The Rundown | PROSPECT WATCH

The season is getting down to the brass tacks for many Devils prospects on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean with critical games taking place all week.
The most notable game is between Michigan and Colgate in Allentown, Pa., on Friday.
Devils defensive prospects Luke Hughes, Seamus Casey, and Ethan Edwards all play critical roles on the Wolverines blue line, who are the NCAA tournament's third seed and will be looking to improve upon their national semi-final appearance at last year's Frozen Four.
The winner of the Michigan-Colgate game will take on the winner of Penn State-Michigan Tech on Sunday.
This year's Frozen Four is taking place in Tampa from April 6-8.
All eyes will be on Hughes, who last week was named to the All-Big Ten team; Casey was named to the rookie squad.
Whenever Michigan's season ends, Hughes is expected to join the Devils in Newark. It has been quite a run for Hughes, who will have just turned 20 when next season's training camps open, with 39- and 42-point seasons in Ann Arbor. His freshman season saw him post 17G-22A in 41 games, while this season he flipped his stat line, scoring nine times and adding 33 assists in 36 games so far.

Devils draft pick Case McCarthy, also a defenseman who was taken in the fourth round (118th overall) in 2019, plays for Boston University, but he was injured in the Hockey East semi-finals against Providence on Friday at TD Garden.
Devils prospects Artem Shlaine (Northern Michigan) and Patrick Moynihan (Providence) and their teams fell one stop short of the national tournament after losing overtime games last week in their conference playoffs.
Samu Salminen, a center in his first year at the University of Connecticut, was eliminated earlier in the tournament in an overtime loss to Moynihan's Friars squad. Salminen turns 20 next month and saw his season start late due to visa issues but had a good freshman campaign; he scored nine goals and added eight assists in 27 games.
In the Canadian junior leagues, Josh Filmon of the Swift Current Broncos has scored 45 goals to sit among the Western Hockey League leaders. The Devils' sixth-round pick (166th overall) from last year's draft turned 19 last week. Despite his heroics, the Broncos are struggling in the WHL standings and in danger of missing the playoffs.
Filmon and the Broncos' playoff fate will be determined after this weekend's slate of games. If the Broncos miss the post-season, Filmon is eligible to report to the Utica Comets.
Goaltender Ty Brennan of the Prince George Cougars and his team will open the WHL playoffs against the Tri-City Americans. Brennan (2.89/.895) has had an up-and-down season but has performed better lately, assuming the No. 1 spot in the Cougars crease that also includes Vancouver Canucks draft pick Ty Young.
The WHL playoffs begin on March 31.
Chase Stillman, taken 28th overall in 2021, has just returned from injury. Stillman's Peterborough Petes squad is likely headed with a first-round playoff clash with the defending Ontario Hockey League champion Hamilton Bulldogs.
Stillman, in his final junior season, has 19 goals and 27 assists in 56 games after also missing time to suspension.
In Europe, Finnish defenseman Topias Vilen's Pelicans squad is currently playing in a Liiga quarter-final series. Vilen, taken in the fifth round (129th overall) two years ago, had something of a break-out season with nine goals and eight assists in 41 games, his third with the team based in his hometown of Lahti. In an interview with Sam Kasan earlier this season for this website, Vilen, who turns 20 next week, said that he plans on coming to North America after this season. Whether Vilen's season in Finland ends in time for him to potentially play some games with the Utica Comets remains to be seen.
In Russia, Arseni Gritsyuk and his Omsk squad are taking part in a conference semi-final series against Magnitogorsk. Gritsyuk was also taken 129th overall by the Devils, two years before Vilen. He had a 40-point regular season and has scored three times in five games so far in the KHL playoffs. Gritsyuk, 22, also helped Russia win a silver medal at the 2022 Olympics; Russia will not be taking part in this year's world hockey championship for the second consecutive season per International Ice Hockey Federation sanctions against his country due to the war in Ukraine.