Checking in on the New Jersey Devils' top prospects
JP Gambatese dove deeper into how many of the team's best prospects are performing this season.
By JP Gambatese (@JP_Gambatese)
The New Jersey Devils’ 2025-26 campaign is a little over halfway done, which holds true for the seasons of many of their prospects.
With the NHL team seemingly hitting a new low for the year, it is as good a time as any to check up on how the farm system is doing.
If your meter is the Utica Comets, however, things aren’t any better than they are in New Jersey.
The Comets sit last in their division and have the third-worst points percentage (P%) in the AHL, though they have won each of their last three games.
The best story in the Comets organization is the offensive emergence of Lenni Hämeenaho, the Devils’ second-round pick from 2023. He’s been on a tear of late, with 16 points (6 goals, 10 assists) in his last 14 games.
Early in the season, he had reportedly been hard-focused on improving his defensive game, sacrificing some of his offensive output in the process.
It seems like that is behind him. On top of his defensive work – which has been excellent – Hämeenaho has been finding the scoresheet often with his patented off-puck positioning and superb vision.
Seamus Casey, the organization’s top prospective offensive defenseman, has been on a bit of a roll, too, with five assists in his last four games and seven in his last eight.
Ideally, there would be more of a consistent takeover aspect of his game, as I do feel at times that he can be invisible, but he’s been showing sparks of unstoppability in recent affairs.
It is certainly encouraging that he’s improving his year-over-year point pace, even if it isn’t quite at the level I’d hope from him quite yet.
The most disappointing campaigns in Utica this season are, in my eyes, belonging to Shane Lachance and Thomas Bordeleau.
