New Jersey Devils | CollegeHockeyPlayers

29Sep

Kory Nagy(21) Trenton Titans

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New Jersey Devils‘ 5th round pick in the 2008 draft (#142 overall) left wing Kory Nagy(21) signed a 3-year entry level deal to start his pro career and ended up bouncing between their AHL and ECHL affiliates.

In his final season of the contract he skated the full year with Albany Devils playing in a career high 53 contests, scoring 4 goals and 4 assists but was not qualified an offer to stay with the organization.

For 2012/2013 he decided to stay in familiar territory, inking with Trenton Titans.

With the signing, the somewhat small-ish looking 5’11” 195 lbs., 22-year old forward will have the ability to be called up to any team in the higher league.

09Sep

Eric Gelinas(24) New Jersey Devils

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21-year old New Jersey Devils‘ 2nd round pick in the 2009 draft (#54 overall) defenseman Eric Gelinas(24) failed to score a rookie season recall and stuck with Albany of the AHL through 75 games, one short of a full regular season.

He arguably put up better numbers during his first pro year than he ever did in any of his time in juniors. In 2011/2012 he was tied for 3rd in the league for scoring by rookie d-men with 37 points (16 goals and 21 assists) and was first by a long margin on the A-Devils.

At 6’4″ 205 lbs. he’s still probably a good 15 pounds light of his eventual playing weight, but this is a guy that probably won’t be playing in the minors much longer.

2012/2013 will only be the 2nd year into his 3-year entry level deal he signed.

05Sep

Tony Romano(8) Vienna Capitals

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4th year center Tony Romano(8) was not qualified by New York Islanders after his three-year entry level contract expired at the conclusion of last season.

He was a local player, born on Long Island in Smithtown, NY.

For 2012/2013 he signed a tryout agreement with Vienna Capitals of the Erste Bank Hockey League (Austria).

It would be a big surprise if he failed to make the team.

In 2011/2012, his third AHL season with Bridgeport Sound Tigers the 24-year old put up career highs in just about every category scoring 12 goals and 22 assists for 34 points, finishing 5th on the team.

He was also a +3 plus/minus and connected with 117 shots on net.

Still, the 5’10” 177 lbs. is relatively small and not always as strong on the puck as he should be, so found himself in and out of the lineup at times and was even reassigned to the ECHL Chicago Express for a wake-up weekend.

It actually worked because his point production soared afterwards.

He was originally a New Jersey Devils‘ 6th round pick in the 2006 draft (#178 overall) but traded to the Isles before he ever signed.

20Aug

Tyler Eckford(7) Ottawa Senators

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5th year defenseman Tyler Eckford(7) will slide over to skate with his third team in three seasons signing a two-year, two-way deal with Ottawa Senators for the 2012/2013 season.

After spending his first three seasons with New Jersey Devils, mostly with their farm team in Albany/Lowell, he hooked up with Phoenix Coyotes on a one-year contract and skated in a career high 75 AHL games with Portland Pirates, scoring a personal best 10 goals.

He was never recalled last year, as he was for 7 games over 2 seasons with the Devils. He tallied one assist in 3 and 4 game stints.

Whether he earns an occasional spot on the Sens‘ blue line seems to lie for the upcoming season with the player, as there may be an opening for him to potentially fill. Regardless, he should help the team’s affiliate in Binghamton shore up their defense for the next couple of years.

The 6’2″ 210 lbs. almost 27-year old plays a tough, aggressive game but seems to lack a bit of the knockout punch in his play he needs to use more of.

See related posts: 8/19-11 and 4/13-10

31Jul

Matt Corrente(8) New Jersey Devils

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New Jersey Devils‘ 1st round pick in the 2005 draft (#30 overall) defenseman Matt Corrente(8) signs on for his 5th season with the organization on a one-year, two-way contract.

He has always seemed to be hampered by the injury bug throughout his pro career but keeps on getting right back in there competing as soon as he’s cleared to play.

The 6′ 200 lbs. d-man has skated in 34 NHL games and hit the stat sheet for 6 assists.

In the AHL he’s appeared in a remarkably low 153 regular season games with Lowell/Albany scoring 13 goals and 24 assists. Last year two or more incidents kept him to only about half a season worth of appearances.

If the 24-year old can shake the black cat from keeping him out of games, he has the ability to be an effective blue liner. He may not put up great offensive numbers and look a bit smaller than his stats indicate but he’s got an edge that is an integral part of his game.

