Bahl Trying to Take Advantage of Size, Angles | PROSPECT WATCH

Kevin Bahl's surname and physical stature could make you think of another sport.
The 21-year-old Devils prospect is 6-foot-6 and seen in street clothes, you'd be excused to think he goes to work every day on hardwood.
The Utica Comets defenseman doesn't, of course, but it's his size that defines him and the Devils hope will make him an effective NHLer someday soon.
"Who would you rather play against, someone who is 5-11 or 6-6?" he said.

Bahl had other interesting observations about how his development is progressing since arriving in the Devils organization in the Taylor Hall trade two years ago. The big man has a way of breaking down the bigger picture into smaller, digestible bites.
"You have to be a two-way player, and be able to move the puck," Bahl explained, while swatting away a suggestion that a defenseman could be described as stay-at-home, in much the way similar players as him were in the past.
As for his own game, Bahl was both forthright and analytical in explaining what he's working on to get better. He said that he continues to work on his positioning by taking more effective angles around the ice. The thinking being that if, for example, he is going back into his own zone to get the disc behind his own net, that it's important to try and approach it from such an angle that he can keep as much forward momentum as possible.
"I have to keep moving my feet, getting into a position where I can wheel the net," he said, using the term players often do to describe getting the puck moving north from behind your own goal.
"You can't do that (as effectively) coming in from sharp angles."
But being a few inches taller than the next-biggest player and almost a head taller than most surely helps. Hall of Fame defenseman Chris Pronger, who is also 6-foot-6, benefitted from a similar height because it gave him a better view of the ice to make plays. It's the same principle why QBs are often as tall as his lineman, helping him not just to see over/past them but to watch plays develop down field at a more advantageous angle.
After this analogy was explained to Bahl, he responded with his own comment:
"But (Pronger) had great hockey sense," half in the form of a probing question, and partly as a statement. When it was suggested that Pronger's unworldly hockey sense was because of his height and resulting view of the ice, you could almost hear the wheels turning in Bahl's response.
"I'd have to think about that more," he said.
Bahl has played 11 games for the Devils, starting with a seven-game stint last season and four more earlier in this one. He had two assists last season and had his moments in other more nuanced ways during both big-league stints. He's scored twice and added 10 assists in 41 games with Utica so far this season.
But, just like a defenseman shouldn't retrieve the puck in a straight line, developing into an NHL player rarely unfolds in that type of direct trajectory.
"It's the NHL, the best league in the world, it takes time" to get there, he said.
There was another interesting aspect to Bahl's rookie pro season last year in that he was selected to represent Canada at the World Championship in Latvia. Despite a slow start, Canada won gold in Riga but Bahl never made the trip because he took a head shot in his last scheduled game before he was supposed to leave.
"It was more precautionary," he said of staying home, "I was really looking forward to playing (in the Worlds)."
Two years ago, Bahl was one of four players in the Devils organization, along with Nico Daws, Nolan Foote and Dawson Mercer, who won gold at the 2020 World Junior Championship. A few months later, Bahl was the Ottawa 67's defensive leader when the club was the top-rated team in Canadian junior hockey, but the season was cancelled because of Covid. Fellow Comets Nikita Okhotyiuk and Graeme Clarke (Bahl's current roommate) were also on that 67's team.
Beyond his individual journey, Bahl is most looking forward to the stretch run of the American Hockey League schedule. Last year, the Devils affiliate played in Newark at the big club's training facility and from the outset, everyone knew that there would be no postseason. That means it has been three years since Bahl last took part in a playoff game, when the 67's made it to the 2019 OHL Final.
With the Comets record start and sterling record since, Bahl knows that he and the rest of his teammates will have playoffs to look forward to later this spring. He says it gives a whole new meaning to the season. For a player trying to develop into a top pro, not having high-stakes playoff competition for three years by the time it next happens is significant.
"It's a lot more fun knowing you're working toward something," he said.