On Monday, the New Jersey Devils announced the roster that will participate in the team’s yearly developmental camp. The camp spans from July 10 through 14. Though, not the most well-known names, there is still intrigue.

Of the 18 forward, 11 defensemen, and four goalie roster, the below are the names to keep close eyes on:

• Josh Filmon, F
• Xavier Parent, F
• Seamus Casey, D
• Topias Vilén, D
• Santeri Hatakka, D
• Jakob Málek, G

With that in mind, let’s take a look at the roster.

Former Draft Picks

Developmental camp is usually about seeing the team’s most recent draft picks in action for the first time. Without a first-round selection, there is less intrigue, but still several former draft picks in the fold.

2023 Draft

of this year’s class, four of the five draftees are set to participate. The only not in Newark, may have been the most intriguing selection: Belarusian defenseman Daniil Karpovich.

Forwards Lenni Hameenaho (second round), Cam Squires (fourth round), and Cole Brown (sixth round), as well as defenseman Chase Cheslock (fifth round), are all in attendance. To read an in-depth breakdown on each, please refer to this article.

Former Draftees

Forwards

Of the former draftees who play forward in attendance, the list is headlined by 2023 sixth-round pick Josh Filmon. Filmon totaled 75 points in only 64 games with the Swift Current Broncos last season. His extremely impressive 47 goals was fifth in the WHL, better than the likes of Matt Savoie and Jagger Firkus, first and second-round picks in the same class.

Other former draftees that play the forward position present at camp are Chase Stillman (‘21 first round), Samu Salminen (‘21 third round), Jarmor Pytlik (‘20 fourth round), Artem Shliane (‘20 fifth round), and Petr Hauser (‘22 fifth round).

Stillman is not slated to participate as he is working his way back from offseason surgery. Last season, he had another disappointing year from an output perspective with 48 points in 59 OHL games.

Salminen and Shliane both played in college last year. Salminen had 17 points in 27 games with the University of Connecticut. Meanwhile, Schlaine, who transferred from Connecticut, landed at Northern Michigan posting a respectable 32 points in 38 games. He only had 26 points in 59 games his first two collegiate season with Connecticut.

Both Pytlik and Hauser played in Czechia last year. Pytlik had his development derailed by COVID-19, and only three points in 33 Czechia games last season. He is set to play in the top professional hockey league in the country once again this season. Hasuer split time across three levels: under-20, minors, and the top professional league (Czechia). He had 22 points in 14 under-20 games and 19 points across 35 Czechia2 games.

Defensemen

Of the former draftee defenseman the biggest name to showcase his talents is Seamus Casey. Casey, a 2022 second-round pick, impressed offensively at the University of Michigan last year, totaling 29 points in 37 games.

Ethan Edwards is also at the camp. However, will not be participating. He was Casey’s teammate, as well as Luke Hughes’, at Michigan.

The remaining three defensive draftees consist of Charlie Leddy (‘22 fourth round), Topias Vilén (‘21 fifth round), and Viktor Hurtig (‘21 sixth round). Both Leddy (Boston College) and Hurtig (Michigan State) played at the college level last year, and will do so again this season.

Meanwhile, Vilén, a very intriguing name on this list, played all last year in the Liiga (top professional league in Finland) and projects to play for Utica (AHL) this season.

It’s A Family Affair

If you’re wondering if several of the prospects in attendance who share last names with former and current coaches and staff of the New Jersey Devils are related to those folks, you’d be correct. The Devils have three of such on the roster.

Cam Recchi, son of former assistant Mark, and Will Dineen, son of current Comets’ (AHL) coach Kevin, both play forward and were in the NCAA last year.

Cam has spent two seasons with the Tommies of the University of St. Thomas posting 25 points across 70 games played. Meanwhile, Will has played the last two seasons for Yale University totaling 18 points across 49 games.

Brendan Fitzgerald, son of Devils’ general manager Tom, plays defense. The 20-year-old is slated to attend the University of New Hampshire and has spent the last two seasons in the USHL.

All three went undrafted their respective draft years.

Current Comets

Like some of the players analyzed, a few are projected to play the season with the Utica Comets of the AHL. This list consists of forwards Timur Ibragimov, Xavier Parent, Filip Engaras, and Erik Middendorf, as well as defenseman Santeri Hatakka.

Forwards

Ibragimov was acquired in the Timo Meier trade last season. The 22-year-old had six points in 15 AHL games after the trade. He also played in 53 ECHL contests where he totaled 32 points. Like Ibragimov, Engaras got some time with the Comets last season. The 24-year-old former sixth-round pick played in 26 games and notched three goals.

Parent was a dominate force in the ECHL last year, and the QMJHL the season before that. He notched 106 points in 65 QMJHL games in 2021-22. The undrafted winger landed with the Devils’ organization and posted a point-per-game pace in the ECHL last year.

Middendorf tallied 36 points over his 73 game career with Michigan State University. He then played in the ECHL toward the end of last season.

Defense

Hatakka is a former sixth-round pick back in 2019. He actually has nine games of NHL experience with the San Jose Sharks. However, the majority of his professional career has been spent in the AHL where he has played 49 games. He was another piece of the Timo Meier trade.

Goaltenders

The Devils will carry four netminder with them at the camp. These consist of Tyler Brennan, Isaac Poulter, Cole Brady, and Jakob Málek.

Brennan (‘22 fourth round), Málek (‘22 fourth round), and Brady (‘19 fifth round) are all former draftees by the Devils. Brennan spent the past two seasons in the WHL, posting save percentages of .899 and .898, respectively. Brady played with the University of Massachusetts Amherst last year, posting a .907 save percentage. Prior to that, he played for Arizona State. Lastly, Málek played 22 games in the Liiga (top Finland league), posting a .903 mark.

Poulter, undrafted, split the season between the ECHL and AHL last year. He had a .883 save percentage in 13 games with Utica and a .910 mark in 22 games in the ECHL.

The Rest

Of the rest, Luke Grainger, Ondrej Psenicka, and Owen Fowler are forwards. Additionally, Tim Rego Spencer Cox, and Luke Rowe are defensemen. All of which are undrafted.

Grainger had very nice output at Western Michigan (NCAA) last season, posting 32 points in 38 games. Defenseman Spencer Cox also had a nice scoring seasons for Long Island, 33 points in 68 total games, before transferring to Miami (OH). Lastly, Rowe captained the Air Force Academy the past two seasons, totaling a solid 24 points in 33 games this past year.

The remaining all also played college hockey last season. Psenicka and Rego at Cornell and Fowler at UMass Lowell.