In recent drafts the New Jersey Devils have built a solid foundation of defensemen, wingers and goaltender. However, one area that is a bit thin however is the center position. At the NHL level Travis Zajac is entrenched at the #1 center spot for the next few years. The Devils also have Jason Arnott signed through the end of next year. In the next two to three years there will be a need for the team to develop centers from within the organization. Most Devils fans are expecting Jacob Josefson or Adam Henrique to fill some of the voids on the 2nd/3rd line role. They aren't the only players who may contribute at the center position though. One of newest additions to the Devils organization who may make an impact in the near future is David McIntyre.   McIntyre was signed to a  two year entry deal on May 5th, 2010. 

A former 5th round draft pick in 2006 by the Dallas Stars, he has already been traded twice in his short career.  He was traded on December 14th 2007 to Anaheim with a conditional pick for Brian Sutherby and then traded by Anaheim less than two months later to the Devils for defenseman Sheldon Brookbank.   You always question the reasoning behind both parties when trading a player still in college who was not a high draft pick. Why is the team giving up/moving him? What value can he add to our organization?

Regardless of the reasoning by the Stars or Ducks for trading him, the Devils might have lucked out in the acquistion of McIntyre. How much did they luck out? Well it's not on par with the luck that the team had when it gave up Tom Kurvers for a future first round pick (Scott Niedermayer), but it might be on par with a Randy McKay for Troy Crowder compensation award. Why am I so optimistic about McIntrye? Is it his development at Colgate? Is it the potential line names Doc Emrick could invent with two Davids (Clarkson and McIntyre) on the same line? Read on after the jump to find out.

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In the first three prospect profiles I posted I looked at some of the organizational depth the Devils have on defense and reviewed prospects Matt Taormina, Tyler Eckford and Alexander Urbom.   Keeping with the defensive theme, I will now look at 2008 2nd round pick (52^nd overall) Brandon Burlon. 

Burlon has been one of the Devils' ‘silent prospects'.   Hockey's Future has had him ranked as the Devils 7th and   8th overall prospect  in the last two years, but besides posts on ILWT and Hockey's Future there has been little fanfare or information posted on Devils sites about Burlon.  Hockey's Future has always been one of his proponents though as you can see from the following write-up in 2008:

Set to play at the University of Michigan this fall, he's probably at least three collegiate seasons away from turning pro, but he is only going to get better and better and his skill set is tailor made for the up-tempo style of play in the NHL. This will quite possibly be the lowest that Burlon will ever be ranked in the top 20.

You have probably heard little about Burlon due to the fact that he is playing NCAA hockey at the University of Michigan [he will be joined by 2010 2^nd round pick Jon Merrill]  and we don't see or get regular updates on his progress.  (Although I will do my best to keep everyone informed in the future)

Fans and media alike tend to focus on high-end prospects (Jacob Josefson, Mattias Tedenby) and steady, developing prospects like Burlon tend to get lost in the shuffle.   Burlon isn't a player that will wow us but he is one that looks poised to have a solid career contributing to a hockey club.  After the jump we will look at how Burlon got to this point in his hockey career.

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Alexander Urbom was drafted in the 3^rd round (73^rd overall) of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, he was a relatively unknown player to most Devils followers.  Late round picks, especially those playing in Europe, are a little harder to find information on.   Most of the information initially reported by any Devils website had some variation of the following description:

Great size, shutdown defenseman, can contribute offensively, but not that much (oh, and he was Jacob Josefson's roommate when both of them played with Desjardins).

More recently, Urbom was an intriguing prospect to many Devils fans when he received some ice time in 2009 exhibition games there was talk that he could possibly be a longshot for the team.  To not rush his development, he went to play for the Brandon Wheat Kings of the WHL (part of the CHL).  After his rookie campaign there he was ranked 4^th at Hockey's Future in the Devils prospect listing (behind Matthew Corrente, but above Brandon Burlon  in defensemen) and he seemed to have a lot of ‘upside' as a prospect.   It was assumed he would either head to Albany in the AHL next year or stay in the WHL for another year.   That assumption changed quickly when Lou Lamoriello made the following comments following the free agent signing of Henrik Tallinder (emphasis mine)

Lamoriello said Urbom, a 6-4, 215-pound Stockholm native (same town as Tallinder) is, "our top prospect" and expects him to compete for a spot on the NHL team in training camp.

