New Jersey Devils Prospect Nostalgia Update: Whatever Happened to Brandon Burlon?

Drafted by the Devils in the 2nd round (56th overall) in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft, Brandon Burlon was the third highest player ever selected from the St. Michael's Buzzers of the OPJHL after longtime NHLers Andrew Cogliano and Brendan Smith . A 6'0 defenseman, Burlon was alternate captain of the Buzzers in his draft year and committed to the University of Michigan, where he would play three seasons including one final year with future Devils defenseman John Merrill. Burlon's offensive numbers were never flashy, but solid, even finishing 2nd in defensive scoring for Michigan in his final collegiate season behind the aforementioned Merrill with 18 points in 38 games.

Then it was off to the Albany Devils for Burlon, who would be a mainstay of their defensive core for five full seasons between 2011-2016. Burlon's best season would be an 8 goal, 36 point campaign in 2014-2015. It would be Burlon's second to last season in the organization.

Burlon would never get the call. In his final season with the franchise, the playoff-missing Devils would suit up a long list of defenseman, including Eric Gelinas (35 games), David Warsofsky (10 games), Marc-Andre Gragnani (4 games), Seth Helgeson (19 games), Vojtech Mozik (7 games) and Steven Santini (1 game), while seeing regular contributions from the likes of David Schlemko (67 games) and Burlon's former collegiate teammate John Merrill (47 games), but never Burlon.