Andre Deveaux

Name: Andre Deveaux
Position: Right Wing/Center
Shoots: Right
Height: 6.03
Weight: 240 lbs
Born: 2/23/84
Acquired: Signed as a Free Agent 9/15/04

Junior Career
Deveaux began his junior career with Belleville of the OHL where he was selected in the first round, 17th overall, of the 2000 OHL Priority Draft. As a rookie at age 16 he had 3 goals and 9 points in 58 games and a promising playoffs with 3 goals and 9 points in 10 postseason games. The following season his production improved to 8 goals and 21 points in 64 games, but his offensive output would never meet the expectations of his high draft selection. At midseason he was ranked 67th among North American skaters by the NHL Central Scouting Service but at season's end he was left off their final rankings. That summer he was selected in the 6th round, 182nd overall, by the Montreal Canadiens in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft. The next season Deveaux was traded at midseason to the Owen Sound Attack. In total he had 15 goals and 37 points in 63 regular season games to go along with 126 penalty minutes. In the playoffs for Owen Sound he had 2 goals and 4 points in 4 games as the Attack were swept out in the first round. The next year, the 2003-2004 season, was his last and best year in junior as he scored 16 goals and 46 points in 64 games with 151 penalty minutes. In the playoffs he had 3 goals and 6 points in 7 games. He was nominated by Owen Sound for the OHL's top faceoff man award. Despite his slow and steady improvement, Montreal chose not to sign Deveaux and he went undrafted as a re-entry in the 2004 draft.

Professional Career
Deveaux was invited by the Lightning to play for their prospect team at the 2004 Traverse City prospect tournament. He scored 2 assists in 3 games at the tournament and impressed the Lightning organization enough that they signed him in September of 2004. Deveaux was assigned to Springfield of the AHL where he spent the entire season scoring 4 goals and 12 points in 73 games as a rookie to go with 210 penalty minutes as a rookie. At season's end he was voted the winner of the club's Unsung Hero Award. With the lockout lifted that summer Deveaux attended Lightning camp before being assigned again to Springfield where he has played the balance of this season.

Talent Analysis
Pros:
Deveaux is as big and strong a customer as you'll find this side of Evgeny Artyukhin. He is a good faceoff man who has shown strong work ethic, particularly on the forecheck, during his time with the Lightning organization. He is extremely difficult to move off the puck down low in the offensive zone.

Cons:
Deveaux's skating is subpar, particularly his acceleration. He has a very modest offensive skill set and is unlikely to ever be more than a bit contributor on the scoresheet as a pro.

Future
Coach Dirk Graham has said publicly he believes Deveaux will be an NHLer some day. Bolt Prospects agrees Deveaux will at least get a cup of coffee at the next level as a hard working 4th line energy player. Whether or not he can stick and make a career of it at the top level will depend on if he can continue to improve his skating and can find a favorable roster situation ahead of him. He could provide the Lightning the type of role Chris Dingman played for the team the previous two seasons as a checking line player who specializes in generating puck possession and killing clock late in games where the Lightning have the lead.

Statistics Courtesy hockeydb.com

Profile Created 2/24/06 by Pete Choquette