Now, on a big day in Devils free agent history (the loss of Paul Martin, signings of Anton Volchenkov and Tallinder) I feel like this quote didn't really get the evaluation it deserved.   Top Prospect?   Maybe Lamoriello meant to say "top defensive prospect"?   Even if that was the case that would mean Lamoriello rated him higher than Jon Merrill, Matthew Corrente, Eric Gelinas and Brandon Burlon, which is pretty impressive off only one year of North American hockey.  

Urbom, at only 20 years old does not have the extensive North American playing history (or even European playing history) of fellow defensive prospects Matt Taormina or Tyler Eckford.   For me that is both good and bad.  It is good, because there isn't that much information to find on the player. It is also bad for the same reason, especially because most of the information regarding his early career in Swedish Juniors and the Swedish Elite League are hard to find and once found hard to translate properly.  

That said, there is still a decent amount of information to look through to profile his past.  After the jump I will look at his recent past in Sweden and the CHL.  Please set your viewing mode to wide. 

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Andy Marlin - Getty Images

NEWARK, NJ - JUNE 17: John MacLean has seen first hand the progression and talent of Tyler Eckford. (Photo by Andy Marlin/Getty Images)

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Even before the recent re-signing (or whatever the status is right now) of Ilya Kovalchuk one of the needs of the New Jersey Devils' defensive corps has been an additional puck moving defenseman.  As mentioned in my previous profile on Matt Taormina, opinions expressed by John Fischer, Tom Gulitti and even Patrick Elias have all stated this and I have to concur.  Currently, the Devils only have Andy Greene to fill that role and to a lesser degree Henrik Tallinder and Anssi Salmela.   At this point, unless there is a trade or free agent acquisition the Devils will go into the season with only one real offensive defenseman. In addition to the current free agent and trade market they can also wait and look for someone via the trade market at the trading deadline or look for someone within the organization.  Looking at the recent prospect camp there are certainly a few candidates out there.  One name that has popped up as a cost effective option ($550,000) is Tyler Eckford. 

Called up during the past season in November because of injuries to defensemen Johnny Oduya and Paul Martin, Eckford suited up for three games for the Devils.  During the three game stint he averaged about 7:40 of ice time per game on roughly 11 shifts per game as a defenseman, power play quarterback and 4^th line forward.  He also contributed a power play assist and was called for two minor penalties. 

Jacques Lemaire, head coach of the team at the time, praised Eckford in his debut:

"He was good. He looked relaxed and he was skating well," Lemaire said. "He moves the puck well. He's going to be a good player. It's just going to take some experience, knowing what he can and can't do."

His only point was a secondary assist on a Brian Rolston power play goal on November 25^th, 2009 against the Dallas Stars.  You can view the goal here.

Patrik Elias does most of the work here, but Eckford helped keep the puck in the zone and didn't panic when approached by the defender, drawing the defender a bit closer to help give Elias space. 

After two years in the AHL I am sure Eckford will be looking to impress Devils management in training camp and make a case for an open spot on the roster.  While the Devils do have a number of defensemen already under contract, Anssi Salmela will start the year on injured reserve so there will be a need for a puck moving defenseman.

So can Eckford make the jump to the NHL this season?  He thinks he can but realizes he will have to make a great impression on the team:

"Of course I'd like to think so," Eckford told me today as prospects camp came to an end after five days. "I've worked very hard the last few years. All I can do is put myself in the best position to get there. I just have to play my way into a spot.

"I've got to play good enough to give them no choice but to have me here."

After the jump I will look at Eckford's past to see what he has accomplished and what type of impact, if any, he could have on the team.

UPDATE 7-23-10:   I just saw this interview with Tyler Eckford posted on the Devils website so I thought I would share it within this post. 

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After the loss of Paul Martin, one of the needs of the New Jersey Devils' defensive corps has been an additional puck moving defenseman.  Opinions expressed by John Fischer, Tom Gulitti and even Patrick Elias have all stated this and I have to concur.  Currently, the Devils only have Andy Greene to fill that role and to a lesser degree Henrik Tallinder and Anssi Salmela.   At this point, unless there is a trade or free agent acquisition the Devils will go into the season with only one real offensive defenseman. In addition to the current free agent and trade market they can also wait and look for someone via the trade market at the trading deadline or look for someone within the organization.  Looking at the recent prospect camp there are certainly a few candidates out there.  Names like Tyler Eckford, Alexander Urbom and Matthew Corrente jump out at you.  One name that Devils fans have gotten to know recently is the name of Matthew Taormina.

