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2014 Draft Thread


thefiestygoat

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Those Ho-Sang Highlights, good god. He is nasty haha, great skill. I would love NJ to get a talent player right now.

 

I feel like if we can take Ho-Sang, LL has to take him. Lemieux would be nice too, but I feel that he and Matteau are the exact same type of player.

Edited by Devs3cups
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Can comparisons be made between Lemieux and Matteau? I don't know much about Lemieux. They're saying they both play like their fathers which is power forward I'm assuming. While they would both be Lou type of players I personally would also prefer a Ho-Sang type. I'm hearing a lot of back and forth on Ho-Sang though. Some say he drops out of the first round and some say he'll go earlier. 

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Ho-Sang and Point. I like Matteau a lot, but I think he makes Lemieux a bit redundant. Goldobin would be a nice pick as well

 

Yeah that's what I was thinking. I don't think we need a Lemieux type since we already have Matteau. The question now becomes does Lou draft Ho-Sang even if he's still there at 30? I was hoping for Nischuskin last year but heard later that Lou wouldn't have drafted him even if we didn't make the Schneider trade (very happy with that outcome just to be clear).

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You can never have enough character guys in the locker room. You can definitely have too much skill.

 

*head explodes*

 

Just remember that Tedenby was a high skill player, so it's not like the Devils are adverse to taking those players or that they'll work out.  There are also other players that could be available that are plenty skilled themselves and might have a more complete game, Schmaltz, Karlsson, Point.  But in any event, I don't think it's the cockiness or character issues that would turn off Lou and Conte to Ho-Sang, but the apparent holes in his game.  I also doubt that the comment about never drafting him came from Conte since I don't think they care about or expect a revolt from other people in the scouting department based on character issues.  As has been repeated, they looked to have done really well taking a chance on Merrill, who I didn't realize was ISS number 11 ranked player.  That he was around at number 38 leads me to believe he was on a few teams' do not draft list.

 

Lemieux is also intriguing.  He might not be a homerun, but a good agitator with some skill has value beyond being a grinder type.

 

The only thing I do not want to see is the Devils drafting another defenseman with the first two picks unless one of them is DeAngelo, and even that's dicey. 

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Just remember that Tedenby was a high skill player, so it's not like the Devils are adverse to taking those players or that they'll work out.  There are also other players that could be available that are plenty skilled themselves and might have a more complete game, Schmaltz, Karlsson, Point.  But in any event, I don't think it's the cockiness or character issues that would turn off Lou and Conte to Ho-Sang, but the apparent holes in his game.  I also doubt that the comment about never drafting him came from Conte since I don't think they care about or expect a revolt from other people in the scouting department based on character issues.  As has been repeated, they looked to have done really well taking a chance on Merrill, who I didn't realize was ISS number 11 ranked player.  That he was around at number 38 leads me to believe he was on a few teams' do not draft list.

 

Lemieux is also intriguing.  He might not be a homerun, but a good agitator with some skill has value beyond being a grinder type.

 

The only thing I do not want to see is the Devils drafting another defenseman with the first two picks unless one of them is DeAngelo, and even that's dicey. 

 

Merrill had some discipline problems with the U.S. under-18 program and was suspended for two weeks during the 2009-10 season because of an off-ice incident he was accused of, what he described as, “harrassment” of some girls at his high school (Ann Arbor Pioneer). He also reportedly interviewed poorly at the draft combine. Merrill believes that the disciplinary incident probably caused him to drop out of the first round. “I think that played a big role in it,” he said. “That’s pretty much the only answer I have. I guess a lot of teams just didn’t think I’d fit into their organization. He said he “definitely” learned from that incident, though. “Without a doubt,” he said., - See more at: http://blogs.northjersey.com/blogs/fireice/2010/06/P10/#sthash.o7GmU2SK.dpuf

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The only thing I do not want to see is the Devils drafting another defenseman with the first two picks unless one of them is DeAngelo, and even that's dicey. 

 

There are so few defenseman available at the top of the draft that I don't see any of them sliding.  BPA should be a forward, you would think.   At this point, the Devils just desperately need to draft two kids at 30 and 41 that will be assets to the organization 3-5 years from now.    

 

I'm personally hoping for Scherbak or Barbashev to drop to the Devils at 30 simply because they are Russian.  Of course, that somewhat contradicts my previous statement if they bolt back to the KHL in a few years.      

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Re: Lemieux vs. Matteau, I see a lot higher praise of Lemieux than I remember seeing for Matteau. Probably very similar players, but people seem to be talking up Lemieux a bit more in the skill/offense department. Just what I've seen, I'm otherwise not too informed on this year's prospects.

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Just a side note, Brendan Perlini who is due to go in the top ten or so , was born in Guildford, England.

 

His dad played for the Guildford flames, so he spent his childhood playing pee wee ice hockey in the UK.

 

A few of the guys on my team know him and his brother, as they used to play for and coach the Guildford flames junior teams.

 

About as close as we are going to get to having an English player drafted in the 1st round.....

