CHL notebook: Devils prospect Filmon flourishing in WHL

Future NHL stars are developing in the Canadian Hockey League this season. Each week, NHL.com will highlight a few of the top NHL-affiliated prospects in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, the Ontario Hockey League and the Western Hockey League.

Josh Filmon
said he didn't change his pregame dinner choice or tape his stick any different before he played for Swift Current against Edmonton on Dec. 16.
"Pucks were finding me and I was ready to shoot," the New Jersey Devils forward prospect said.
Filmon certainly was, and the result was a remarkable six goals.
His first came 39 seconds into the game when he scored on a rebound, then he scored on the power play at 4:02 of the first.
"At that point, it was like, 'Oh, I'm trying to get the hat trick,'" Filmon said. "Scoring goals isn't easy, and then after that I was literally surprising myself. Pucks just kept finding me."

They found him four times in the second. He capped his hat trick with a shorthanded goal off an Edmonton turnover at 4:05 and No. 4 came on a rebound in close at 8:02.
His fifth came after he served a penalty for hooking, jumping out of the box and into a breakaway at 12:41.
"What are the odds I'll take a bad stick penalty and you come out of the box and puck is right on your stick for a breakaway?" he said.
The sixth goal came on a one-timer from the slot at 16:19. With nearly 24 minutes remaining in the game, Filmon was looking for one more to tie the Western Hockey League single-game record.
"It was in the back of my mind, and I think it was with my team," he said. "I pretty much got given every opportunity in that third period to try and score. ... I got a breakaway late, with about three minutes left in the third. It was actually shorthanded, and as soon as there was a loose puck, I was pretty much springing for a chip for a breakaway and I ended up with it, but the goalie made a pretty good save."
Filmon had to settle for being the first WHL player to score six in a game since Tyler Ennis of Medicine Hat in 2009. But the good news was his parents and girlfriend were in the stands that night, as was Devils development coach Mark Voakes.
A sixth-round pick (No. 166) in the 2022 NHL Draft, Filmon said the Devils have been good to work with this season, and the development staff has been happy by the growth of his game beyond his six-goal night.
With 21 goals in 27 games, he's close to matching the 23 he scored in 67 games last season. Filmon (6-foot-1, 158 pounds) said his goal is to keep producing offensively while adding strength and making quicker decisions with the puck.
"I am a leaner guy, I'm not huge, I don't have a huge physical presence on the ice," he said. "The big thing with me is just being strong and winning battles along the wall and then using my skills to the best of my ability. Trying to work on getting my head up before I even get the puck and scan plays quicker. Just so that hopefully once I make that transition to pro hockey, I'm able to process things quicker."
OTHERS TO WATCH
Matthew Maggio, RW, Windsor (New York Islanders):Maggio extended his point streak to 10 games (13 goals, six assists) and his goal streak to six when he scored against Guelph on Friday in Windsor's second game back from the holiday break. It was Maggio's OHL-high 26th goal of the season and includes a five-goal game against Erie on Dec. 15. That night he had a hat trick in the first period and scored two short-handed goals in the second. The Islanders selected the 20-year-old in the fifth round (No. 142) of the 2022 NHL Draft.
Jacob Melanson, RW, Acadie-Bathurst (Seattle Kraken):Melanson had a single-game QMJHL-best six points (three goals, three assists) in Acadie-Bathurst's 7-4 win against Moncton on Dec. 17. He assisted on the game's first goal, helped Acadie-Bathurst rally from down 4-1 with a goal to make it 4-3, then had the primary assist on the game-tying and game-winning goals. He closed the scoring with two goals in the third period. The 19-year-old, selected by the Kraken in the fifth round (No. 131) of the 2021 NHL Draft, is tied for fourth in the QMJHL with 25 goals in 28 games
Fraser Minten, C, Kamloops (Toronto Maple Leafs): It took three WHL seasons for Minten to get his first hat trick and it took him 24 hours to get his second. The 18-year-old scored three times and had an assist in a 6-4 win against Kelowna on Dec. 27, and one night later he scored three again against Kelowna, with one of the goals each night the game winner. Selected by the Maple Leafs in the second round (No. 38) of the 2022 draft, Minten has 13 points (nine goals, four assists) during a six-game point streak, and 36 points (19 goals, 17 assists) in 25 games this season.
Photo: Andy Devlin