Devils pick Goalie Blackwood with 2nd round pick

[slasher72]

Great pick! We're dying for offense and you go with a goalie. WTF. Who called that one in? Conte?

[Onddeck]

I like this pick. Dude is one of the top goalie prospects in a extremely deep draft, he's tall like Bishop and can really play.

What next to NO ONE understands on here is that our depth at goaltender isn't as good as fans would like to believe. We have a stud number one who is currently on the wrong side of 20, Clarmont and Wedgewood both became major duds, Clemmer won't be retained...

We don't really have that many prospects at this position if you think about it, especially skilled ones. I rather have done Merrill + this pick for Barzal but those freaking out about this pick are TRULY freaking out about nothing and/or are literally in-informed.

realizing he had just a .906 and 3+GAA last year would make us actually LITERALLY INFORMED

[themightyall]

realizing he had just a .906 and 3+GAA last year would make us actually LITERALLY INFORMED

 

What would be a good save percentage for a CHL goalie?  Generally skaters have super high points in juniors so wouldn't it make sense that save numbers are lower too?  I don't follow the prospects that well so I usually just read about the type of player they are afterwards and just hope they pan out.  We need prospects to develop into NHL players no matter the position.  I think they drafted him based on his physical attributes (similar to Zacha who didn't light it up in the OHL).  Being a butterfly, he'd just have to hone in on proper positioning because he has the size. 

[slasher72]

I'll say this much...it's a joke that we couldn't package this pick and a player like Gelinas for Barzal. The Islanders basically got him with a steal. And instead of taking a player like Yan, we take a goalie. This draft is starting to remind me of last year's, when we had a chance to take Lemieux's kid but went with Quenneville. Shero might be the new GM but it's obvious the draft is still Lou and Conte's show.

[Devs3cups]

I'm so-so about this pick. We have Schneider for 7 years still, and maybe even more afterwards if he re-signs, but after, we're all out, and Blackwood will be 24-25 by then. He could be a solid piece.

Edited June 29, 2015 by Devs3cups

[Neb00rs]

Though we do need a goalie for our system, why the hell would we be in a rush to pick one if the guy we are getting is not even projected to be that good? When our true lack of depth is at forward, draft a forward and worry about the goalie thing another time.

Edited June 27, 2015 by Neb00rs

[mfitz804]

Awesome name, it's more like the name of a Game of Thrones character than a goalie.

I'd have gone for another offensive player, but yeah, there will come a time we need another goalie. So while it doesn't upset me, I feel very ehhh about it.

[MadDog2020]

So we have Black and Wood. And now we have Blackwood. And Wedgewood. [emoji12]

Edited June 27, 2015 by MadDog2020

[MadDog2020]

‏@TGfireandice 2m2 minutes ago

Devlls' fans complained when they took Steve Santini in 2nd rd in 2013 because he was D. Guy is probably their best prospect.

Tom Gulitti ‏@TGfireandice 2m2 minutes ago

Position right now matters little.

Edited June 27, 2015 by MadDog2020

[Jerzey]

This would have been a great pick if we didn't trade the 41st which we could have used for a forward. But I'm really not too upset with this pick. Dude sounds like he's gonna be a stud.

If he was closer to NHL ready I'd say try to package Kinky with Merrill and maybe something else for Barzal from NYI.

Edited June 27, 2015 by Jerzey Devil

[thecoffeecake]

Where did pick 36 go

[mfitz804]

If I'm to believe what I see on the Internet, everyone loves Black Wood.

[MadDog2020]

This would have been a great pick if we didn't trade the 41st which we could have used for a forward. But I'm really not too upset with this pick. Dude sounds like he's gonna be a stud.

If he was closer to NHL ready I'd say try to package Kinky with Merrill and maybe something else for Barzal from NYI.

We traded 41 for Palmieri. A forward.

Where did pick 36 go

Traded it to Ottawa in the trade down.

[Jerzey]

We traded 41 for Palmieri. A forward.Traded it to Ottawa in the trade down.

Good point. Makes me like this pick even more.

[Onddeck]

We traded 41 for Palmieri. A forward.

Traded it to Ottawa in the trade down.

edit: nvm. Edited June 27, 2015 by Onddeck

[Marv4Life]

Wasn't this guy slated to go in the 1st round?'