29Jul

Phil DeSimone(10 ) Albany Devils

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Center Phil DeSimone(10) was originally a Washington Capitals‘ 3rd round pick in the 2007 draft (#84 overall) but never signed a deal to play with the team.

Instead he scored himself an invite to join Montreal Canadiens‘ training camp on a tryout. It went well enough for the 6’1″ 191 lbs. forward that he offered a one-year AHL contract to join their affiliate Hamilton Bulldogs for his rookie season.

He appeared in all 76 regular season games scoring 14 goals and 19 assists, good enough for fourth overall. Playing with a club that struggled in net though, he had an eye-popping ugly team high plus/minus -30.

Heading into his second year as an unrestricted agent, New Jersey Devils‘ welcomed him to skate at their 2012 prospect camp, yet strangely wasn’t listed on their roster. Impressive enough as one of the older attendees, they hooked him up with Albany, where he took another AHL contract to continue his pro career.

At the very least, he should have a much better netminding situation and might even show more strength up front for a few more points.

27Jul

Jay Leach(2) New Jersey Devils

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New Jersey Devils‘ defenseman Jay Leach(2) will be entering his 12th pro year at the start of next season. He re-signed for another 0ne-year, two-way deal that will possibly see him taking over as team captain for their AHL affiliate in Albany.

Originally a Phoenix Coyotes‘ 5th round pick in the 1998 draft (#115 overall), it wasn’t until four years of bouncing between ECHL and AHL teams that he got his first taste of NHL action with Boston Bruins. He’s appeared in 70 games with 5 different teams scoring only one goal and adding a pair of assists.

He’s never really been counted on for his scoring touch so much as his 6’4″ 215 lbs frame to keep the attackers at bay.

The almost 33-year old has what seems to be a small-ish count of 439 regular season AHL games to his credit. You’d think he’s played more but he also has a surprising 177 ECHL contests on his resume.

This could be his final season playing. We could see him going into coaching with ease, if that’s where he sees the next step in his hockey career. He barely play any last season succumbing to what seemed like a series of injuries.

26May

Adam Henrique(17) New Jersey Devils

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New Jersey Devils‘ center Adam Henrique(17) is a front-runner for the rookie of the year Calder Trophy but seeing as how it’s only based on regular season performance he still has some healthy competition for that nod.

In the postseason, he has now scored two absolutely phenomenally huge OT goals to advance his team into further rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

His most recent sending New York Rangers out onto the golf course for the summer and lifting the unlikely Devils into the Finals for the first time in 9 years, when they last won it in 2003. Last season they failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 1996.

Going into the final season of his entry level deal, his play in 2011/2012 screams multi-year extension and it’s highly doubtful he’ll be seeing an AHL arena again (like he did for a 3 game spell last October when he got off to a slow start) unless it’s on a short reconditioning stint or at the end of the 22-year old stud’s career.

Related posts: 10/24/11 and 8/27/11.

21May

Keith Kinkaid (35)

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Undrafted Albany Devils‘ rookie goaltender Keith Kinkaid(35) had himself a decent first season going 17-20-3 with a 2.94 GAA and a .904 SV%.

The 6’3″ backstop definitely shows lots of potential and will be under New Jersey‘s watch for at least another season as he signed a two-year entry level deal.

He should get the bulk of the work in net again next year with the AHL Devils and could even get himself a look for an NHL game.

He was recalled on a couple of occasions in 2011/2012 and serve as back up netminder for a 2 week stretch.

Currently he is one of the “black aces” staying at the ready in case they need him as the Devils continue their Stanley Cup run.

20Apr

Mark Fraser(29) Toronto Marlies

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6th year, 25-year old defenseman Mark Fraser(29) will definitely help Toronto Marlies in their quest for the Calder Cup.

He’s had quite the ride in the 2011/2012 season as he started the season with the team that selected him in the 3rd round of the 2005 draft (#84 overall), New Jersey Devils. In 5 years in their system, he’s skated 98 NHL games (3 goals, 5 assists) and has appeared in 233 AHL contests.

Never really considered a big point producer, he is however a big presence on the blue line at 6’3″ 220 lbs.

A trade in mid-December, saw him go to Anaheim Ducks but he didn’t appear in a game before being reassigned to Syracuse Crunch, where he played some mean, shutdown hockey and was a career high +13 plus/minus.

Only a couple of months later though, he was dished again in a minor league deal that has him playing in the AHL postseason for the first time in his pro career. He got himself an assist on the game-winning goal to boot.