Happy weekend and happy game day, Devils fans. As we wait for our matinee against the Canucks, please feel free to read about another set of our Top 25 Under 25!
15. Nikita Shcherbakov (LHD) — Last Rank: N/A — Age: 18 — Team: Salavat Yulaev Ufa (KHL)
The New Jersey Devils’ third pick from the 2026 NHL Entry Draft, selected at 44th overall, kicks off our top 15 this year. Nikita Shcherbakov is already looking like he might be one of the steals of the draft. Last season, Shcherbakov played seven scoreless
games with Salavat Yulaev Ufa, spending most of his season in the VHL (Russian second-tier) with Toros Neftekamsk, where he had four goals and six assists in 35 games. He also had 10 assists in 15 games for Tolpar Ufa in the MHL, or Russian juniors. By our expectations, we would have been happy to see Shcherbakov have a good season in the VHL, improving from the slow production he had there last year. We would have been thrilled with some modest production in the KHL.
So, who would have expected that Shcherbakov would already have two goals and four assists in 14 games for his KHL club? For a KHL rookie, Shcherbakov positions himself aggressively enough to contribute to the offense. Of course, this might not last forever. According to the KHL website, Shcherbakov only plays about 10:06 per game, and he has neither received penalty killing nor power play shifts to this point. Still, he has a chance to make history. In the 18 years that the KHL has existed, the all-time leading scorers among 18-year old defensemen are Anton Silaev and Mikhail Gulyaev, who had 12 points in 63 and 64 games, respectively. The all-time leading per-game scorer among 18-year old defensemen is Shakir Mukhamadullin, who had 10 points in 39 games.
14. Shane Lachance (LW) — Last Rank: 11 — Age: 23 — Team: Utica Comets (AHL)
While he did slip a bit in these rankings, Shane Lachance still has a very good chance of making the NHL. At 6’5” and 218 pounds, Lachance’s easiest path to the big club is by establishing himself as a consistent netfront presence. Last season, we saw a glimpse of that when he scored a preseason goal against the Capitals with the Devils’ power play, but Lachance played one game for the New Jersey Devils in the regular season. On a floundering Utica Comets team for most of that season, Lachance only had 10 goals and 15 assists in 62 games after having a goal and an assist in two games for them in 2024-25 upon his departure from Boston University. It was hard not to notice that players like Lachance and Cam Squires looked outstanding immediately after leaving their juniors or college teams only to have strongly disappointing full seasons with Utica.
This season, we hope for more from Lachance. The team as a whole is built far more competitively, including multiple former NHLers such as Vladislav Kolyachonok and Colin White along with higher-scoring AHLers such as Ben Steeves and Riley Tufte. Having multiple layers of scoring threat built throughout that lineup means that games no longer hinge on whether players like Lachance, Melovsky, and Hameenaho are the absolute key to whether they win or lose, as opponents will be forced to make tougher matchup decisions. Utica played their first game eight days ago, but their season finally resumes this evening. Let’s hope for a display of improved skating and high-danger scoring from the big Lachance.
13. Matyas Melovsky (RH C) — Last Rank: 16 — Age: 22 — Team: Utica Comets (AHL)
Prior to Sunny Mehta’s trade of Jacob Markstrom for Evan Rodrigues and Jesper Boqvist, I would have thought that Matyas Melovsky was a strong candidate to make the NHL this season as a fourth-line center. The Czech right-hander was drafted in 2024 as a double-overage selection by the Devils in the sixth round, and this move has proved to be a rather solid one. Melovsky grew as a goal scorer over time in the QMJHL, going from a pure playmaker to a dual-threat with two-way success that made him one of the best players in the league at the time. Last season, in his professional debut for the Utica Comets, Melovsky had 10 goals and 16 assists in 55 games while having some of the best on-ice results on the team.
This year, Melovsky is off to a good start with an assist in Utica’s only game to date, as he got the primary assist on a goal by Ben Steeves. What makes Melovsky so easy to project into the NHL is his skating ability and positioning. He always seems to be making the right plays, far from being a selfish player. The New Jersey Devils might not have an easy way for Melovsky to get onto the team this season, but I expect him to be the regular number one center for Utica, above Schmelzer, White, and McLaughlin, by November. Of course, I think he should already be there.