 

On paper it's a stupid move but you gotta think long term. Kinkaid might want to move on after his contract's up. Or if he puts up nice numbers for the upcoming season he's quality trade bait. Hell for all we know Corey might be traded sooner than later as we might not be competitive for a couple of years.

[titans04]

With such huge gaps up front today and the foreseeable future this was a terrible pick as most have stated.  Trade bait? not even sure what to say there, they had a need today and they wiffed for somebody who may have trade value down the road? Wasn't the place and time to go in this direction.

 

Didn't Wedgewood start for the Canadian Jr. team?  How's that worked out?

[HellOnICE]

We needed a goalie - he was high on their list. Stay away from the cliff. 

 

We have centers now from Zacha, Blandisi and JQ. We have good D. Yes we could use some help on the wing, but taking just one more pick on a winger this year or next won't make that much of a difference. 

 

This year we probably have Matteau, Palmieri, possibly Kalinin, possibly Boucher and possibly Thompson playing for us. Shero has so far added pieces without trading any of the young D - which he can still do.  FA is coming up shortly.

 

So he used one pick for the top rated NA goalie instead of another winger, it's not that big of a deal.

Edited June 27, 2015 by HellOnICE

[Lateralous]

 

 

What next to NO ONE understands on here is that our depth at goaltender isn't as good as fans would like to believe. We have a stud number one who is currently on the wrong side of 20, Clarmont and Wedgewood both became major duds, Clemmer won't be retained...

 

We don't really have that many prospects at this position if you think about it, especially skilled ones. I rather have done Merrill + this pick for Barzal but those freaking out about this pick are TRULY freaking out about nothing and/or are literally in-informed.

 

I totally disagree with this.   Who cares if we have prospects at goalie? Goalies are the toughest position to project and other than the top NHL starters, goalies are easy to acquire and have relatively little trade value compared to positional players. I don't think we have a single thing to show for the two 1sts and a 2nd we pissed away on Damphousse, Ahonen and Frazee other than maybe a handful of games played between them.  In the end, I think all of their minor league contracts eventually expired and they went on their way.  At least positional players that don't ascend to be one of the top 20 or so players at their position in the world can still hold a lot of value for the organization by filling out the lower lines and being an every night player.  Hell, if they still have holes in their game, they can at least be a situational player.  That's not to say we would have been guaranteed a valuable asset if we took a forward at 36/42 but there's a lot better chance than a positional player that will eventually help the organization in some way as compared to a goalie.     

     

Also, in terms of general strategy, there were a lot of goalies all ranked relatively close coming into the draft.  As of our pick at 42, the run on them hadn't started yet and as it turns out, it didn't start until well after our 3rd rounder.  I guess if our scouts truly felt that Blackwood was the guy who was eventually going to be a really good NHLer, then fine but if that was the case, why screw around trading down from 36?   If the Devils management just felt they needed to get a well regarded goalie into the pipeline, then they flat out bit way too soon.  At the time we made the 42nd selection, there was no reason to think that at least one or two of Blackwood, Vladar, Montembeault, Booth or Hill wouldn't be available 24 picks later.       

Edited June 27, 2015 by Lateralous

[NewarkDevil5]

I totally disagree with this.   Who cares if we have prospects at goalie? Goalies are the toughest position to project and other than the top NHL starters, goalies are easy to acquire and have relatively little trade value compared to positional players. I don't think we have a single thing to show for the two 1sts and a 2nd we pissed away on Damphousse, Ahonen and Frazee other than maybe a handful of games played between them.  In the end, I think all of their minor league contracts eventually expired and they went on their way.  At least positional players that don't ascend to be one of the top 20 or so players at their position in the world can still hold a lot of value for the organization by filling out the lower lines and being an every night player.  Hell, if they still have holes in their game, they can at least be a situational player.  That's not to say we would have been guaranteed a valuable asset if we took a forward at 36/42 but there's a lot better chance than a positional player that will eventually help the organization in some way as compared to a goalie.     

