The Florida Panthers capped off the 2022 NHL Entry Draft in Montreal by taking American forward Jack Devine in the seventh round with the 221st overall pick. And this point, the selection looks like it has the chance to turn out to be a steal.
A product of the U.S. National Development Team Program, the 18-year-old appeared in 36 games with the NCAA’s Denver Pioneers during his draft season, producing three goals and 19 points, which ranked 11th on the team. He blocked 18 shots, amassed 16 penalty minutes, had four multi-point outings and finished his freshman campaign with a plus-12 rating.
Devine scored his first career goal and added an assist on December 3, 2021 in a road game against the Arizona State Sun Devils. He registered a career-high three points (1G/2A) on New Year’s Day versus Alaska Fairbanks and was named NCHC Rookie of the Week two days later. Devine played in all four of Denver’s contests in the NCAA Tournament and had an assist in the national championship game vs. Minnesota State on April 9 as the Pioneers claimed the college crown.
Devine was ranked 75th in Neutral Zone’s 2022 NHL Draft Final Rankings Top 305 and carried a B grade (Low probability of playing NHL games before 22-years-old; some NHL potential).
Neutral Zone had this to say on Devine:
To be: He had 19 points as a true freshman playing for Denver University averaging 12:45 TOI as they won the National Championship. He won 54% of his puck battles. Although slight at 176 pounds, he understands how to use his body to protect the puck thus extending the cycle.
Not to be: As right shot forward he is most comfortable attacking the offensive zone outside the right dot lane. To be effective in professional hockey he will need to learn how to feel comfortable attacking the offensive zone between the face-off dots. He was not used very often as a penalty killer during his freshman year.
After attending Panthers Development Camp in July and taking part in USA Hockey’s National Junior Evaluation Camp in August, Devine returned to the Pioneers for his sophomore season.
He jumped from three to 14 goals and finished the year with 31 points. His 14 goals and six power-play tallies were each the third-highest mark on the team, and his point total placed him sixth on the roster. He registered 90 shots on goal (up from 61 as a freshman), notched four game-winners, and posted a plus-18 rating.
After starting off the season slowly, Devine finished it strong. He collected his first multi-goal game in the NCAA by scoring twice and adding an assist in 6-2 win over Minnesota-Duluth on February 24. A day later, he scored a goal and assisted on three others to establish a new collegiate-best in points in a single game in a 6-5 loss to the Bulldogs. On March 10, he produced another four-point outing by pouring in four goals in a 6-2 rout of the Miami RedHawks to open the 2023 NCHC Tournament. He scored his final goal of the season a day later as the Pioneers beat Miami 7-2 to advance to the quarterfinals where they were eliminated 1-0 by Colorado College. Devine registered three shots on goal in Denver’s 2-0 NCAA Tournament-opening loss to Cornell.
Given top line minutes, Devine absolutely exploded offensively during his junior season, leading the Pioneers with 27 goals and 56 points. His goal total was fourth-highest in the nation while his point total was seventh. His 142 shots on goal, nine power-play goals and 16 power-play points were also team-highs. He was named an All-American (West First Team) for the first time in his career and was a top-10 finalist for the Hobey Baker Award.
He served notice early that a big campaign was in the cards by scoring twice and adding two helpers in the season-opener against Alaska Fairbanks. He followed that up by scoring twice against the Nanooks a day later. While Devine didn’t register any hat tricks, he put up nine multi-goal games. His biggest performance of the season, and NCAA career, came on January 19, when scored twice and assisted on three goals against the Omaha Mavericks. Devine did go a bit cold towards the end of the season, collecting just three assists over Denver’s last seven games. He registered three shots on goal in the NCAA championship game as the Pioneers shut out Boston College 2-0, making him a two-time title winner.
Devine attended his third development camp in South Florida in the summer of 2024 and decided to forego turning pro to return to Denver for his senior season. After pouring in the goals as a junior, he completely flipped the script statistically as a senior, leading the nation in both assists (44) and scoring with 57 points. He finished his NCAA career as the highest-scoring player in the modern era of Denver hockey with 163 points (57G/106A). Although he only scored 13 times during his senior campaign, 11 of his goals came after the New Year and he put up seven goals during a nine-game stretch from February 14 to March 14.
He began the season with a career-long eight-game point streak that ran from October 5 to November (1G/15A), which was also the longest assist streak of the year by a Pioneer skater. Devine started the streak off by racking up four power-play assists in the season-opener at Alaska Anchorage. He matched the streak with second eight-game run from November 9 to December 13 that saw him score once and collect ten helpers. His final NCAA point was an assist in the 3-1 victory over No. 1 Boston College in the NCAA Northeast Regional Final on March 30 to secure Denver’s spot in the Frozen Four for the second-straight season, where they were bounced by Western Michigan.
On April 12, Devine signed a three-year, entry-level contract with Panthers, which will start during the upcoming 2025-26 campaign. He also signed a professional tryout with the Charlotte Checkers for the remainder of the season.
He made his pro debut for the Checkers on April 16, and assisted on Charlotte’s first two goals in a 3-2 road win over the Hartford Wolf Pack. He played two more regular season games, a back-to-back against the Springfield Thunderbirds, registering just one shot on goal.
Devine made seven appearances in the Calder Cup Playoffs, producing two goals and three helpers. He picked up an assist in both Game 4 and Game 5 of the final series against the Abbotsford Canucks and scored Charlotte’s final goal on the season in the 3-2 Game 6 loss that saw the Canucks win the championship at Bojangles Coliseum.
With the Panthers’ roster seemingly locked and loaded as the franchise guns for a three-peat, expect for Devine to get a full season marinating with the Checkers. If he continues to adapt to the pro game quickly, injury call-up duty could be in the cards.