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There isn't much in the way of New Jersey Devils news these days and there hasn't been for a while, so I decided today's post would some random thoughts that crossed my mind.
- Here we are in the final 1/3 of August and Adam Henrique remains unsigned. The Devils have the cap space to sign Henrique and with new ownership money won't be an issue either. Right now the holdup is likely a disagreement between Lou Lamoriello and Henrique on a) term or; b) money.
Regardless of what the holdup is, Lamoriello needs to get it figured out as soon as possible. This is a huge year for Henrique and the Devils need him badly. They can not afford to have him unsigned when camp rolls around and have him come in late with limited training camp and preseason games. That happened last season because of the lockout and it didn't work out too well.
- Jeff Frazee still hasn't been re-signed and at this point it's looking like he probably won't be. I don't mind Frazee, but over his tenure as a member of the Devils organization he never stood out or showed that he should be in the NHL. Only once did he start over 36 times in Albany and his lowest goals against average was 2.58. That was last season.
Frazee is a capable AHL goaltender, but that's about it. It looks like Scott Wedgewood will finally move up to the AHL full time and share starts with Keith Kinkaid. That's the smartest thing for the Devils to do going forward, anyways.
I'm excited to see how Wedgewood handles himself in the AHL. His ECHL numbers weren't stellar, but they were good and he played on a very poor team.
- As someone who scouts a lot of OHL games, I'm very intrigued and excited to see what Ryan Kujawinski can do this season. Last year he failed to reach expectations based on the talent he has and he was still a very good player.
He should only be better this season and with the Kingston Frontenacs having the likes of young studs Spencer Watson, Sam Bennett, etc. up front to support Kujawinski, there's reason to be optimistic.
Kujawinski will also have another potential top-10 pick in defenseman Roland McKeown feeding him smooth outlet passes to jump start breakouts all season.
If all goes well, McKeown, Watson and Bennett could all be top-15/20 picks in the 2014 NHL draft.
Suffice to say, Kujawinski is in a good opportunity to succeed with the Frontenacs. He could make big strides this season and hopefully he takes advantage of what he has to work with.
Most OHL training camps open up next Monday and OHL preseason opens up August 30th.
- One last thing: Devils prospect Steve Santini's rights are owned by the Peterborough Petes of the OHL, should he ever decommit from the NCAA. That seems unlikely, but I figured it'd be good for you all to know.
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