Devils shuffle lineup for Prospects Challenge vs. BOS

The Devils prospects are preparing for their second game at the 2016 Prospects Challenge in Buffalo at the HarborCenter later tonight and, with the exception of switching out a few players so everyone gets a chance to play, the game plan remains the same.
Sitting tonight are Pavel Zacha, Joe Blandisi, Alex Kuqali and Ken Appleby, which means the lines have been put in a blender for tonight's game against Boston, but just on pulse…not obliterate. Head coach Rick Kowalsky has kept some pairs together considering the chemistry they showed in last night's 6-3 win over Buffalo - McCloud will move up to the top line to center Queenville and Lappin and, due to the offensive skills he showed last night, Brandon Gignac earned a spot on the second line with Coleman. Evan Cormier gets the start tonight with Mackenzie Blackwood scheduled to come in for the second and third.

I'll be writing more about this later in the week, but the entire amateur scouting department is here to get to know more about the prospects and what they bring to the team, their development path and what kinds of improvement they should be on the lookout for during the season. For many of the scouts, this is the first time they are seeing these guys play. For example, the US scouts don't watch many OHL games and might not have seen Mike McCloud in a game situation before last night.
The entire development staff is also here as part of the coaching crew and, in the not too distant future, you'll learn more about them and what they do during the season to make sure the players are progressing the best they can. There's so much going on behind the scenes that doesn't often get written about, but I'm going to try my best to give you guys a peek behind that curtain as we head into main camp starting Thursday.
For now, stay tuned to twitter starting at 7pm for game updates as the Devils take on the Bruins at the 2016 Prospects Challenge.