5 Players with Something to Prove During the New Jersey Devils' Development Camp

After a long offseason, a handful of New Jersey Devils are taking the ice this week.

A total of 42 players are attending the Devils' prospect development camp, which opened on Monday and closes on Saturday. A full list of players attending can be found here.

Only players who are still on their entry-level contracts or have yet to sign an entry-level contract are eligible to attend, so young players such as Stefan Matteau, Adam Larsson and Eric Gelinas, who are all now out of their entry-level deals, are not attending.

But, Damon Severson, Reid Boucher and newly drafted Pavel Zacha are some of the more notable players who are looking to make an impression on new coach John Hynes and new general manager Ray Shero this week.

With the Devils seeming to be at the start of a rebuilding process (as I argued here last week), young players will likely get chances to prove themselves this season. This week's camp gives these prospects a chance to stand out among their peers before the more experienced players join at full training camp in the coming weeks.

For certain players, that opportunity means more than others. Players like Pavel Zacha and Joseph Blandisi have a legitimate chance to make the NHL team this season, so they must impress the staff immediately to capitalize on such chances. Others, such as Reid Boucher, have been in the organization for a few years already and must soon begin their transition from prospect to NHL player.

This list will look at five different players who, for varied reasons, have something to prove during this week of development. 

Sergey Kalinin

Associated Press

Sergey Kalinin shoots past a sprawling goalie.

Numbers Last Season

Team	League	Games Played	Goals	Assists	Points	Plus/Minus	Penalty Minutes
Avangard Omsk	KHL	58	12	13	25	-3	49

Sergey Kalinin, a 24-year-old Russian forward, signed with the Devils at the end of May. 

Because he has spent his entire career, both junior and professional, in Russia, it is somewhat difficult to get a read on what New Jersey may see in him. In fact, it is unclear what is preferred position is; some media outlets call him a center, others a right wing, and some simply list him as a forward.

It seems most likely that New Jersey will look for Kalinin to play right wing, as the team is still embarrassingly thin at that position. With only two true right wings on the NHL roster at the moment (Jordin Tootoo and Kyle Palmieri), Kalinin has a genuine chance to make the NHL team if he performs well before the season begins.

In the development camp, Kalinin has a chance to show that his extra years of maturity and professional experience separate him from younger prospects whom he may be competing with for roster spots. 

Kalinin's KHL experience is impressive. His 12 goals and 25 points in 58 games last season were decent, but more impressively, he served as his team's captain at only 24 years old. 

So, he could well be capable of setting himself apart this week.

Raman Hrabarenka

Scott Audette/Getty Images

Raman Hrabarenka tries to make a defensive play in front of the net during his only game in the NHL during the 2014-15 season.

Numbers Last Season

Team	League	Games Played	Goals	Assists	Points	Plus/Minus	Penalty Minutes
Albany Devils	AHL	47	9	18	27	0	26

Raman Hrabarenka, a Belarusian defenseman who will be 23 years old by the time the 2015-16 season starts, was an undrafted free agent before appearing with the Albany Devils in 2012-13. He played a single NHL game in the 2014-15 season, which was his NHL debut.

He has more professional experience than every defenseman in camp outside of Damon Severson and Vojtech Mozik and is the only defenseman with any NHL experience besides Severson, so he may have the inside track to being the Devils' seventh defenseman this season.

It does not sound like much, but that may turn out to be an important distinction if the Devils end up trading one of their NHL-caliber young defenseman, such as Jon Merrill or Eric Gelinas. If such a player is traded, New Jersey would likely prefer to have another young defenseman fill in the gap.

At 6'3" and 212 pounds, Hrabarenka definitely has size going for him, and his offensive production was second-best among Albany defensemen last season. So, some of the necessary pieces are in place for the young Belarusian. This week offers him a chance to stand out among the prospects before the NHL-caliber players enter the fray.

Pavel Zacha

Dave Sandford/Getty Images

Pavel Zacha poses with a Devils management team after being drafted with the sixth-overall pick.

Numbers Last Season

Team	League	Games Played	Goals	Assists	Points	Plus/Minus	Penalty Minutes
Sarnia Sting	OHL	37	16	18	34	5	56

The fate of the 2015-16 season of Pavel Zacha, the 18-year-old center drafted in the first round by New Jersey this month, may well be decided in large part in this week's development camp. 

