2018 NHL Draft Thread

[CommonDreads]

Just posted my most recent mock draft and updated my rankings, per usual check em out if you'd like

2018 NHL Mock Draft – January 29th

Quote

1. ARZ – Rasmus Dahlin, D, Frölunda (SWE)
2. BUF – Filip Zadina, RW, Halifax (QMJHL)
3. OTT - Andrei Svechnikov, RW, Barrie (OHL)
4. VAN - Quinn Hughes, D, University of Michigan (BIG10)
5. FLA - Adam Boqvist, D, Brynäs J20 (SWE-JR)
6. MTL - Evan Bouchard, D, London (OHL)
7. DET - Ryan Merkley, D, Guelph (OHL)
8. EDM - Brady Tkachuk, LW, Boston University (H-EAST)
9. CAR - Oliver Wahlstrom, RW/C, USA U-18 (USDP)
10. CHI - Noah Dobson, D, Acadie-Bathurst (QMJHL)
17. NJ - Bode Wilde, D, USA U-18 (USDP)

2018 NHL Draft Rankings

[mfitz804]

Bode Wilde is a pretty badass name. 

[CommonDreads]

2 hours ago, mfitz804 said:

Bode Wilde is a pretty badass name. 

This draft is filled with great names, Bode Wilde, Jett Woo, Matthew Grouchy, Blade Jenkins, Shaw Boomhower just to name a few

Also just an interesting tidbit about this draft, some of you may remember seeing a clip of 9 year old Oliver Wahlstrom on MSG about 8 or 9 years ago, time flies man this kid is draft eligible now and is basically a lock for Top 10

 

Edited January 30, 2018 by CommonDreads

[mfitz804]

If Matthew Grouchy is not an agitator, then that is not right. 

[Daniel]

Time to bump this thread now that we’re eliminated and especially that we know where we’re drafting.

The crappy thing about losing our second rounder is if we want to take a risk someone like Merkely (who has fallen out of the top 50 for central scouting) we have to do it in the first round.

Either way Castron goes defenseman with their first pick

[thecoffeecake]

It's Joey Veleno's draft year, he was a prodigy heading into the Q, was given Exceptional Player Status and admitted early. I think only Sid, Tavares, Sean Day, and maybe one other were given that exception (maybe Ekblad?). Seems like he didn't quite live up, looks projected as a borderline top 10 pick. Another McLeod coming through too, Mike's younger brother. 

[Daniel]

41 minutes ago, thecoffeecake said:

It's Joey Veleno's draft year, he was a prodigy heading into the Q, was given Exceptional Player Status and admitted early. I think only Sid, Tavares, Sean Day, and maybe one other were given that exception (maybe Ekblad?). Seems like he didn't quite live up, looks projected as a borderline top 10 pick. Another McLeod coming through too, Mike's younger brother. 

You are correct re Ekblad.  

[nessus]

I'm always a best player available kind of guy, but this should especially be Castron's mindset going into this one, in my opinion. Given that the Devils aren't picking at the top of the draft this year, selecting a D in the middle of the first is very unlikely to help our D significantly for at least a couple of years. That said, this draft has a lot more promising defensemen than last year's, so maybe the BPA when we select will be a D anyway. I like a lot of the top D in this draft, and if someone like Dobson slips through the cracks and makes it to where Carolina is selecting, that's where Shero has got to pull the trigger on a trade.

Part of me is hoping they take a risk on Dominik Bokk if he continues to shoot up the draft rankings, as he has so far this year. My knowledge of him is still somewhat limited, but he looks like a real stud in the videos I've seen. 

[thecoffeecake]

4 hours ago, Daniel said:

You are correct re Ekblad.  

And it turns out it was McDavid, not Crosby. Sid went and played at Shattuck-St. Mary's for a year before juniors because he claims he was being targeted and verbally abused by players and parents in midget hockey.

Did more digging on Veleno to see what happened to him. Saint John traded him to Drummondville for 5 picks (3 firsts and 2 seconds), and he really picked it up there. 48 points in 33 games in the second half as a 17 year old. Seems to be an extremely dangerous center with a very high hockey IQ. Day is the only player given that status to not yet become a star in the NHL, but I think people speculated he got it as a flag planting project by Hockey Canada. I think he has dual citizenship with the US. 

Edited April 23, 2018 by thecoffeecake

[Devs3cups]

22 minutes ago, nessus said:

I'm always a best player available kind of guy, but this should especially be Castron's mindset going into this one, in my opinion. Given that the Devils aren't picking at the top of the draft this year, selecting a D in the middle of the first is very unlikely to help our D significantly for at least a couple of years. That said, this draft has a lot more promising defensemen than last year's, so maybe the BPA when we select will be a D anyway. I like a lot of the top D in this draft, and if someone like Dobson slips through the cracks and makes it to where Carolina is selecting, that's where Shero has got to pull the trigger on a trade.

Part of me is hoping they take a risk on Dominik Bokk if he continues to shoot up the draft rankings, as he has so far this year. My knowledge of him is still somewhat limited, but he looks like a real stud in the videos I've seen. 

Dobson is real good. I'd like us to get him.

[Daniel]

Ian Pultz did a write up on defensemen K’Andre Miller.  Very intriguing.  A physical specimen and converted forward, whose just learning the position.  Projected to go in the 20s.  Seems a lot like Brent Burns.

