Last weekend, I traveled to Buffalo, New York where I was fortunate to catch the New Jersey Devils as they participated in the inaugural Prospects Challenge tournament. Although they wound up going 0-1-1 and got outscored 10-5, there were a good amount of positives that came from the Devils group of rookie hopefuls.

The most devastating consequence from last weekend was the concussion Reid Boucher sustained against the Sabres. He didn’t play in the Devils’ final game against the Bruins and is out indefinitely. Boucher is one of the organization’s highly touted forward prospects. After all the hype surrounding the 22-year old the past few seasons and showing flashes of his playing capabilities, Boucher has been expected to attain a fulltime roster spot on this year’s team and have an opportune chance to finally establish himself as a top-six forward. The timing couldn’t have been worse with training camp and preseason games looming on the horizon, so hopes are high that Reid makes a speedy recovery.

As expected, a decent number of prospects stood out for New Jersey in good and not so good ways. While the main player everybody was eager to see was 2015 first round pick Pavel Zacha, he was overshadowed for the most part by the play of more tenured prospects. It doesn’t mean he didn’t hold his own. Over the two games played, Zacha had an assist, eight shots on goal, two penalty minutes, and was minus two, spending most of that time centering the Devil’s top line. It was his first taste of NHL-like hockey and he has no reason not to build off his performance going into training camp.

One of the more obvious players that turned a lot of heads was Joseph Blandisi. Although he was held off the score sheet against Buffalo, Blandisi had two goals in his second game against the Bruins, and consequently led the team in that category. Overall, he had two points, four shots on goal, zero penalty minutes, and was minus one. The 21-year old center is trying to build on his breakout season in the Barrie Colts, in which he had 52 goals and 112 points in 68 games. His play will definitely get him a long look by the coaching staff.

One of the Devils’ best players was 2014 first round pick John Quenneville. He’s flown under the radar since being drafted 30th overall, but definitely reminded the Devils faithful that he’s still one of the team’s more notable forward prospects. After scoring the Devils’ second goal against the Sabres, he notched two assists against Boston, becoming the only Devil besides Blandisi with a multipoint game. In addition, Quenneville had a total of five shots on goal, stayed out of the penalty box, and was minus one. He’s in a similar situation to Blandisi in regards to making the team out of training camp. If he doesn’t start the year in Jersey, Quenneville certainly made a case to jump a few notches on the organization’s forward depth chart.

Quenneville’s line mate Blake Coleman, the Devils 3rd round pick in 2011, particularly stood out. Although he didn’t score this weekend, Coleman registered an assist, had five shots on goal, and was one of the few Devils who didn’t have a minus rating (even). What I especially noticed about Coleman was his physicality. He dealt some heavy hits (having an especially crushing one on Jack Eichel), and played with a degree of tenacity that no other Devils player possessed. The 22-year old winger plays with a tremendous amount of heart, which is something a team like the Devils certainly needs more of.

One of the biggest demeanors the Devils prospects exhibited were the amount of penalties they took. They had 12 minor penalties in total (eight against the Sabres), which made them the most-penalized team in the Prospects Challenge Tournament. Vojtech Mozik had two particularly lazy careless minors against the Sabres, which was enough to warrant an exile to the press box on Sunday’s game. The Devils were also issued a game misconduct (Kujawinski), and a five-minute fighting major (Rehill), both of which occurred against the Sabres. The Devils played a more disciplined game against the Bruins, which paid off for them as they scored three times and had a better grasp on the Bruins prospect squad than they had over Buffalo.

While it would have been nice to come out of Buffalo with at least one win, the results from this past weekend were very encouraging for the Devils prospects. With training camp around the corner (and a preseason game against the Bruins), it should be interesting how the players in this prospect group mesh with the Devils veterans and how difficult they make it for the coaching staff to compose the Devil’s opening night roster.