Sniff, sniff... I could smell the odor of gloves, the smell of ice. Its coming soon...

Its been a while since Devils fans were excited about our prospect pool and it's depth.
There is no doubt that David Conte, Lou Lamiriello and the entire scounting staff have been notorious for finding diamonds in the rough. Their work have brought the Devils pivotal pieces to the franchise such as Kirk Muller, Sean Burke, Brendan Shanahan, Patrik Elias, Scott Niedermayer, Brian Rafalski, John Madden, Zach Parise and a goalie named Martin Brodeur.
Thank you.
But of late our prospect pool was less than exciting and many ranked the Devils near the bottom of the prospect talent pool. This year is a different story, this year I am excited.
Boasting names I believe Devils fans will be very familiar with in the not so distant future.
Here is hockeysfuture.com's Top 20 Devils prospect ranking
1. Nicklas Bergfors, RW
2. Mattias Tedenby, LW
3. Matt Corrente, D
4. Petr Vrana, C
5. Nick Palmieri, RW
6. Alexander Vasyunov, LW
7. Matt Halischuk, RW
8. Brandon Burlon, D
9. Patrice Cormier, C
10. T.J. Miller, D
11. Mark Fraser, D
12. Tyler Eckford, D
13. Mike Hoeffel, LW
14. Mark Fayne, D
15. Nathan Perkovich, RW
16. Brad Snetsinger, LW
17. Vladimir Zharkov, RW
18. Anssi Salmela, D
19. Jeff Frazee, G
20. Adam Henrique C

I caught up Jared Ramsden who is the guru of Devils prospects on hockeysfuture.com.

(DA) - Jared, thank you for taking time yet again and I know you are as excited as I am.
Bergfors, hes been in the system for a while and not yet lived up to lofty expectations mainly hindered by injury. He is #1 on the Devils list. Is this the year he cracks the lineup?
Which other NHLer would you compare Bergfors to?
(JR) - I believe he is ready to crack the line-up, but the bigger question is, will there be an opening for him? In order to maximize Bergfors' talents, he needs to be playing with skilled players in an offensive role, and right now, he's appears to be blocked by Jamie Langenbrunner and Brian Gionta. However, should Bergfors have a strong training camp and pre-season like he did last year, one of Langenbrunner or Gionta could be moved down to the checking line with John Madden and Jay Pandolfo, or in Gionta's case, traded, in order to open a spot in the top 6 for Bergfors. He has been in the system for a while, but unlike most prospects, he began his pro career at the ripe age of 18, so there is no sense for the team or fans to panic about his development. The first player that comes to my mind when looking for an NHL player to compare Bergfors would be Nashville's Martin Erat, but maybe a touch better on the defensive side of things.

Matt Corrente is another guy Devils fans are excited about and for good reason. Despite a deep D corps for the Devils do you expect Corrente to make it hard for the Devils to send him down at training camp?
Would you think that another season in the minors could ultimately be beneficial for him as opposed to being a possible 7th Dman?
The Devils do have fairly deep defense corps, but it not necessarily the most talented group of blueliners out there, and with the recent departure of Vitaly Vishnevski to Russia, there could be a spot there for the taking for Corrente. Paul Martin, Johnny Oduya, Colin White and Bryce Salvador all appear to be locked into spots in the top 6 group, but after those four, it's a bit more in the open. If the last two training camps are any indication, he should push really hard for a roster spot. My best guess is that if he doesn't make the top 6, he will start his pro career in the AHL with Lowell

Petr Vrana, a veteran in the system had a strong season next year. Is there room for him in the NHL at this time as it seems another season in the minors won’t do much for his development?
Could he be used as trade bait and could there be a return for him?
Vrana finally broke through in his third AHL season, and was by far and away Lowell's best player, leading the team in scoring. He's a plug and play type of player in the Sergei Brylin mold, so unlike Bergfors, he could play in a variety of roles at the NHL. However, at this point, where he fits in with the Devils is up in the air. You are absolutely right that another season in the minors probably won't do him much good, so if he proves his worth in training camp and the pre-season, the Devils will likely try to find a spot for him, or he may opt to play in Europe, rather than spend another season in the AHL. Though he has no NHL experience at this point, he does have some value as trade bait in my opinion. Perhaps a goaltending prospect could be landed in return for him.

