The New Jersey Devils’ farm system is certainly not what it once was. That is expected given how many graduations the team has seen from their once loaded system. Despite this, the group still features some intriguing names. How are some of the individuals that currently make up the much-changed Devils system fairing so far this season?
The Top Tier
Despite all the aforementioned graduations, the Devils still have several strong prospects at the top of their system. None are more intriguing than 23-year-old Arseni Gritsyuk. Gritsyuk, a former fifth-round pick in 2019, has been excelling in the top professional league in Russia (KHL) for several years now. So far, this season, Gritsyuk has 23 points in 29 games, the most on a SK St. Petersburg team that is always one of the best in the league. He is on pace for 53 points, which would shatter his previous career-best of 40 in the 2022-23 season.
Other notable prospects near the top of the Devils’ system is 2024 first-round pick Anton Silayev. The 18-year-old, also playing in the KHL, has skated in 26 games this season for Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod. Silayev has seven assists and is a plus-seven rating on the year. He is playing 17:19 of ice time per game. Across those minutes, he is shooting at a high volume (43 shots), throwing a decent amount of hits (40 hits), and blocking a ton of shots (43 blocks). All large improvements over his 63-game run in the KHL last year as a 17-year-old.
Devils fans got a preview of 20-year-old Seamus Casey in eight NHL games to begin the season, when he scored three impressive goals and totaled four points. A deeper dive into Casey’s possession metrics (39.05 Corsi-for percentage, 37.87 expected-goals for percentage) shows he certainly needed more polishing. As a result of such, and a logjam on defense, Casey has spent the last 11 games with Utica of the AHL. Across these games, he has posted 13 points (one goal, 12 assists) which leads the team despite playing four games less than most everyone else. Specifically, his game score per game (GS/G), according to AHL Tracker, ranks second among 263 AHL defensemen to play at least three games or more. This is no surprise given the 20-year-old Casey is on pace for an 80-point season as a defenseman in only 68 games.
Last of the big four top prospects in the Devils’ system is 2023 second-round pick Lenni Hämeenaho. Hämeenaho, only 20 years old, has been lighting up the Liiga (top professional league in Finland) this season with 21 points in 23 games (18th-most points in the league). This is an improvement on a solid 2023-24 season when he had 31 points in 46 games. Hämeenaho has flashed his goal-scoring potential on several occasions. Specifically, scoring at a 23-goal pace over his Liiga career beginning as a 16-year-old is impressive.
Canadien Junior League Prospects
The Devils have a plethora of prospects playing their junior hockey in Canada. Of the group, 2024 sixth-round pick Matyas Melovsky has been the biggest surprise so far. Melovsky, 20 years old, is already in his third season in the QMJHL and is on pace for a career-high 92 points. Through 18 games, he has seven goals and 20 assists. Did the Devils find another sixth-round gem?
Elsewhere, Max Graham (2024 fifth round), Cole Brown (2023 sixth round), and Cam Squires (2023 fourth round) are also playing their junior hockey in Canada. Unfortunately, Squires, who impressed in 2023-24 totaling 72 points in 66 games with Cape Brenton of the QMJHL, has taken a step back thus far this year with 16 points in 19 games. Meanwhile, power forward, Max Graham, who was named captain of Kelowna of the WHL this season, is on pace for by far his most productive season in the CHL, with 18 points in 17 games. Lastly, Cole Brown is on pace for a career-year in the OHL as well, but only scoring at a 51-point pace over 68 games.
Lastly, Kasper Pikkarainen (2024 third-round pick) was slated to join the Red Deer Rebels of the WHL, but has been limited to only one game due to a lower-body injury. He scored 28 points in 34 under-20 games apart of a Finnish junior league system last year. Pikkarainen, if healthy, projected to factor into the Team Finland lineup at the World Junior Championships this year.
The Utica Comets
It has been an awful start to the season for the Comets as they sit at 2-10-1-2 after already firing their head coach. The team does still feature some prospects, though, outside of Casey, most do not rate too highly in the system.
