Each Day until September 15th TPS will take a look at one team from the East and one team from the West and spotlight a few rookies to watch for this season. This afternoon's Eastern team in the spotlight is the New Jersey Devils.
Two names come to mind when I consider projecting a rookie for the Devils this year. Obviously Swedish defenceman Adam Larsson is one that is expected to be a mainstay with the club this coming season. There is no reason to think that the 4th overall selection can't have immediate success despite his young age as he's played two years in the SEL and logged a ton of ice time doing it. I'm not expecting hge offensive numbers, that will come in due time, but with his skating and size there's no reason to believe that he can't be a valuable player in all aspects of the game.
The other guy that I think could expand on the 25-goal, 50 points AHL debut he had last year is Adam Henrique. The Devils traditionally show an extreme amount of patience grooming their youth on the farm so it's highly feasible that the 2008 3rd rounder doesn't even have a cup of coffee in the NHL this year. However, he finished 2nd in team scoring in Albany as a 20-year-old rookie so don't count him out.
After 3 seasons in the AHL without even a single game recall to the NHL, maybe 2011-12 will provide goalie Jeff Frazee with his first big league game. Sooner or later he has to get a look doesn't he? It certainly hasn't been "sooner".
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