Devils AHL prospects update

After a promising 2006-07 season that saw the Lowell Devils finish eight games over .500 and just miss the playoffs the last week of the regular season, things appeared to be on a bit of an upswing. However, nearing the mid-point of the 2007-08 season, Lowell currently reside at the bottom of the AHL’s Atlantic Division

Read full article... (http://www.hockeysfuture.com/article.php?sid=10102)





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awesome. thanks

Good read, wish it held more good news though.

At least it sheds some positive light on the Bergfors situation, and Vrana is obviously doing well.

good read, but the only thing that sounded a bit like wishful thinking is saying Jordan Parise is "at worst" an NHL back-up. Parise is probably at best an NHL back-up at this point. Also as an aside Khomutov did not really play much at all last year in Russia. He signed with HK MVD and did not play a single game in the RSL and as far as i can tell only played 2 games for the 2nd tier club where he was held pointless before leaving. Its very mysterious as to what Ivan actually did before arriving at the end of the year in Trenton.

Our farm/prospect system is soooo depleted. Half of these guys sound like they'll never make the NHL, and if they do, aren't much to write home about...

I hope I am wrong.

Our farm/prospect system is soooo depleted. Half of these guys sound like they'll never make the NHL, and if they do, aren't much to write home about...

I hope I am wrong.

David Clarkson, Rod Pelley, Andy Greene, and Mike Mottau would disagree with you.

But seriously, not all prospects can be Zach Parise.

Think about it, though. The Devils are a young team. Parise, Zajac, Clarkson, Pelley, Gionta, Greene, Martin, Brookbank....they're all young or relatively young with Fraser, Corrente, Bergfors and Vrana on their way to making the roster within a year (maybe two for Corrente). That's 12 skaters ranging from decent to great off the top of my head age 28 or under (Gio turns 29 in January). There's definitely time to reload.

Vrana had another 3 point night last night, and he's now scoring at a point per game clip with 33 points in 33 games. He's in the top 20 in AHL scoring. I've got no problem keeping him down on the farm for the remainder of the season, barring an injury to one of the forwards in New Jersey. His confidence is obviously growing and he should be in line to contend for a job next year.

Vrana had another 3 point night last night, and he's now scoring at a point per game clip with 33 points in 33 games. He's in the top 20 in AHL scoring. I've got no problem keeping him down on the farm for the remainder of the season, barring an injury to one of the forwards in New Jersey. His confidence is obviously growing and he should be in line to contend for a job next year.

Who would have thought that it would be Vrana breaking out this season? This is a great development, and his solid 2-way play makes him sound like a prototypical devil.

Nice overview! THANKS!

I don't agree that Parise's concussion is a minor injury and I think he's still not fully recovered from it. If they want him to develop, they need to keep the opponents from running him. I'm glad they win for Doyle once in awhile.

Fraser has been paired with Zimmerman most of the season in the #1 or #2 spot -- interesting that their +/- ratings are so different (-1 and -6). Magnan's been learning penalty kill this season, he's out there almost the full 2 minutes paired with Matvichuk. No rushing defensemen amongst the prospects, and they're using 5 forwards on the power play so the D-men aren't learning that craft this season.

Although Mondou's not on your radar and at 5'9 he's overlooked a lot, he's doing pretty well on the third line with Davis.

Other than that, somebody should remind Lamoriello that having the worst record in the minor leagues won't earn the franchise a better draft pick, and even the best prospect needs an occasional break from learning to deal with adversity.

David Clarkson, Rod Pelley, Andy Greene, and Mike Mottau would disagree with you.

But seriously, not all prospects can be Zach Parise.

those guys are no longer in the farm system so his comment is valid. also i wouldnt really say any of the above mentioned guys is anything more than serviceable player. mottau as a 29 year first NHLer should not even be mentioned he wasnt really developed by our system. Pelley has been good but every team has a Rod pelley. greene has come down to earth this year and ranks somewhere between 5-8 on out defensive depth chart. clarkson is the only one that really stands out but again not exactly what the organization will hang its hat on.

i dont think its a coincidence that this website has ranked our prospect pool so low and our AHL team has teattered between suck and mediocrity for the better part of this decade.

The farm team has consistantly produced good depth players. But Lowell/Albany hasn't produced a top-line forward since... Brian Gionta? Parise doesn't count, he would never have been in Albany if not for the lockout.

I think Kurt Kleinendorst is a dope.