I wasn't expecting to be interested in this draft until at least late May, so the fact I am having a good look in March just goes to show how awry this season has gone.
The Devils currently hold the 9th overall pick, which is a very decent pick.
Now I am not sure how much effort I am going to put into looking at the first round players, because I don't think the Devils keep this pick . It has to be our main asset in trying to address the goaltender situation.
But in the unlikely event we do keep it , it's worth seeing what's around.
Looking at the mock rankings the top 20 or so prospects are incredibly defense heavy. Which is clearly an area where we have depth. So to my mind that makes it even more likely we deal the pick.
Outside Macklin Celibrini at 1st overall there doesn't seem to be much consensus on the rest of the top 10.
Anyway looking at mock drafts the most common selections for the Devils have been Cole Eiserman , Sam Dickinson, Konsta Helenius and Zeeve Buium.
The first three are forwards and Buium is a LD.
Eiserman seems like the most logical fit on paper. He is a scoring LW playing for the USNTDP. He offensive skills are regularly compared to Cole Caufield. So given the previous fit between Jack and Caufiled, could this be a similar match.
What seems to be regularly flaged as a weakness for Eiserman is his skating, which for me is a red flag in the modern NHL.
In a way his profile sort of reads like Alex Holtz, great shot, not so great skating.
Haven't had a chance to look at the others yet. But will update this as I go.