Halischuk is the wildcard with a great campaign for team Canada and became the highest climber in the prospect ladder for the Devils. What have you seen from him?
He could be another David Conte diamond in the rough.
Halishcuk was the biggest mover in the most recent edition of the Devils top 20 group of prospects on Hockey's Future, which was released in late August, moving all the way up to 7th spot. It's hard to believe that the Devils drafted him in the fourth round in 2007, and even more suprising that he wasn't even ranked by central scouting at the time. He had an absolutely phenominal season, and is ready for the next challenge in his career at the professional level of hockey. If any prospect were to surprise and make the Devils out of traning camp this year, Halischuk's name would have to be at the top of the list. It's more likely that he will begin his pro career in the AHL, but it wouldn't be surprising to see him get into a handful of NHL games before the 2008-09 season is out.

Mark Fraser is a guy I personally like and thought he could have made the team but, again, we are still hefty on D. Can you give us an update on him?
Fraser doesn't get talked about as much as other defense prospects in the organization, but that is only because he doesn't play a flashy style or put up big numbers. He is what he is; a physical, stay at home blueliner, who has those intangible qualites that don't always show up on the score sheet. There is a bit of a log jam of defenseman coming up in the system, but I am of the belief that Fraser does not need much more minor league seasoning, if any at all. He will probably have to start the year there, but he should be one of the first guys to be called up should injuries strike the blueline.

Brad Snetsinger, a personal favorite of mine, is in the mold the Devils covet; a power forward that does a little bit of everything. What are your expectations for him?
The Devils have had a lot of luck recently when it comes to having un-drafted prospects make an impact at the NHL level, such as David Clarkson and Rod Pelley, and the team hopes Snetsinger follows suit. He had a standout overage junior season in the OHL, and appears to have the requisite two way skills that the Devils organization covets in their forward prospects. It will be interesting to watch if the offensive success he had at the junior level will carry over to the pro game this year. He still has a future in the organization regardless, but what his role might be will depend on his offensive output over the course of his first season in the AHL. Will he be a crash and bang third liner? Or will he develop into mid-tier power forward? We will learn alot about his long term future with the team this season.

Share with us some random tid-bits on other prospects we should keep an eye out for.
The one guy I am most interested in tracking during training camp is 23 year old blueliner Anssi Salmela. He is older and more seasoned than other prospects in the system, and as a result, could make an immediate impact with the team. He's offensively talented, and his rugged, phyiscal style of play is perfectly suited to North American hockey. Russian winger Vladimir Zharkov is going to need some time to acclimatize to pro hockey, but it will be interesting to see if the offensive skill set that he wasn't able to fully utilize playing in a limited role back in Russia over the course of the last two years, will show itself now that he is in North America. Tyler Eckford's indoctrination to pro hockey begins this year, and after leading all collegiate defensemen in scoring last year, the Devils have great hopes for him and hope he can adapt to the pro game quickly .

The Devils have three collegiate prospects going into their junior seasons, and with all three, the best could still be yet to come. Right winger Nathan Perkovich flies under the radar playing at Lake Superior State University, but has done nothing but put the puck in the back of the net, leading the Lakers in goals the past two years. He still has some rough edges in his game to round out, but the offensive ability is definitely there. Blueliners T.J. Miller and Mark Fayne have endless amounts of upside, and both appear to be in line for break out seasons with their respective clubs. Miller in particular, after focusing on his defensive play most of last season, could begin to show the offensive talent that he showed while playing in the BCHL. In my opinion, he is the most well rounded defense prospect the team has in the system and has perhaps the most upside as well.

The Devils most recent draft class saw them land perhaps their best bounty of prospects they have in a long time. Top pick Mattias Tedenby, along with second rounders Burlon and Patrice Cormier represent a lot of hope for the Devils in the very near future. Cormier could explode this year on a talented Rimouski team, as long he can shake the injury bug that dogged him for most of last season. Third rounder Adam Henrique will now be given an opportunity to play a more offensive role this season in Windsor, and as a result, could have a huge offensive season, ala Matt Halischuk last year.

Thank you very much, again, Jared for stopping by.

If you dont read www.hockeysfuture.com you are missing a great site, go check out Jared and the rest of the HF crew.

Be well all,
The Devils Advocate

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