He is subject to the NHL's underage player rules, which dictate the following:

• He cannot play in the AHL this season.
• If he plays 10 games or more in the NHL this season, the first year of his contract is used up.
• If he plays 40 games or more, the season counts as a year of service, which makes the player one year closer to unrestricted free agency.
• The player can be returned to his junior team at any time, which in Zacha's case is the Sarnia Sting of the OHL.

So, the clock is already ticking on New Jersey's time to assess the Czech center before making a decision on where he will spend the 2015-16 season. 

By not re-signing Scott Gomez, Shero has opened up a space in the middle of the ice that could be filled by Zacha, if the team is impressed enough by his play. 

There is absolutely nothing wrong with Zacha not being ready for the NHL this season. After all, he is still only 18 years old. But if he is going to prove that he is ready to be a regular player for New Jersey this season, he has little time to show it, which makes the development camp an important time for him.

Joseph Blandisi

Claus Andersen/Getty Images

Joseph Blandisi carries the puck around the back of the net.

Numbers Last Season

Team	League	Games Played	Goals	Assists	Points	Plus/Minus	Penalty Minutes
Barrie Colts	OHL	68	52	60	112	18	126

Joseph Blandisi led the OHL in goals and finished fourth in points during the 2014-15 season. Those are both impressive feats, given that the OHL featured top prospects like Connor McDavid, Dylan Strome and Mitch Marner last year. 

But, those achievements come with a red flag—Blandisi was a 20-year-old playing in a league mostly composed of 17- and 18-year-olds. He won the Leo Lalonde Memorial Trophy as the league's top overage player, which is another encouraging accomplishment, but some doubts about his numbers from last year still remain.

Ryan Callahan and Chad LaRose won the award in 2005-06 and 2002-03, respectively, and have gone on to have productive NHL careers. But most of the other winners of the award went on to have brief or non-existent NHL careers. 

Can Blandisi break that mold? The development camp will give him an initial chance to prove that he can. Like Zacha, Blandisi is a center, so there are still spots on the NHL team up for grabs at his preferred position.

Given his lack of professional experience, though, the AHL may be a more likely destination for Blandisi this year. Either way, this week will be an important opportunity for one of New Jersey's most hard-to-read forwards to make an impact on the coaching staff.

Reid Boucher

Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports

Reid Boucher celebrates a goal with Scott Gomez.

Numbers Last Season

Team	League	Games Played	Goals	Assists	Points	Plus/Minus	Penalty Minutes
Albany Devils	AHL	62	15	15	30	-6	36
New Jersey Devils	NHL	11	1	0	1	-4	0

When Reid Boucher was selected in the fourth round of the 2011 draft, he did not draw much attention. His first season in the OHL (28 goals and 22 assists in 67 games with the Sarnia Sting) was unspectacular but decent for a player drafted in the fourth round. 

Boucher's second season with the Sting completely changed perceptions of him, though. He scored 62 goals, which led the OHL and broke Sarnia's single-season goal-scoring record that was previously held by Steven Stamkos. 

Boucher immediately became New Jersey's top forward prospect, as a result of both his stellar season and the Devils' pathetically thin prospect pool. In his first professional season, during which he was only 20, he seemed to be on his way to living up to that standard. He picked up 22 goals and 16 assists in 56 AHL games, in addition to two goals and seven assists in 23 NHL games. 

However, 2014-15 was nowhere near as kind to the left wing from Michigan, as is clear in his stat line above. 

So which Boucher is the real Boucher? Is it the one who scored 62 goals in the OHL in 2012-13 and 22 goals in 56 AHL games in 2013-14? Or is it the one who scored 28 goals in the OHL in 2011-12 and only 15 in the AHL last year?

He will be 22 by the time the 2015-16 regular season starts, and it is too early to claim that he will not live up to the standard he set in the OHL. But it is not too early to be concerned about legitimate signs of slowing up. The Devils, short on scoring talent for both the present and future, need Boucher to become a legitimate goal-scoring threat soon. 

With New Jersey looking prepared to undergo a rebuilding process, Boucher will get his chances during this season. Therefore, it is imperative for both the team and the individual that Boucher uses this week as the first step to becoming a top-level, NHL-caliber player.