The thirteenth annual All About the Jersey Top 25 Under 25 list is finally here! This article explains who is available and how to submit your rankings for the final list.
The best part of the summer is finally here! It’s time to get your votes in for the All About the Jersey Top 25 New Jersey Devils Under 25. This year’s edition features 40 players and prospects currently in the Devils system under 25. With a ridiculous amount of turnover from last year’s Top 25 list, it is anybody’s guess who makes the cut.
As has been the case since 2013, this list will include your input. So, please fill out the survey below and feel free to discuss your rankings in the comments.
The Requirements & The Plan
As there is no need to reinvent the wheel, this section is essentially Brian’s write-up from two years ago with a few tweaks. This list covers players in the New Jersey Devils organization as of August 1. This includes restricted free agents that have received a qualifying offer for the 2024-25 season. The main requirement for this list is that the player is under the age of 25 as of September 15. With that requirement, we have a slightly smaller list of 40 players eligible for ranking down slightly from last year’s list of 42.
As we have done in the past, the final list will be determined by the rankings of the All About the Jersey writers and the results of the community survey. All rankings will be weighed equally and averaged to determine the order of the final list. The results will be posted in reverse order starting with the list of players outside the top 25. We will reveal the top 25 in sets of five in the following weeks until we finish with the top 5.
The Recap of the 2023 Top 25 Under 25
It was no surprise to see Jack Hughes lead the list last season. Last year’s number two, Nico Hischier, has aged out of the list, so there will be an open spot near the top. Dawson Mercer, Luke Hughes and Simon Nemec rounded out the top 5 and will be strong contenders to move up in the rankings with the new void in the 2nd spot.
There will be more gaps in the sixth through ten spots as the Devils traded last year’s #6 (Akira Schmid), #7 (Kevin Bahl) and #8 (Alexander Holtz). Seamus Casey and Nolan Foote rounded out last year’s top 10 and it will be interesting to see where Foote falls in particular given his injuries last season.
Other notables from last year’s list:
- Josh Filmon took a big jump from 39th to 15th after a strong D+1 season.
- Topias Vilen also took a big leap from 30th to 15th.
- Jakub Malek (19) and Ethan Edwards (20) both rose from the Outsiders into the Top 20.
- Jaromir Pytlik finished last (42nd) in 2023 and, as the Devils chose not to sign him, another player will have a chance to earn those dubious honors this summer.
The Additions
Thirteen new additions are led by this year’s draft class and 1st round (10th overall) pick defenseman Anton Silayev along with later picks goaltenders Mikhail Yegurov and Veeti Louihaarva and forwards Kaspar Pikkarainen, Herman Traff, Max Graham and Matyas Melovosky. Devils also signed free agents Nathan Legare, Dylan Wendt, Isaac Poulter, and Mikael Diotte and traded for forwards Adam Beckman and Paul Cotter, who, at 24, barely makes the cut this season.
The Departures
Much like last year’s list, the turnover from the previous year is stark with fifteen players departing our list. Led by the graduation of Nico Hischier, this year’s list also will not have Top 25 mainstays Kevin Bahl, Akira Schmid, Graeme Clarke and Alexander Holtz as all four of those players have been traded since the compiling of last year’s list.
Devils also either chose or seem very unlikely to sign contracts to players with expiring rights this summer, namely, Jaromir Pytlik, Cole Brady and Artem Shlaine and moved on from defenseman prospect Michael Vukojevic. While the Devils did resign Shane Bowers and Brian Halonen for depth, both players have aged out of this pool and will not be on this year’s list.
The List of Players to Pick for this year’s Top 25 Devils Under 25
The list of rankable players in alphabetical order by first name is as follows:
The Community Survey
You know the drill. John set up a survey for you, the People Who Matter. You go to the survey link here. List the players in the order you wish to rank them and then press DONE to submit your ranking. That’s it. Simple as that.
One caveat.
Please rank ALL the players.
Please rank ALL the players.
I repeat. Please rank ALL the players.
Ballots that are submitted before completion or only rank the top 10 or top 25 can skew the results. So please rank ALL the players, not just the ones at the top or the ones you are most familiar with.
The deadline to submit your rankings is August 15th at 11:00 AM ET. After the results are tabulated and combined with the staff’s rankings, the results will be posted as follows:
August 18 or 19 — The Outsiders
August 20 — Top 25-21
August 27 — Top 20-16
September 3 — Top 15-11
September 10 — Top 10-6
September 17 — Top 5-1
Final Thoughts
Now it is time to tell us what you think. Comment and let us know what you think of this summer’s list and some of the bigger names that left from last season, discuss your ranking philosophy or post anything else prospect and ranking related.