12. Topias Vilen (LHD) — Last Rank: 18 — Age: 23 — Team: Utica Comets (AHL)
Continuing the theme of this entry of the Top 25 Under 25 being dominated by Utica Comets, Topias Vilen is the prospect in this section who played the most games in the NHL last season. Those two games might not stand out, but Vilen held his own in his cup-of-coffee NHL experience. Personally, I was not surprised by this, as Vilen has been playing professional hockey since he was 17, when he played in the Finnish Liiga. Since coming to the AHL in 2023, Vilen has been very consistent with 24 or more points in each season and a total of 80 points in 174 games.
This season, Vilen has to contend with a more stacked left side of the defense in Utica. Playing with Anton Silaev and Ethan Edwards, Vilen’s best chance of getting 20 minutes a game would necessitate him playing on the right side where Vladislav Kolyachonok is currently slated (especially while Seamus Casey remains out). Along with Kolyachonok, Vilen was among the final cuts from the New Jersey Devils’ roster going into the regular season, so there is a chance that we see him again this season. But if injuries arise, Mehta and Keefe will need to decide whether they prefer the steadiness of Vilen’s game or the potential of the speedy Edwards, the giant Silaev, or the NHL-experienced Kolyachonok.
11. Ethan Edwards (LHD) — Last Rank: 15 — Age: 24 — Team: Utica Comets (AHL)
The gap between Vilen and Ethan Edwards, in my opinion, is razor-thin. Honestly, going by pure production, Vilen is probably a bit better. Edwards is nearly a year older and was a four-year college player, where he was never a huge point producer at the University of Michigan. But Edwards’s skating has always been extremely intriguing. He has good edges and straight-line speed with the potential to be a good two-way defenseman that can close gaps quickly and join the attack. Last season, Edwards even had 10 goals for the Utica Comets, though his total of 23 points in 69 games still lagged well behind Vilen’s overall pace.
Edwards has one very big issue to take care of this season, though. In the 2025-26 season, Edwards had the third-worst on-ice goal rates out of 10 defensemen who played 10 or more games for the Utica Comets. And with most of the power play time last season going to Calen Addison, Seamus Casey, and Topias Vilen, Edwards was unable to push for power play time, while having significantly less success in extended penalty killing minutes than Vilen. First and foremost, Edwards needs to get his five-on-five play under control, proving that he can put his excellent skating to good use. Second, Edwards needs to find a special teams niche in the AHL, whether it is on the power play or penalty kill. If he can do that, he might put himself in position to push for a roster spot by next year. With Edwards being ranked so high, we are betting big on physical tools and athleticism.
The Vote
See below for the tally today.
As I mentioned yesterday, we are at the point where the variance in rankings has reduced significantly. The true average ranks for each of these players sat between 12 and 14.33, while the worst individual rank for any of them was 20 and the best individual ranks were as high as 9. This is where the slight disagreements came from everyone:
- I had Nikita Shcherbakov (17->15) and Shane Lachance (16->14) in the top 20.
- James had Matyas Melovsky (16->13) in the top 20 and Lachance (9->14) in the top 10.
- Jared had Ethan Edwards (10->11) and Shcherbakov (9->15) in the top 10.
- Jackson had Topias Vilen (17->12) in the top 20.
- Tim had Lachance (20->14) in the top 20 and Melovsky (10->13) in the top 10.
- The community had Shcherbakov (20->15) in the top 20 and Edwards (9->11) in the top 10.
We are largely in consensus over the general range of these prospects. By this point of the rankings, we are hoping that at least three of the five players here turn into true NHLers. They might not be superstars at this range (though Jared may have been onto something ranking Shcherbakov so high when he did), but there should be NHL depth, third pairing defensemen, or bottom six forwards of the future here. After these five, the expectations take another jump.
Your Thoughts
What did you think of today’s rankings release? Who are you excited to follow throughout this season? What do you think of Shcherbakov’s historic start in the KHL? Do you think Melovsky or Lachance will appear for the Devils this season? Do you think Vilen or Edwards might serve as injury fill-ins at some point? Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and thanks for reading.
