Jean-Pierre Devote - 12 Games In

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We are now 12 games into the career of the eventual Monegasque GOAT Jean-Pierre Devote, and in that short amount of time, he has proven to be an elite playmaker in the VHLM alongside fellow Season 93 prospect Antonia Bucatini. Devote currently sits with 2 goals and 7 assists for 9 points on Philadelphia's 2nd line, a respectable amount of points considering his inexperience in a high level atmosphere and it being his first time ever living more than 5 hours from home. Devote and Bucatini seem to have already established themselves as solid 2nd line players for the current season, and come next season could be the top 2 draft selections in the VHLM. The addition of these two high level prospects has taken a decent Philadelphia team from a consensus early playoff exit, to a possible favourite to win the Founder's cup. With the current development rate seen within both Bucatini and Devote, it looks very likely that Philadelphia will have 2 more extremely high level forwards who play well together by the time playoffs come around. The one issue seen with Devote's game is his lack of finishing ability, he only has 2 goals this season despite having 55 shots on net, that's a shot to goal conversion rate of only 3.6%, the lowest on Philadelphia by far. It seems more that Devote's lack of goals is less caused by an inability to create offense, but more an inability to capitalize on the chances he is given. Luckily he has both Anderson and Bucatini there to collect and pocket whatever rebounds Devote creates, allowing him to rack up assists and points despite his lack of shot conversion. Devote has also proven to be more than just an offensive player, one thing that scouts had drawn attention to. In his tenure with ZSC, Devote never really displayed a defensive prowess, in the VHLM however, Devote sits at +6 currently, alongside 5 blocked shots in his 12 games. This will surely increase his draft stock as teams much prefer a player who can create offense while keeping the puck out of their own net at the same time. Devote's physical play has remained what was expected by scouts, as he is only averaging 1 hit per game, but with players like 6'8 Olumide Anderson on his line, he hasn't really had the need to throw hits. Anderson's size and strength alone keep him and Bucatini safe, despite their smaller size, and his physical presence is allowing the two youngsters to create chances and feed each other the puck constantly. Both Bucatini and Devote show massive signs of promise and have the potential to become some of the all-time greats from each of their respective countries. With the only true competition for Devote being an old, relatively low ceiling, Monegasque player with barely 300 points in their VHL career, Devote could easily surpass the mark to become the greatest Monegasque player of all time and, hopefully, get inducted into the Hall of Fame eventually.

 

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