Edited by Chimaira_Devil_#9
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Two writers (Kimelman and Hoffner) at NHL.com both have us taking Brendan Lemieux. Not that I ever listen to NHL.com's people, but I guess it would be the Lou thing to do. (Morreale has us taking Ho-Sang)

 

Appreciate you passing on the information, but it means nothing (especially from NHL.com writers). Mock drafts are confusing but more so in the NHL than in the NFL and NBA where team needs aren't as clear and there are less leaks. I don't think team's are promising agents that they will draft a player if he reaches them like in other sports.

 

And lastly, I don't think there are many draft gurus calling people from each team when they make this list to get a feel what they are going to do...and as we know, there are no leaks from NJ's camp. Conte and Lou have a list. No one else.

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Appreciate you passing on the information, but it means nothing (especially from NHL.com writers). Mock drafts are confusing but more so in the NHL than in the NFL and NBA where team needs aren't as clear and there are less leaks. I don't think team's are promising agents that they will draft a player if he reaches them like in other sports.

 

And lastly, I don't think there are many draft gurus calling people from each team when they make this list to get a feel what they are going to do...and as we know, there are no leaks from NJ's camp. Conte and Lou have a list. No one else.

 

I would just distinguish between draft rankings and mock drafts.  The former helps give a sense of who might be available where.  Mock drafts can do that too, to a certain extent.  The problem is that the people doing them, with the exception of people like Pronman, is that they really don't know that much about most teams' systems.  (It's not really a knock on them, it just takes a lot of effort to do that). 

 

An interesting exercise for someone that has a lot of time on their hands would be to compare the SB Nation mock drafts to those of the talking heads.  For those unfamiliar with the former, it's kind of like a crowd sourced mock where each SB Nation blog for each team makes its own pick.  The advantage of course is that each blogger knows his own team better than the brand name types. 

 

Of course, it's all for fun.

Edited by Daniel
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I would just distinguish between draft rankings and mock drafts.  The former helps give a sense of who might be available where.  Mock drafts can do that too, to a certain extent.  The problem is that the people doing them, with the exception of people like Pronman, is that they really don't know that much about most teams' systems.  (It's not really a knock on them, it just takes a lot of effort to do that). 

 

An interesting exercise for someone that has a lot of time on their hands would be to compare the SB Nation mock drafts to those of the talking heads.  For those unfamiliar with the former, it's kind of like a crowd sourced mock where each SB Nation blog for each team makes its own pick.  The advantage of course is that each blogger knows his own team better than the brand name types. 

 

Of course, it's all for fun.

 

Absolutely, my point was with the "for what it's worth comment"...it's worth nothing but fun.

 

A lot of the mock draft guys might know a ton about each player and can properly rate them, but they have no clue what each individual team wants. Then there are some insiders that might know, but it's just impossible to know what the Devils are going for.

 

As Conte has said a few teams in interviews, the scouts don't meet and discuss and argue players together. They file reports to Conte, and he has his own system. So even if you had scouting connections with the Devils, that scout just files reports and has no clue at all what other scouts are thinking or what Conte is going to do.

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I don't think that Lemieux and Matteau appear that similar.  The video i've seen on Lemieux is amazing.  He doesn't take crap from anyone, stands up for teammates(not a fighter mind you), has a great shot, decent hands, drives the net like a beast.  Kind of reminds me a feistier Parise. 

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Lemi

 

Re: Lemieux vs. Matteau, I see a lot higher praise of Lemieux than I remember seeing for Matteau. Probably very similar players, but people seem to be talking up Lemieux a bit more in the skill/offense department. Just what I've seen, I'm otherwise not too informed on this year's prospects.

 

Being Claude's son probably has a lot to do with the talk as well.

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the devils can do pretty well with forwards in this draft, considering who could be available at their pick in each round. i’m not saying they should choose only forwards for their first three picks, but based on some of the rankings i’ve seen, some of these guys have a decent chance of being available:


 


round 1: pastrnak, vrana, goldobin, scherbak, ho sang, schmaltz, lemieux 


round 2: kamenev, quenneville, karlsson, point


round 3: karabacek, tkachyov


 


honestly hoping the devils select kamenev in the first round if the first four i listed are off the table.


and who knows, we might get lucky if one of fiala, kempe, or barbashev falls for some reason


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Appreciate you passing on the information, but it means nothing (especially from NHL.com writers). Mock drafts are confusing but more so in the NHL than in the NFL and NBA where team needs aren't as clear and there are less leaks. I don't think team's are promising agents that they will draft a player if he reaches them like in other sports.

 

And lastly, I don't think there are many draft gurus calling people from each team when they make this list to get a feel what they are going to do...and as we know, there are no leaks from NJ's camp. Conte and Lou have a list. No one else.

 

Obviously, I know that it means nothing (and I presented it as such with no claim to the contrary????). It's just food for conversation because a bunch of writers wrote it, and I think everyone on here knows that...it's the same as what gets posted here all the time...

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From Lou's quotes to TG, sounds like he's inclined to go with a forward unless there's a clear separation between their ranking of the defenseman and the next forward. 

Which is wha he should do. Unless there is a anothe Merrill talented defensive prospect the forwards are bare and need restocking badly.

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