of .917 and goals against average of 2.44. The splendid save percentage is not due to the team in front of him, either. Daws faces the 25th-most shots per game when in net among AHL goaltenders (73 qualified, minimum eight games played).
As his NHL appearances show, Daws is not quite NHL-ready. He will benefit from continuing the year in the AHL where he can develop in a much more friendly environment. Overall, pinning a ceiling on goaltenders is extremely tough. Nonetheless, it has been a very encouraging first professional North American season.
Akira Schmid
Schmid has been the best overall goaltender in the AHL this season. He has yet to lose a game in regulation this season, putting together a 11-0-2 record. His 0.947 save percentage is tops in the league and his 1.58 GS/G is first in the league by a wide margin (73 qualified, minimum eight games played). The next closest is Dustin Wolf with a GS/G rating of 1.33. He should be in line to win the AHL’s Bay Bastien Memorial Award (best AHL goaltender).
Unfortunately, all this hasn’t resulted in any NHL success for Schmid so far. He ranks, per Evolving Hockey, 96th among 99 qualified NHL goaltenders with a goals saved above expected rating of -9.66. Despite the lack of NHL success, this season in the AHL has been extremely promising for the 21-year old former fifth-round pick. He certainly has potential.
What’s Next
Next up in the series will be other North American skaters and “in-between prospects.” After that, the only remaining prospects to examine are the 13 or so overseas prospects. Also, at the very end, I will be releasing my personal Devils’ top-25 prospect list.
AHL game score statistics via AHL Tracker.