Young prospects offer promise for Devils

After the New Jersey Devils nabbed Nico Hischier with the first overall pick at the 2017 National Hockey League draft, the club added two handfuls of players on day two.

The first prospect the Devils drafted after Hischier was 18-year-old, left-shooting center Jesper Boqvist, taken 36th overall. The Hedemora, Sweden, native collected six assists in 16 games with Brynas (Swedish Hockey League) this past season and one goal in 10 postseason matches to help the club reach the final. He also tallied 12 points (3-9-12) in 19 games with Timra in Sweden’s second tier league, and he totaled 15 points (10-5-15) in 15 matches with Brynas’ junior club.

Boqvist, 5-11, 165 pounds, stated that his strengths are his skating and puck skills, and that he sees the ice well. His idol is Washington Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom since “his passing game helps make his linemates better.” His focus this offseason is to “gain some weight and become stronger and tougher.”

The Devils plucked a pair of players in the third round, starting with 5-11, 195-pound, right-shooting forward Fabian Zetterlund, who plays both left and right wing. The 63rd overall pick, Zetterlund skated in 14 contests without registering a point with Farjestad (SHL) in 2016-17. However, the Karlstad, Sweden, native tallied 36 points (16-20-36) in 40 matches with Farjestad’s junior team.

With Team Sweden at the 2017 IIHF Under-18 World Championship, the 17-year-old recorded five points (3-2-5) in seven games.

New Jersey’s other third-round selection was 18-year-old, right-shooting defenseman Reilly Walsh, chosen 81st overall. A native of Andover, N.H., Walsh, 5-11, 184 pounds, was an alternate captain with Proctor Academy this past season, totaling 69 points (30-39-69) in 30 matches. He also skated for the Clark Cup-winning Chicago Steel of the United States Hockey League, recording 10 points (2-8-10) in 24 games.

Walsh, who models his game after offensive blueliners such as Ottawa Senators’ Erik Karlsson, Nashville Predators’ Roman Josi and Chicago Blackhawks’ Duncan Keith, noted that hockey’s new premium on puck-moving D-men is an advantage for him.

“The way I play is different than most defensemen,” he said. “The way the league is going, and the way defensemen are changing, I fit right into that.”

Walsh’s dad, Mike, appeared in 14 NHL games with the New York Islanders and has been a major influence for him.

“My dad’s everything to me,” Reilly asserted. “From the moment I started playing at a young age, he was right there doing skill stuff and skating with me one-on-one. Then when my brother started, it was pretty much the three of us on the ice. I definitely wouldn’t be anywhere without him.”

Even though Mike skated only for a short time in “The Show,” he still motivates Reilly. “It wasn’t long, but he still made it,” the younger Walsh said. “It put into perspective that anything is possible. It definitely opened my eyes right away.”

Walsh, who’s committed to join Harvard University this fall, already is familiar with one Devil: left wing Miles Wood.

“I don’t know him personally, but I played against Wood when he was at (Noble and Greenough) for two years,” Walsh said. “He was on the world junior team when we played them one year. He didn’t dress against us though. But when he played prep, he was definitely scary.”

Seventeen picks later, the Devils dipped into the Western Hockey League and drafted 18-year-old, right-shooting left wing Nikita Popugaev.

A Moscow, Russia, native, Popugaev, 6-5, 219 pounds, opened this past season with the Moose Jaw Warriors, for whom he totaled 51 points (22-29-51) in 40 games, before he concluded the season with the Prince George Cougars. With Prince George, though, his production nosedived, as he recorded only 18 points (7-11-18) in 31 games.

The prior campaign, Popugaev’s first in North America, he totaled 47 points (16-31-47) in 70 matches with Moose Jaw, ranking second on the club in rookie scoring, and added four points (2-2-4) in six playoff games. Popugaev’s self-described scouting report: “I’m a strong, physical, skill guy and I have a good shot.”

New Jersey nabbed its only goaltender in this year’s draft with its next pick, the 129th overall, when it selected 21-year-old, Buelach, Switzerland, native Gilles Senn, a right-catching netminder.

Senn, 6-5, 191 pounds, played in 34 games with HC Davos in Switzerland’s top circuit this past season, finishing with a 2.64 goals-against average and .910 save percentage.

Later in the fifth round, the Devils drafted 6-0, 164-pound, left-shooting right wing Marian Studenic, 18, with the 143rd overall selection.

Studenic, who hails from Holic, Slovakia, competed for the Ontario Hockey League’s Hamilton Bulldogs in 2016-17, his first season in North America, and totaled 30 points (18-12-30) in 58 matches. He added four points (2-2-4) in seven playoff contests. He also played five games for his country at the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship but was held pointless.

Studenic lists Penguins captain Sidney Crosby as his hockey idol.

The Devils used the 160th overall pick on 5-10, 198-pound center Aarne Talvitie, a native of Espoo, Finland.

This past season, the left-shooting 18-year-old tallied 37 points (13-24-37) in 46 matches with Blues Jr. in the Finnish junior circuit. He shined at the 2017 IIHF Under-18 World Championship with Team Finland, where he notched seven points (4-3-7) in seven contests.

New Jersey traded its 185th overall selection to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for the 205th and 214th overall picks. When on the clock again at No. 191, the Devils selected one of Hischier’s teammates on the Halifax Mooseheads (Quebec Major Junior Hockey League), 6-0, 198-pound, leftshooting blueliner Jocktan Chainey.

A native of Asbestos, Quebec, Chainey totaled 24 points (4-20-24) in 55 games with the Mooseheads this past season, his second junior campaign. In his rookie year, Chainey, who turns 18 on Sept. 8, recorded seven points (1-6-7) in 14 matches with the Shawinigan Cataractes and 11 points (4-7-11) in 32 contests with Halifax.

With Team Canada at the 2017 IIHF Under-18 World Championship, he picked up four helpers in five matches.

The Devils concluded the draft by adding a pair of 19-year-old defensemen.

With the 205th overall pick, the Devils selected 6-0, 180-pound Yegor Zaitsev. A left-shooting Moscow native, Zaitsev totaled six points (2-4-6) in 24 games with Balashikha in Russia’s second-tier league this past season. He also notched one assist in 19 games with Dynamo Moscow in 2016-17, his first campaign in the Kontinental Hockey League.

Nearly a full draft after choosing Hischier, the Devils made their final selection with the 214th overall pick, which the club used to take Matthew Hellickson, a leftshooting native of Rogers, Minn. Hellickson, 6-0, 184 pounds, tallied 28 points (6-22-28) in 52 games with the Sioux City Musketeers (USHL) this past season. He added one goal in 13 postseason contests. He’s committed to play for the University of Notre Dame this fall.

Devils Notes

The Vegas Golden Knights selected defenseman Jon Merrill from the Devils in the expansion draft. …

On June 17, New Jersey acquired 22-year-old, left-shooting defenseman Mirco Mueller from San Jose and the Sharks’ fifth-round selection (143rd overall) in the 2017 NHL draft in exchange for a Devils’ second-round pick (49th overall, previously acquired from Boston) and a fourth-round selection (123rd overall, previously acquired from Nashville) in the 2017 NHL draft.…

Mueller, 6-3, 210, was drafted 18th overall in 2013 by San Jose and has spent his entire career in the Sharks organization, totaling six points (2-4-6) in 54 NHL games. A native of Winterthur, Switzerland, Mueller has totaled 34 points (4-30-34) in 124 AHL games with the Worcester Sharks and San Jose Barracuda, and five assists in 19 Calder Cup playoff matches with the Barracuda.