THREE THINGS: Time to Get the Bahl Rolling

The New Jersey Devils defense has a bright future led by a few key pieces. Ty Smith is well-known amongst Devils fans who have salivated over his elite skating and offensive upside since he was selected 17th overall in 2018. But a much different, and much larger, d-man is less known, as he joined the Devils organization in December as an important piece of the trade that sent Taylor Hall to the Arizona Coyotes. Kevin Bahl is the subject of this Three Things presented by Wawa.

1. A LARGE (BUT QUICK) HUMAN

For those who believe the Devils are lacking size and jam among their defensive core, Bahl will eventually bring both. The hulking 20-year-old blueliner stands at 6-foot-7 and 240 pounds. If he were to step into the Devils lineup at the end of the season, he'd be four inches taller than the next defender and 30 pounds heavier (Mirco Mueller).

If you're worried about Bahl's ability to play in a fast-paced league like the NHL with his size, you probably aren't alone in that thought. However, despite his hulking frame, Bahl is an "underrated skater" per Ottawa 67's coach Andre Tourigny, according to The Hockey News.

"People look at him and right away they have a question mark on his skating," said Tourigny. "I have a chance to see him every night. His skating is really good."

A 6-foot-7, 240-pound shutdown defender who can really move and come down on the puck like a freight train would be quite something to watch. It's unlikely the franchise would want to put two rookie defenders together right away even in the American Hockey League, but wouldn't Bahl, eventually, pair well with an offensively gifted partner? Maybe, a Ty Smith-type?

2. HIGH-END UPSIDE

Even at a young age, Bahl flashed upside. The defenseman was named to the GTHL U18 Top Prospects Game in 2015-16.

Heading into the 2018 NHL Draft, Bahl was on NHL Central Scouting's top-30 list of eligible North American skaters. Coming in at number 29. Bahl had plenty of upside and was touted as a potential second-round pick. Several publications listed him in the 50-60 overall range of prospects.

And, no surprises here, Bahl went 55th overall to Arizona.

Bahl's aforementioned skating is what boosted his draft stop. At the CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game prior to the draft, he finished fifth among 36 prospects in the 30-meter backward skate without the puck and 15th in the backward skate with the puck. His athleticism paired with that size gives him a high ceiling as a shutdown defender.

Tourigny told the Ottawa Sun once that it's a "no-brainer" that Bahl will reach the NHL and be a regular.

3. GOLDEN BOY

If you want your young prospects to get a taste for winning, then you're sure to be happy with Bahl's already long list of accomplishments. Even dating back to his peewee hockey days, Bahl helped his teams rack up championships.

In the Greater Toronto Hockey League, Bahl was the U18 Minor Atom AAA Champion, U18 Atom AAA Champion, U18 Minor Peewee AAA Champion, and U18 Peewee AAA Champion from the 2009-10 to 2012-13 seasons. He was also an Ontario Hockey Federation Pewee AAA Champion.

In 2015, Bahl added Ontario Hockey League Cup Champion to his resume and that was just the start of his junior accolades. He won an OHL Cup Silver Medal in 2015-16 as well.

During the 2017-18 season, Bahl helped Canada win gold at the Hlinka Memorial Tournament. And he was named to the OHL All-Stars roster for the Junior Super Series three years in a row.

This past season, he helped Canada once again win gold, but this time as a teammate of Ty Smith at World Juniors. He was also named to the OHL Second All-Star Team.