Conte's drafting history does not indicate he values size. teddy, gio, mccauley, scarlett et cetera.
Kujawinski is going to be on the roster by next year.
Matteau is a good pick, he is going to be in the NHL for a long time.
I assume that is who you are referring to because no one else the Devils have drafted has a Zubrus like build or skill set.
Right now you can make the case that the Devils potentially drafted the two best players following pick 28.
http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/draft/nhl2012e.html
You can only blame Conte so much. It isn't like he went off the draft board and selected people who had no business being drafted in the first round. Teddy, Jo, Matteau, and Quenville were all supposed to go within that range.
Conte has been bad at drafting forwards, but he has revamped the back end. Before you anoint Shero, as a drafting genius, take a look at his record, it is probably his weakest aspect.
123
The Philadelphia Inquirer is reporting that 76ers’ center Joel Embiid—the third pick in last year’s draft—has suffered setbacks in his recovery from surgery on his right foot and is unlikely to be ready for the start of next season, and may even miss the entire 2015-16 season.
What I would have done.
1. Kept Lou
2. Explore Russian players be it free agents or former NHL players such as Radulov and Burmistrov
3. Try to trade for Phil Kessel
4. Take the BPA at 6
Hynes is a defensive stalwart with little experience working or mentoring top offensive talent. In my opinion, you would get the same result with. Stevens
Not trying to troll, but the Devils rivalry is with the Rangers, not the Canadiens. Your Montreal fetish is really weird, considering a great deal of the Devils success is a result of Lou mimicking the Habs.