Devils’ young players could be call-ups
NEWARK >> On a night in which they lost to the National Hockey League’s worst team, it’s fair to say that not a whole lot went right for the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night at the Prudential Center.
Certainly not overshadowed in their 5-3 defeat at the hands of the lowly Buffalo Sabres, however, was a strong debut from 21-year-old forward Tyce Thompson.
Signed to an entry-level deal after his junior season at Providence College came to a close, Thompson made the jump straight to the game’s highest level and didn’t look out of place at all; a graphic on the MSG broadcast revealed that he became the first NHL player in 35 years to record his first career point in 69 seconds or less after he tallied a primary assist in his just second-ever shift on Damon Severson’s goal.
All in all, he tallied two shots on goal and had a +1 rating in 9:44 worth of ice time in his first game in the league, which came against his brother Tage, who also recorded an assist for the Sabres on Tuesday.
“It was definitely special,” Tyce Thompson told reporters via Zoom after the game. “It was crazy with emotions; excitement, nerves. But, I thought the guys in the room did a good job of keeping me calm, just enjoying the moment and having fun out there. It was too bad we didn’t get the win, though.”
Wins have been few and far between of late for the Devils, who are one of only five teams in the league with 32 or fewer points on the season, and once again seem likely to “earn” a premium draft pick this summer as their rebuild continues.
Thompson, however, is an example of the importance on hitting on all of your picks, not just your first-rounders; he went 96th overall back when New Jersey took him in the fourth round back in 2019, and seems like he could be a candidate to stick on the big club’s roster for the remainder of the year, especially with Kyle Palmieri already having been pulled for “precautionary reasons” with a trade imminent, and others perhaps not far behind.
“I liked his energy, I liked the way he skated,” said Devils head coach Lindy Ruff. “Obviously, he put the puck on net and got a great bounce for his first NHL point. For me, it was a good game for your first NHL game.”
With a possible exodus of talent coming in Newark yet again as the trade deadline looms, the Binghamton Devils — who in an exciting shootout over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, 2-1, on Monday night, and are set to host the Hershey Bears at the RWJBarnabas Health Hockey House on Wednesday night — have become even more interesting to keep an eye on as players down there are jockeying for potential NHL roles should spots open up.
Nineteen-year-old forwards Graeme Clarke (5-2—7) and Nolan Foote (5-10— 15) as well as 19-year-old defenseman Michael Vukojevic (1-5—6) and 21-year-old Reilly Walsh (2-5—7) all seem to be next in line for potential promotions to the big rink in Newark, but other players — both rookies and experienced veterans the organization added for depth — have been trying to stake their claim as well.
Between a shutdown for American Hockey League COVID protocol last month to once again navigating the league’s challenging roster rules when it comes to veterans, third-year head coach Mark Dennehy has had to juggle quite a few things this season, and determining which of his players will or won’t get to play on a given night in a very abbreviated year at the AHL level has certainly been one of them.
“I don’t know if any more thought goes (into that process than usual), but one of the things that we pride ourselves on is that these guys are all pros, and they’re trying to make their careers playing hockey,” Dennehy said in a Zoom with Devils media held earlier this month.
“Whenever you tap someone on the shoulder and say that they’re not going, that’s serious business. So, we spend a lot of time, and we always have, deliberating who’s in, who’s out and if someone’s out, why they’re out and do they know why they’re out. For some of it, it’s for growth purposes. Sometimes, it pays dividends to watch a game as opposed to being a part of it, believe it or not. So, we don’t spend any more time with it, but I do think there’s a heavier toll to pay because of how short this season is.”