Looking Forward | 10 TAKEAWAYS

It had been a long time coming, and you can be sure the energy felt great after a victory in Florida. Not only did the Devils find themselves posting a victory, but it was one of those victories where it really felt earned. There are wins that feel like maybe you didn't play your best, lucky to win, and losses where you feel like you really should have won.
That one felt completely earned. And hopefully puts the team on a new trajectory heading into the New Year.
But for now, we have a look into the last week that was in 10 Takeaways presented by Ticketmaster.

2.

Sticking with Devils prospects, Josh Filmon, who was drafted this past June, had a game for the ages the other night. With his Western Hockey League team, the Swift Current Broncos, Filmon had a six-goals in a 36-minute span to become the first player since 2009 to score six goals in a WHL game.
Pretty great for him to have that moment just before the holiday's with his mother and father in the crowd before returning to Winnipeg for the holiday break.

• RELATED: Filmon Pots Touchdown | PROSPECT WATCH

3.

Players like Filmon can be fascinating. True, there are players who make a lot of noise at the Junior league level that don't end up making it in the NHL and that usually tends to be the norm, but the Devils have had some valuable luck in the later rounds of the draft and it will be fascinating to see where Filmon ends up fitting into the mix in the end, a few years from now.
But New Jersey has been opportunistic and has found diamonds in the rough that pay serious dividends.
Jesper Bratt, Yegor Sharangovich and Akira Schmid are all fifth-round and later picks, drafted and developed by the franchise.

4.

Speaking of Schmid...
Man, oh man, what a run this was for Akira Schmid. Returned to Utica on Dec. 19, it was just over a year since he made his NHL debut on Dec. 11, 2021. It made me think back to what this last 12-month stretch must have been like for him. Last season was such a difficult one, thrust into the NHL before he was truly ready and with a struggling team, not a single NHL win to come of it.
He goes back to Utica along with Nico Daws for the stretch run with Utica and an eventual playoff exit to Laval. Then a summer to think about it all. Schmid has had such an unlikely route to the NHL by all accounts. Last Dec. 11, he became the first goaltender in history to play in THE NHL a year after playing an entire year only in the USHL.
At Development Camp this past summer, Schmid was well aware that he was coming into a new year where he had played in the NHL but had yet to register a win. Whatever doubt he may have been feeling - if any - suddenly evaporated with an incredible, yet unexpected (again) run with New Jersey.
His most recent stint with the club had been excellent with a 5-3-0 record, a 1.96 GAA and a .932 save percentage.

5.

Congratulations to Patrik Elias for his induction in to the Czech Hockey Hall of Fame… could the Hockey Hall be next?

6.

To see Dougie Hamilton back healthy this year has been such a revelation. It had to have been so difficult, for the team and the player, to have such an injury-riddled first season as a partnership. We never really saw Dougie truly settle in.
But this year has been different. There's a different air of confidence and stability to Hamilton's game and he and Jonas Siegenthaler have been an exceptional top pairing. Hamilton currently sits at No. 2 in shots for a defenseman this season with 113, which is ten ahead of Brent Burns who sits third, while Roman Josi runs away with the stat with 133 shots for the league lead.

7.

No one will ever be able to convince me that Nico Hischier's face-off against Aleksander Barkov was a 'dirty play'. He was the first to admit that he did get Barkov's knee, but it was certainly not intended or targeted.
Talking about the play, Hischier spoke about the importance of that final-minute face-off and the pride he takes in his draws. You cannot blame him for thinking that way, especially with the recent devastating final minute/second goals the team has given up on their winless stretch.
The comments I've seen - albeit, from opposing fans, not Devils fans - about how dirty a play it was etc, and clearly the Panthers felt the same the way they targeted Nico the rest of the night - are ludicrous. It's not his style or part of his game.
I mean, the kid has just 85 penalty minutes in \*six* seasons.

8.

When Kevin Bahl returned to the Devils lineup the other night, I kind of went down into one of those blackholes where one Google search leads to another, and another, and another…
This time I started by going back on the trade that included Bahl for Taylor Hall with the Coyotes.
But by the time I was done, was reminded what a fantastic trade that has ended up being for the Devils. Bahl was part of the deal with Nick Merkley and Nate Schnarr, both of whom have moved on from the Devils organization, but it's draft picks that were included that made me do a double take.
The two picks a 2020 first and 2021 third, turned into Dawson Mercer (drafted 18th overall in 2020) and Jonas Siegenthaler (Coyotes pick traded to Washington).
A good reminder how of valuable picks are in this league, whether you're selecting players or trading them. I wonder what people would say if it was listed as "Taylor Hall for Jonas Siegenthaler, Dawson Mercer, and Kevin Bahl."

9.

Last week I sat in the locker room talking with Vitek Vanecek for what I was hoping to be a Stallmates interview. Well, it went terribly (and I said as much to Vitek's face), because well, it turns out the way the Washington locker room was set up, he didn't really have a 'stallmate' per se, sitting in a corner, without anymore next to him. So we won't be getting a Stallmate feature from Vitek anytime soon, but he did tell me he's been really enjoying sitting next to Mackenzie Blackwood in the Devils locker room, Mackenzie always with something to joke about or say, keeping Vitek laughing and vice versa.
One day when he has more time under his belt with the Devils, I'll try for a Stallmate article again with him. But I really did have to let him know that our 'sit down' was one of the least successful I've ever had.
We both got a good laugh out of it.

10.

And once again, Jack Hughes joins an elite company.