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Devils News Roundup

I wanted to get to some news that has come along that I did not want to roll into the post for tonight’s game recap against the Los Angeles Kings.

First, the big piece of news. Forward prospect Alexander Holtz was recalled from AHL Utica yesterday and will most likely play in tonight’s game against the Kings. He joined the team in California yesterday and practiced with the team in Anaheim before they moved on to LA.

Congrats to him as he makes his highly anticipated NHL debut!

Two players the Devils will be missing will be defenseman Dougie Hamilton, who coach Lindy Ruff said is day-to-day with a lower body injury and goalie Scott Wedgewood, who was claimed off of waivers yesterday by the Arizona Coyotes.

For Hamilton, he is not expected to play tonight versus the Kings as per Ruff. In Wedgewood’s case, this is his second go around with the Coyotes.

He was traded to Arizona from the Devils on October 28, 2017. He previously appeared in 20 games for the Coyotes before signing as a free agent with the Buffalo Sabres in 2018. He signed with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2019 and then with the Devils in October of 2020. (All of this information comes from his player profile on HockeyReference.com.)

In other news, the Devils’ PR announced today that there were some “promotions and new hires affecting scouting, athlete care, analytics and team operations.”

First, Scott Litwack has been promoted to Director, Hockey Operations/Assistant General Manager of the Utica Comets. He will now work with Devils’ “Assistant General Manager Dan MacKinnon to manage the hockey operations for the Utica Comets American Hockey League team.” He had previously managed “the team’s cap and transactions.”

Nick Blackman will now take on the role of Senior Manager, Team Operations/Hockey Communications. He will now “serve as a day-to-day contact for the players, coaches, management and locker room staff to coordinate availability, scheduling and events for the Hockey Operations Department.”

Caela McLoughlin was promoted to Manager, Player, Family & Alumni Initiatives. She will help “contribute to family onboarding, player community endeavors, alumni programming and PR efforts.”

Craig Lewis is new to the organization and will serve as Software Developer. He “will work on projects and programming within the Analytics Departmart.”

Al Santilli joins the organization from the Pittsburgh Penguins (winning two Stanley Cups while in Pittsburgh) as Head of Free Agent Scouting/Recruitment. He worked ten years with the Pens, where he served in the scouting department as an Amateur, Pro and Global Crossover Scout.

Former Devil Sergei Nemchinov rejoins the organization as a European Scout. He won the Cup with the Devils in 2000 as a player. He also played for the New York Rangers, Vancouver Canucks and the New York Islanders over 11 NHL seasons.

Anders Nilsson joins as a European Goalie Scout. Nilsson played seven NHL seasons with the Islanders, Edmonton Oilers, St. Louis Blues, Buffalo Sabres, Canucks and the Ottawa Senators. Over his career, according to the press release, he was 59-74-15 and had a 3.06 goals against average and a .907 save percentage over 161 games in the NHL.

Michael Sdao joins the organization as an Amateur Scout. He previously worked as an Assistant Coach for the Lincoln Stars of the United States Hockey League.

Ian Greenwald was promoted to Video Coach while Lucas Hurtt was named as the new Video Coordinator. Both men joined the staff last season according to the press release and Greenwald had been with the Binghamton Devils of the AHL previously as the video coach. Hurtt was in his first season in season in pro hockey last year according to the press release.

JT Podell will now be the Head Athletic Trainer after previously serving as an Assistant Athletic Trainer.

Mike Coyne will join the organization as a Physical Therapist/Assistant Athletic Trainer.

And that is your Devils news roundup for today, Friday, November 5, 2021.

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Clarke, Mercer Invited to Team Canada Selection Camp

Today Amanda Stein, on the “Inside the Devils Blog,” reported that two Devils forward prospects have been named to Canada’s World Junior Selection Camp.

Graeme Clarke, taken in the third-round, 80th overall in the 2019 NHL Draft and Dawson Mercer, taken 18th overall in the first-round in this year’s Draft, will attend the National Junior Selection Camp in Red Deer, Alberta. The camp, Stein reports, runs from November 16 to December 13, 2020.

Clarke and Dawson were two of 42 players selected for the camp.

Stein mentions that Clarke’s season with the Ottawa 67’s of the Ontario Hockey League has yet to get off the ground due to COVID-19. The OHL has not started their season due to the pandemic.

Mercer, on the other hand, plays for the Chicoutimi Sagueneens of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The QMJHL’s season has started and Mercer, in four games has four goals and two assists. With those six points, he is currently second in scoring on the Sags right now, enjoying a point-per-game pace.

One other thing to note is that Stein mentioned that 67’s coach Andre Tourigny is also the coach of the Team Canada, the defending champs at the World Juniors. Canada struck gold last year and will hope to do the same this year on home ice when the tournament begins on Christmas Day in Edmonton, Alberta.

In other Devils-related news, the “Devils Army Blog” noted on Twitter that prospect Yegor Sharangovich, loaned to Dinamo Minsk of the KHL, has 10 goals over the last 19 games with Minsk. This includes two goals against Dinamo Riga last week as Minsk beat Riga 3-0. Hopefully the former fifth-round pick can keep this pace up when he returns to North America in the coming months.

In coaching/scouting news, Devils Insiders report on Twitter that, “according to the team website, Peter Horachek has been re-assigned from AC to his prior role as a Pro Scout.” Horachek served last season as an assistant under Alain Nasreddine but will return to his role in the scouting department. It is good to see that the Devils did not fully cut ties with him.

Devils Insiders also note that Brian Strait will serve as a Pro Scout too. They said that “he did some scouting work for” the Devils last year while out with injuries playing for the Binghamton Devils of the AHL. It is possible that Strait quietly retired and will now work full-time as a scout for the organization. Otherwise, he is still out with injuries and will continue to serve in this role until he plays for Binghamton again.