Brian Halonen, 25 years old, is second to only Casey in scoring, with nine points in 15 games. Halonen, who was signed as an undrafted free agent from Michigan Tech, potted 20 goals in 35 games for the Comets last season. Nolan Foote and Adam Beckman rank third and fourth in scoring tied at nine points each. Foote has played 12 games and Beckman only 10. Foote, now 23 years old, is currently up with the big club. Meanwhile, Beckman (23 years old), was acquired for Graeme Clarke in the offseason, and is on pace to improve on his best AHL season, which was 36 points in 2022-23.
Elsewhere, former first-round pick, Chase Stillman, has struggled mightily, posting only two points in 14 games. Stillman’s GS/G, according to AHL Tracker, ranks 12th among 18 Comets forwards to appear in a game this season. He is coming off 24 points in 54 games his first full AHL season in 2023-24. Additionally, 2022 sixth-round pick, Josh Filmon, has gotten off to a very slow start. He is scoreless in eight AHL games, but does have four points (three goals) in seven ECHL games with Adirondack. Filmon is coming off an excellent 2023-24 season in the WHL, scoring 67 points in 64 games. Undrafted free agent forward, Dylan Wendt, has also split time between the AHL and ECHL, as he has two points in five AHL games and three points in five ECHL games. He scored 44 points in 38 games in his final year in college at Western Michigan University.
Defensively, it has been a huge struggle for 2019 third-round pick Daniil Misyul. The 24-year-old ranks last on the Comets with a -0.17 game score per game. This figure ranks last among 263 AHL defensemen to play at least three games this year. Topias Vilén, who has played nine games, is fifth among 10 Utica defensemen in GS/G. Mikaël Diotte, who won several awards his final season in the QMJHL in 2023-24, has played five games in the AHL this season and two in the ECHL. His GS/G ranks seventh among 10 defensemen to play for the Comets this year.
In net, Nico Daws and Isaac Poulter have been splitting time. Daws has an .886 save percentage across 11 games and Poulter an .861 save percentage across six games. Daws is coming off a poor 2023-24, where he battled injury, while Poulter was so good in 2023-24 (.911 save percentage in the AHL, .917 save percentage in the ECHL) he earned a contract with the organization.
Other Notables
Elsewhere, Mikhail Yegorov, who the Devils drafted in the second round in 2024, has a .905 save percentage in 10 USHL games for the Omaha Lancers. Omaha is currently the second-worst team in the league. Yegorov, who was rated by some as the draft’s best goaltender, is scheduled to play at Boston University of the NCAA in 2025-26.
Another goaltender, Jakub Málek (2021 fourth-round pick), who has flew up the Devils’ system rankings over the last couple seasons, has a .903 save percentage in 14 games in the Liiga. So far, a regression from his .915 save percentage he had last season. Lastly, among the notable goaltenders in the system, 2022 fourth-round pick, Tyler Brennan, has a .897 save percentage across six ECHL games.
Forward Herman Träff, the Devils’ third-round pick in 2024, has six points in 14 SHL (top professional league in Sweden) games. He should at least be on the roster for Team Sweden at the World Junior Championships this year. It remains to be seen if he will actually get any playing time.
Lastly, a group of NCAA prospects, Ethan Edwards, Samu Salminen, Chase Cheslock, and Charlie Leddy continue their respective developments. Defenseman Edwards (2020 fourth-round pick), now 22 years old, has four points in 12 games for Michigan. Forward Salminen (2021 third-round pick) has nine points in 14 games for the University of Denver. He had 17 in 35 games for the University of Connecticut last season.
Defenseman Cheslock (2023 fifth-round pick) and his 6-foot-3 frame has played 13 games for the University of St. Thomas. He played 19 games for St. Thomas last year. Defenseman Leddy (2022 fourth-round pick) has played in 12 games for Quinnipiac this season after spending the last two at Boston College.
Note, be on the look out for our updated top-25 prospect ranking list in the next month or so. Our last installment came last year during the middle of the 2023-24 season. That can be found here.