text: Devils: 5 prospects who could push for an NHL job in training camp | NJ.com
  Devils: 5 prospects who could push for an NHL job in training camp
  Devils rookie winger Reid Boucher chats with assistant coach Dave Barr during rookie camp.
  on July 22, 2014 at 3:23 PM, updated July 22, 2014 at 3:52 PM
  After holding the team's annual rookie camp last week, Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello and coach Pete DeBoer have an idea which players might be challenging for a job when training camp opens in September.
  "It all depends on what you call rookies," Lamoriello told The Star-Ledger Tuesday. "We have three young defensemen (Eric Gelinas, Jon Merrill, Adam Larsson). One played a little more than the other and one played a couple of years ago. They have to come in and gain a spot.
  "Up front, it will be the progress of players like (Stefan) Matteau and (Reid) Boucher, who've had a taste of it. Or it could be whatever else we do whether it be transactions by subtraction or addition. And you have the goaltending situation, so there are things up for grabs."
  Not all of the organization's prospects attended the developmental camp, but here are five of the top candidates with a chance to earn a spot on the NHL roster:
  Reid Boucher, LW: He'll be 21 at the start of camp. In his 23 games with the Devils last season he scored just two goals. It will take some goal-scoring in camp and preseason to make it.
  Stefan Matteau, LW: Will there be room on the third or fourth line for the 20-year-old winger? They'd like him to score some goals, but playing physical and keeping the puck in the opponents' end will be the key to sticking.
  Keith Kinkaid, G: He didn't attend rookie camp, but his chances of making the team are good. A solid season in the AHL and encouragement from Lamoriello could give him the upper hand on becoming Cory Schneider's backup.
  Damon Severson, D: The 6-2, 210-pound Manitoba native has only played two AHL games, but he look capable of making the jump from junior to the NHL last year. He'll be one to watch.
  Scott Wedgewood, G: Kinkaid may be ahead of him, but he has vowed to put up a fight for a job. The 84th overall pick in the 2010 entry draft will enter camp with confidence, but his fight will be a difficult one.
  It is, of course, not very likely that the Devils would keep for or five rookies.
  "Let's put it this way: Anything is possible,"Lamoriello said. "Is it probable? No. But it is possible."
  Lamoriello was pleased with rookie camp.
  "I thought it was one of the best rookie camps we've had," he said. "What we set out to accomplish was accomplished. It was the first time we had all of our draft choices from the present draft, and a lot of the others.
  "The message was to try and get them to see the fundamental end of the game and how we think and then to get into the mental end of the game with some of the meetings we had. In the exit interviews we had with the players who've been here a few years, they expressed that. It was great. More importantly, I was pleasantly pleased with a couple of the people I had not seen other than on film."