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I, like many of you, am really excited about Nolan Foote’s future with the New Jersey Devils.
The 19-year-old winger has a booming shot (there’s a reason he’s netted 51 goals over his last 93 WHL games), underrated playmaking abilities, and he hits like a truck.
Beyond the impressive toolkit, and solid production, Foote’s on-ice impact is encouragingly strong.
Kelowna’s share of the even-strength goals with Foote on the ice has been at least 10% higher than without in consecutive seasons. That’s a good indicator he’s been the one driving the bus.
Foote will be turning pro for the 2020-21 season. Under normal circumstances, I think he’d have a *decent* shot of forcing his way onto the Devils’ roster.
I’m not expecting him to do that, though, because these aren’t normal circumstances. Far from it.
Foote suffered a fairly significant lower-body injury early this year. As a byproduct of that, and the CHL season being shut down due to COVID-19, he has appeared in just two games since January 5th. Two.
Let’s say the 2020-21 season does start on time and camps open in mid-to-late September. I don’t know if that’s realistic or not but let’s roll with it. Foote would enter training camp having played two hockey games in the span of ~9.5 months.
That is far from ideal, especially considering his off-season training regime will probably be altered due to the virus.
Simply put, the loss of 40+ hockey games (including playoffs), and potential training restrictions, will almost certainly put him behind the 8-ball with regards to where he could or should be in his development.
While I remain quite optimistic about Foote as a prospect, I think it is important to temper expectations for him next season. At least as far as what, if anything, he can contribute to the big club.
numbers via pick224.com
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