     

Also, in terms of general strategy, there were a lot of goalies all ranked relatively close coming into the draft.  As of our pick at 42, the run on them hadn't started yet and as it turns out, it didn't start until well after our 3rd rounder.  I guess if our scouts truly felt that Blackwood was the guy who was eventually going to be a really good NHLer, then fine but if that was the case, why screw around trading down from 36?   If the Devils management just felt they needed to get a well regarded goalie into the pipeline, then they flat out bit way too soon.  At the time we made the 42nd selection, there was no reason to think that at least one or two of Blackwood, Vladar, Montembeault, Booth or Hill wouldn't be available 24 picks later.       

 

Damphousse was part of the Sykora-Friesen Trade.

[titans04]

I totally disagree with this.   Who cares if we have prospects at goalie? Goalies are the toughest position to project and other than the top NHL starters, goalies are easy to acquire and have relatively little trade value compared to positional players. I don't think we have a single thing to show for the two 1sts and a 2nd we pissed away on Damphousse, Ahonen and Frazee other than maybe a handful of games played between them.  In the end, I think all of their minor league contracts eventually expired and they went on their way.  At least positional players that don't ascend to be one of the top 20 or so players at their position in the world can still hold a lot of value for the organization by filling out the lower lines and being an every night player.  Hell, if they still have holes in their game, they can at least be a situational player.  That's not to say we would have been guaranteed a valuable asset if we took a forward at 36/42 but there's a lot better chance than a positional player that will eventually help the organization in some way as compared to a goalie.     

     

Also, in terms of general strategy, there were a lot of goalies all ranked relatively close coming into the draft.  As of our pick at 42, the run on them hadn't started yet and as it turns out, it didn't start until well after our 3rd rounder.  I guess if our scouts truly felt that Blackwood was the guy who was eventually going to be a really good NHLer, then fine but if that was the case, why screw around trading down from 36?   If the Devils management just felt they needed to get a well regarded goalie into the pipeline, then they flat out bit way too soon.  At the time we made the 42nd selection, there was no reason to think that at least one or two of Blackwood, Vladar, Montembeault, Booth or Hill wouldn't be available 24 picks later.       

This.  +1

[NJDevs26]

to put things in perspective... say in 2010 MTL would have picked Jack Campbell (best goalie in the draft) for "wtv future" even though they have price and pass on Gallagher. How does it look now 5 YEARS LATER ? 

 

of course that's one example and i'm sure there's other example showing it could be a good move but i don't buy it. 

 

You can get decent goalies who can do the job for cheap every year at worst. don't gamble a pick when you desperately need forwards

 

Or Montreal picking Price when they had Theodore and Halak and supposedly didn't need him...that didn't work out either, oh wait.

[ghdi]

It's easy to sit here and get bent out of shape by this pick. I don't like it and I'm finding very few who do. But, its done. We got him and we have to look at the bright side of things here. This could very well end up being a very shrewd and smart pick, but its so far out time wise that its easier to say "WTF" to it. Blackwood has the potential to be a very good goaltender. If he develops somewhat quickly, we could be sitting here sooner than expected debating moving Kinkaid or even Cory. There was a 20 year old who started a game in the Finals just this year. Yes, goalies take a while to develop, but its not unheard of for it to happen sooner.

 

I'd rather we had taken a forward in this spot considering the talent level of this draft, but in other years Blackwood may have been a first rounder. We can only wait and see on this pick. I find it hard to compare it to Ahonen, who was European and much more of a reach the year we took him. This could end up working out very well. As much as we "need" forwards, we also need assets and Blackwood could be one or create opportunities to move a Schneider or Kinkaid. This team isn't getting fixed in one offseason. 

 

It was a very good draft for us on whole besides this pick and I find it hard to torpedo the positive selections and the Palmieri acquisition b/c of this pick.

[NJDevs26]

Honestly I don't know what people expected, us to literally use every pick on a forward?  We got three forwards with the top 67 picks in the draft including Palmeri, an NHL player.  We got a LHD where our depth is actually still somewhat thin compared to our RHD depth.  And we got a goalie, which we did need at some point in the draft.  Would I have preferred a d-man in the second round and a goalie in the fourth?  Sure but if they felt they got value at both spots, what's the difference?

[mfitz804]

Listen, you need players at every position on the farm. Whether he develops into a great goalie and he's taking over for Schneider in 5-6 years, or if he does ok in Albany and he's used as a trade chip, it helps the team.