Rich Chere | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

The cupboard is far from bare

There were suggestions when Lou Lamoriello left the Devils last summer that the pipeline was empty when it came to legitimate prospects in the system. That is not the case, according to assistant general manager Tom Fitzgerald, who offered his assessment of the club's top prospects. (Hit the share button to send this to a fellow Devils fan)

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Pavel Zacha. LW, 2015 draft, sixth overall

Pavel Zacha played this season for Sarnia in the OHL. Tom Fitzgerald: “We’re very comfortable with that. We didn’t want to feel like we had to keep a kid like Pav on our roster not knowing how our team was going to be. When I was (a player) I used to question why guys who just won the Calder Cup were sitting out for the Islanders as healthy scratches while the guys we beat in the semifinals for the Calder Cup were all playing for Montreal. Lorne Henning just said, ‘We’re not Montreal. We’re at the bottom here. To throw you guys to the wolves wouldn’t be healthy.’ There is some truth to that. With Pav, we didn’t know where our team was going to be. We needed to assure we were competitive, so we went out and got guys like Tyler Kennedy and Lee Stempniak. We felt what was best for Zacha’s long-term development was to go back to Sarnia and be the man who gets all the prime ice time. Learn how to penalty kill and play without the puck. You can learn on the job in juniors and he’s done that.

“He’s a big, strong, skilled power forward who was drafted as a center. He may be that, but we know he is a versatile player. He’s projected to be a top NHL player. We would never say he’s going to be a middle-of-the-road third liner or a top liner. He has all the makings to be a top liner. There are no sure things but we like his potential and it's our job to help pull that out of him. Going back to juniors was a start.”

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Steve Santini. D, 2013 draft, 42nd overall

Steve Santini played this season for Boston College. Tom Fitzgerald: “Steve Santini right now is one of our top prospects. He’s a physical presence out there. He is your mobile, stay-at-home defenseman. He’s a shot-blocker who skates well, closes quickly and has a good stick. I don’t want to paint a picture that he’s a perfect player. He’s got stuff he’s got to work on. That’s what is exciting.

“Will this be his last year at college? Will he start his pro career? We have to sit down with the family and go through the options. You can’t force a kid to do something he doesn’t want to do. We’re open to what Steve and his family are comfortable with.

“He had the thumb injury last year. He’s been healthy. He’s a strong leader. He’s got future captain written all over him.”

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Mackenzie Blackwood. G, 2015 draft, 42nd overall

Mackenzie Blackwood played this season for Barrie in the OHL. Tom Fitzgerald: “It's his athleticism that stood out to me, along with his size (6-4, 224 pounds) and demeanor. He’s had a great year. He had a couple of hiccups over at the world juniors. As we told him, it doesn’t matter. It’s only going to help him facing adversity and pressure situations. He's unflappable. I think that will be a big step in his development, not having the success you’re expected to have and how do you deal with it? All that matters to us, and it should be all that matters to him, is what the New Jersey Devils think of him. And we think the world of him. We’re fortunate we have him.”

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Miles Wood. LW, 2013 draft, 100th overall

Miles Wood played this season at Boston College. Tom Fitzgerald: “He is a freight train on skates. He’s the most-consistent prospect that I've seen in my nine years of working in this industry. He doesn’t change. He knows exactly what he is and he adheres to it shift after shift and night after night. He plays in straight lines and he plays hard. He plays fast and he plays aggressive. He has shown some touch around the net.”

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John Quenneville. LW, 2014 draft, 30th overall

John Quenneville played this season at Brandon (WHL). Tom Fitzgerald: “He’s a very dependable player and a coach’s dream. Coaches enjoy coaching this kid because he’s smart, he’s detailed, he has skill and he can produce. What is he going to be? We’re not sure if he’s a winger or a center. Will he be a second line wing or a third line center? We’re not sure. We don’t want to label anybody. He had a very good world juniors. His hockey sense and his ability to play a system to a T is going to get him more ice time because coaches are going to continue to trust him. We’re fortunate to have this guy because of his versatility.”

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Photo courtesy of New Jersey Devils

Josh Jacobs. D, 2014 draft, 41st overall

Josh Jacobs played this season with Sarnia (OHL). Tom Fitzgerald: “He’s a kid who was drafted out of the USHL, went to college and then left. We own his rights for four years but he’s a 20-year-old playing what you would call his last year of juniors. The decision is, will he be ready for the AHL? He’s a big, strong kid who skates well. He is not flashy. Less is more. Get the puck, move it, get up ice, close your gap. Do it again. He’s a great kid and he wants to be a player. He’s benefitting from playing a lot. He’s a go-to guy there and he gets to play with the (Jakob) Chychrun kid.

“Obviously something wasn’t clicking for him at Michigan State last year because he decided it was in his best interest to leave. And he did. He’s ascending for sure. He’s getting better and better. He should be ready for pro hockey after this year. We’ll see.”

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Photo courtesy of Albany Devils

Blake Coleman. C, 2011 draft, 75th overall

Blake Coleman played this season with Albany (AHL). Albany coach Rick Kowalsky said Coleman underwent successful shoulder surgery Jan. 13 and would be out 4-6 months. Although he is working out off-ice and is around the team, it is doubtful he'll play again this season. Tom Fitzgerald: “He’s out for the season with shoulder surgery. He was injured by Mark Fraser (Nov. 27) and had his shoulder redone. He’s an older rookie. He needs time to adjust to the speed in the AHL. He was coming along at center and got hurt.”

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Photo courtesy of Albany Devils

Raman Hrabarenka, D, signed as free agent July 12, 2013

Raman Hrabarenka played this season with Albany (AHL). Tom Fitzgerald: “He’s had his ups and downs. His training camp wasn’t as good as he hoped it would be. In his words, he was disappointed in himself. We understand. You can’t always play your A game. He went to Albany and there were a couple hiccups in his game. We’ve tried to iron that out with him. We’d like him to be more consistent. He’s big, mobile, tough and he can shoot the puck. I think he was squeezing his stick too much at the start of the year. We need to continue to grow his game because we could use a right-handed shot. But we need to get his game in order first.”