Reid Boucher in the preseason (NJ.com) – he’ll be wearing #15 tonight though

With the Devils struggling to score and having few prospects available in the system up front, it seemed inevitable that 20-year old Reid Boucher would eventually be called up.  Especially once the former ’11 fourth-rounder started lighting it up in Albany with ten goals and eight assists in twenty-one games for the baby Devils, including goals in five straight.  That moment has finally arrived for Boucher, as last-season’s record-setting scorer in the OHL will make his NHL debut tonight.  A Michigan native, Boucher admitted he wasn’t expecting the call yet:

“I was a little surprised that it was now, but I’ve been playing pretty good hockey so far,” Boucher said. “I’m on a bit of a run with points, so I’m just happy to get the call…it’s going to be something I’ll remember for the rest of my life, so I want to do something special with it.”

Boucher will start out on a line with Patrik Elias and a suddenly-heating up Steve Bernier.  Unlike with other young players still on the roster, there’s no immediate danger of Boucher relegated to fourth-line duty, according to coach Pete DeBoer.

“I think we know what he is,” DeBoer said. “He’s got to play in your top six, top nine forwards. He’s not going to be a checker, he’s not a big guy, but he has a special talent that we could use in the organization. He’ll play with Elias tonight and we’ll see how that goes.”

DeBoer also mentioned the schedule, how it was the sixth game in ten nights and they wanted to get some fresh legs in the lineup which is true.  It also can’t be denied that an offense which only has 61 goals in 28 games and struggled mightily last year needed a spark.  Especially with the coach admitting he was overplaying one of the few scorers we do have in 42-year old Jaromir Jagr, whose minutes have been creeping into the upper 20’s the last few games.

Despite the Devils’ sub-.500 record to this point, so far this season’s shaping up to be an important transition year if nothing else with young defensemen Eric Gelinas and Jon Merrill already making successful debuts and Boucher getting a big opportunity. As one of our few highly-rated prospect forwards, Boucher’s development is paramount to a team with a bunch of older forwards.  At the very least I’m glad I didn’t sell off my tickets to the game tonight and am going to see his NHL debut.