So what do we know about Taormina? Not much, really.  You should definitely check out his page at Hockey's Future to get their scouting report on him.  Most information or postings I have seen on him have focused on his point production and shot total and it has admittedly got them excited that the Devils have found another solid defenseman that the rest of the league passed on similar to Johnny Oduya and Brian Rafalski.   50 points from a defenseman from the Devil's AHL squad?  Judging by his point production alone one would think he would be listed in the top 10 of the prospect list on Hockey's Future.  Instead he is listed in the  'other notables' section which is listed after the top 19 prospects in the system are shown.  However, Hockey's Future has this to say about him in  their post-season review of the Devils AHL team:      

Taormina consistently showed the ability to lead the rush up the ice, showcasing his good mobility and puckhandling skills

Sounds good right?  Could Taormina be the next Rafalski, showing up out of nowhere to have a huge impact on the blue line?  After the jump I will look at his past to see what he accomplished and what type of impact, if any, he could have on the team.

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Well, here's some bad news.  As reported by Tom Gulitti, today's scrimmage was the final one for the 2010 New Jersey Devils prospects camp.  The camp is over. Done. Finished.

This means that there won't be a day open for the public for prospects camp.  I'm disappointed with the news. Gulitti said last week that Lou said they would have a public day.

A lot of you have been asking about the Devils’ prospects camp, which gets underway Monday morning at Prudential Center. Lamoriello said that like last year the team will open up one of the scrimmages next week to the public. He didn’t yet know the date and time because the scrimmaging schedule had yet to be finalized. He said an annoucement would be made as soon as the schedule as set.

What was announced? Nothing as of this writing.  Nothing at the Devils' website, nothing by email, nothing at all from the organization. Not even to say that there won't be a public scrimmage. 

In the bigger picture, this is not a big deal.  Matthew Corrente joined Mattias Tedenby and Jacob Josefson as players who were sitting out of the scrimmages with injuries. Those are three of the biggest prospects in the Devils system and they're going to get games in preseason, which are very much open (but not free) to the public.  We'll likely see them, as well as most of the minor league prospects (e.g. Tyler Eckford, Alexander Vasyunov, Jeff Frazee) with NHL regulars in September.

Moreover, decisions were made for some of the unsigned prospects invited to the camp. (All links per Tom Gulitti) Darcy Zajac and Matt Lombardi both got minor league contracts.  Eckford got a two-way contract along with not-attending Patrick Davis and Oliver Magnan-Grenier.  Aaron Leiwicki and Ryan Hayes made their cases in scrimmage,  Eric Chouinard went back to Germany, and the other prospects got a chance to perform in front of the coaches. The camp served it's main purpose.

Still, I feel that the Devils blew an opportunity.  Allow me to vent after the jump:

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One of the important features of the 2010 prospects camp is that the New Jersey Devils staff get to see the newly drafted players up close, under their direction, and play with other team prospects for the first time.  Fourth round draft pick, defenseman, and Wisconsin commit, Joe Faust is one of those players.  Today, Tom Gulitti talked with Faust for a bit at camp.  Faust revealed how felt getting drafted by New Jersey, what it was like adjusting to camp, and which player really liked.

I had the good fortune to ask Western College Hockey Blog about Faust.  WCHB comes right out of Minnesota and has been able to seen Faust play with Bloomington Jefferson a number of times in the past season.  Faust was mentioned for a bit earlier on WCHB with some praise for his abilities.   My questions and WCHB's answers appear after the jump.

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Adam Henrique has lifted the Memorial Cup trophy a few months ago, but now he's in Newark for his third prospects camp with the New Jersey Devils. Where will he be next year? (Photo by Richard Wolowicz/Getty Images)

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Yesterday began the 2010 Prospect Camp for the New Jersey Devils.  There are 43 players on the roster, and I went over those who are new to the Devils prospect camp this summer yesterday.  I've updated it with a little more information on Matt Lombardi and Bryan Haczyk this morning so please check that out if you haven't.

Today, I want to go over the 26 prospects who aren't new to the Devils' prospect camp.  Some are minor league players looking to establish that they still have potential for the future. Some are prospects who want to show what they've learned over the past year.  A few prospects need to have a strong showing here to have a better shot in September's training camp in getting a spot on the New Jersey roster.   Lou Lamoriello told Tom Gulitti yesterday that he expects a few of the players here in this camp to do just that:

Before you start penciling any names in the roster, I'd like to point out that no one has earned a spot on the team coming out of prospect camp.  I'm sure Lou and his staff are looking closer at certain players with higher expectations. This means it falls on the players to meet those expectations by impressing the staff in drills, meetings, and scrimmages.

In any case, I felt it would be best to organize the other 26 prospects based on what should be expected going into camp.  Not everyone is in the same situation and some players have a more realistic chance of advancement ahead of others.  That will follow after the jump:

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