PROSPECT WATCH: NCAA Players Enter the Mix

There are some new names on our Verizon Prospect Watch this week as the NCAA has begun their 2020-21 seasons. Devils prospects Matthew Hellickson and Cole Brady have played their first games of the year and are added to the list of Devils prospects playing around the world.
We catch you up with the prospects in this week's Verizon Prospect Watch.

UNITED STATES

Matthew Hellickson
Hellickson has made his 2020-21 season debut with Notre Dame, with two games now under his belt. The Notre Dame senior has one assist in his opening two games against Wisconsin. The Fighting Irish have opened their season with two losses to Wisconsin.
Cole Brady
The 19-year-old goaltender made his NCAA debut, playing in two games with Arizona State. He has a 0-0-1 record and a 3.75 GAA.
Ethan Edwards
The 2020 draft pick has started his season with the Sioux City Musketeers of the USHL. The left-shooting defenseman has played in three games and has yet to register a point.

CANADA

Dawson Mercer
Dawson Mercer's season in the QMJHL has been paused due to another surge in Quebec. The QMJHL will move into a make-shift bubble in Quebec City, where games will begin on November 17th.
Mercer will not be with his Chicoutimi teammates, however, as he will head to Red Deer, Alberta for the start of Hockey Canada's World Junior Selection Camp.

RUSSIA

Shakir Mukhamadullin
Fresh off his games at the Karjala Cup in Finland, Mukhamadullin is back with his KHL club Salavat Yulaev Ufa. This past week he played three games with the club, to bring his season totals to 27 games. He picked up a secondary assist in Ufa's loss to SKA, to bring his season totals to two goals and six assists.
Mikhail Maltsev
Maltsev has played four games on loan with SKA St. Petersburg, recording one assist.
Yegor Sharangovich
Sharangovich has put on quite the performances since he began his KHL season with Dinamo Minsk. In the last week, Sharangovich was on the ice for three games with Dinamo, once again providing the offense. In his three games, he accumulated three points, including two goals.
His season totals to date are 12 goals and three assists in 24 games. His 12 goals are the team lead, while his 15 total points put him fifth in team scoring.
He is currently 5th in the KHL goal-scoring with 12 goals. At 22 years old he is the youngest player in not only the league's top 20 goal scorers but also the league's top five.
Danill Misyul
Misyul suited up for two games this past week with Lokomotiv. To date, he has played in 19 games, registering two assists.
Yegor Zaitsev
In Zaitsev's last game, he had a team-leading two points against Neftekhimik. His two-assist night helped lead Dynamo Moscow to a 3-0 win.
The 22-year-old has four assists in 24 games with Moscow this season.
Arseni Gritsyuk
With Metallurg Novokuznetsk in the VHL, Russia's second-highest league behind the KHL, Gritsyuk had a two-assist week in three games played, bringing his season totals to five games and three assists.
At 19-years-old, Gritsyuk is one of two teenagers on the Metallurg team and the only teenager on the squad to have at least a point. Sergei Alkhimov, also 19, has played four games and held without a point.

SWEDEN

Alexander Holtz
Djurgårdens is back on the ice after a pause in play due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He has since played four games to bring his season total to 12 games, with nine points. In the last week, Holtz added two assists to his point total, including this beautiful saucer pass to former New Jersey Devil Jacob Josefson on the game-winning overtime goal for Djurgardens against Skellefteå AIK.

Jesper Boqvist
With Timrå IK in the HockeyAllsvenskan, Sweden's second-highest hockey league, Boqvist played one game this past week. In total, he has played 13 games, with three goals and seven assists.
His seven points put him in the Top 10 on his team, tied for seventh. Similarly, his three goals sit tied for seventh, while his seven assists rank him fifth on the team.
Nikola Pasic
20-year-old Pasic is playing in Sweden's top league, the SHL with Linköping HC. Pasic has grown up in the Linköping system and has played 11 games with the club this season.
This past week was a big one for Pasic, who picked up two goals in three games, bringing his season total to three goals in 11 games.

FINLAND

Janne Kuokkanen
With Kärpät in Liiga, Kuokkanen added to his point total with one goal in three games this week. He scored a power-play goal for Karpat against Vaasan. His goal at 45:04 ended up the game-winner of the 3-2 matchup.
Overall, the Devils prospect has four points, two goals, and two assists, in 13 games.
Nick Merkley
With Ässät in Liiga, Merkley had one assist this past week to bring his totals to four goals and six assists in 15 games played. His ten points are tied for third in team scoring.
Merkley has been playing on Assat's top line, on the right-wing of Roni Hirvonen, who was selected by the Leafs in the 2020 draft, and Nicolai Meyer on the left.
Eetu Päkkilä
In the last week, Pakkila played two games with his Liiga team, Ilves where he registered two assists. His season totals are now 10 games played, two goals, and four assists.

SLOVAKIA

Marian Studenic
Studenic had three points in his last three games to bring his season total to seven points in nine games with HC Slovan Bratislava in Slovakia. In his three games last week he contributed two goals and an assist.
He has five goals in nine games, just one goal behind the team leader. While his seven points rank third in team scoring.

GERMANY

Nico Daws
Goaltender Nico Daws has joined ERC Ingolstadt of the DEL, the top tier league in Germany. He has not yet played a game. He is expected to return to North America when the OHL season begins.

SWITZERLAND

Ben Baumgartner
The 2020 Devils draft pick suited up for two games last week with Davos, collecting two assists.
He has four points in seven games (two goals, two assists) in the Swiss league.