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Despite the Devils having 14 forwards signed to one-way deals - with the potential for that number to jump to 15 if the team brings back Ryan Carter - Lou Lamoriello has been adamant that the team's young players will get a chance to make the team in camp.

Among that group of kids expected to compete for a spot is soon to be 21-year-old Reid Boucher.

Boucher was given a taste of the NHL in his first season as a pro, playing in 23 games with New Jersey. He held his own recording seven points while averaging just over 11 minutes of action per night. Though the sample size was small, that production is quite good. His points/60 minutes of 5 vs 5 rate was 1.78, which was 2nd on the team only behind Jaromir Jagr. He also owned a 57% possession rating and 56GF%.

Boucher played pretty well with the Devils, but rather than give him 11-12 minutes a night, the team elected to send him back to Albany to take on a larger role there.

Boucher went down to Albany and produced at a pretty good clip, as he potted 22 goals in 56 games while playing a significant role on a team that went on to make the playoffs.

While his pro experience is limited, there's reason to believe he might be ready for the NHL.

Obviously what we saw during his time with New Jersey was pretty good, but his production in Albany is even more encouraging.

He scored a hair under .40 goals per game in Albany as a 20-year-old, which was better than Adam Henrique's 25-goal campaign where he scored .34 goals per game as a rookie with Albany, and we know what he did as a 21-year-old rookie in the NHL.

Boucher fared pretty well in New Jersey, and with another year of developing on-ice and physically, it's certainly reasonable to expect better things in 2014-15. I'm not saying he'll post 50 points if makes the team, but his progress leaves reason to be optimistic.

Ultimately Boucher's training camp will decide his fate, but it's probably not far fetched to say he's ready for full-time NHL duty.

Devils posts

Guessing the defense

On the league's best offensive penalty killers

Comparing Zajac, Jagr to NHL's elite duos

Early Metro Division predictions

On Metro Division goaltending

On Travis Zajac and Mike Cammalleri

Jackets posts

Who should be the team's next captain?

Sonny Milano ripped it up at U.S. WJ evaluation camp

Paying Enforcers

Exchanging Proposals

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