Relatedly, Steve Kournios of the Sporting News pointed out something interesting.  The best forwards by points are almost universally top five picks.  The best defensemen in the league were almost all picked outside of the top ten.  Hopefully we draft a defensemen and hit it big.  

[LittleBallofHate]

Since Daniel mentioned Ian's writeup I'm going to post it since I enjoyed it too; he's going to do many more so it might be helpful if people that are interested know where to find them: https://www.reddit.com/r/devils/comments/8e34jb/2018_nhl_draft_writeups_kandre_miller_d_usndtp/

 

[LittleBallofHate]

Surprisingly, we've only picked at #17 once - and we traded up to get there... 

Devils Insiders‏ @DevilsInsiders

The #NJDevils have picked 17th overall one other time in franchise history. Anybody remember? It was a pretty good one.

On June 21, 2003, they picked Zach Parise. On June 22, 2018, they'll be on the clock at 17 again.

With the Avalanche loss, the #NJDevils now officially hold the 17th overall pick in the 1st round of the 2018 NHL Entry Draft.

Their other selections include: 110 (4th round) 136 (5th round) 141 (5th round) 172 (6th round) 203 (7th round).

[vadvlfan]

I hope that a decent D man drops to us. We don't have much down on the farm.  We have Lovejoy signed through next year. Not sure what they'll do with John Moore. (I guess let him go) Give Kapla, Santini a shot?  Davies is going back to school in the fall. We supposedly signed another ruskie D man. Look fw to all the prospects AATJ puts up. Chaney old enough to play in Binghamton?

 

[SterioDesign]

Alright we're picking 17th its official now, time to analyze all those guys. Would like to see Noal Dobson somehow falling to us

Edited April 23, 2018 by SterioDesign

[thecoffeecake]

1 hour ago, Daniel said:

Ian Pultz did a write up on defensemen K’Andre Miller.  Very intriguing.  A physical specimen and converted forward, whose just learning the position.  Projected to go in the 20s.  Seems a lot like Brent Burns.

Relatedly, Steve Kournios of the Sporting News pointed out something interesting.  The best forwards by points are almost universally top five picks.  The best defensemen in the league were almost all picked outside of the top ten.  Hopefully we draft a defensemen and hit it big.  

Charlie Mac was 16th, right? 

[vadvlfan]

On 1/29/2018 at 4:37 PM, CommonDreads said:

Just posted my most recent mock draft and updated my rankings, per usual check em out if you'd like

2018 NHL Mock Draft – January 29th

2018 NHL Draft Rankings

I think you're right about Bodie wilde. Also think Buffalo will get 1st overall and get Dahlin. K'Andre Miller looks interesting. This is where scouts make their $$.  I really think Devils will try to move up to get a 2nd rounder. 

Has anyone else been watching Scott Stevens breakdown D man mistakes on NHL channel. The man knows his schizzle as we all know. I think he'll take a job only as head coach, but not as assistant. Larry Brooks has been touting him for Rag$$. Scott probably thinks it's his time. Give him a call Canes!

 

[NJDfan1711]

So we don't have any 2nd or 3rd round picks this year?  Does anyone feel like that's a big gap, and that Shero might do something (i.e. a trade) to land us a pick somewhere in there?

[EdgeControl]

12 hours ago, nessus said:

I'm always a best player available kind of guy, but this should especially be Castron's mindset going into this one, in my opinion. Given that the Devils aren't picking at the top of the draft this year, selecting a D in the middle of the first is very unlikely to help our D significantly for at least a couple of years. That said, this draft has a lot more promising defensemen than last year's, so maybe the BPA when we select will be a D anyway. I like a lot of the top D in this draft, and if someone like Dobson slips through the cracks and makes it to where Carolina is selecting, that's where Shero has got to pull the trigger on a trade.

Part of me is hoping they take a risk on Dominik Bokk if he continues to shoot up the draft rankings, as he has so far this year. My knowledge of him is still somewhat limited, but he looks like a real stud in the videos I've seen. 

I think we need to go defense all the way from an organizational viewpoint binghampton and newark.. as far as fixing our team, that has to come from trades and FA signings.. we have huge holes on the blueline and we need a consistent second scorer

[CommonDreads]

I'm really in favor of just going BPA at 17th, yes we need a defenseman but I would be a little disappointed if we walked away with someone like Jared McIsaac just because we need defensemen and left someone like Kotkaniemi, Denisenko, Kravtsov, or Bokk on the board. I'm currently working on finalizing my Top 250 and churning out a new round of content, so stay tuned for that if that's your kind of thing.

[redruM]

anyone know anything about this Russian Defenseman Yegor Yakovlev the Devils signed?

[thecoffeecake]

9 minutes ago, redruM said:

anyone know anything about this Russian Defenseman Yegor Yakovlev the Devils signed?

Looks like a defensive signing. Low scoring 26 year old out of SKA, regularly appears on Russian teams including Pyongchang. Wonder if he talked to Kovy about playing here. 

[CommonDreads]

6 minutes ago, Kinkyisth3b3st said:

If McLeod is available around the 12-15 line, do you think the Devils try to go after Mikey’s brother?

I'm sure they'd look at him, he has a lot of the same qualities they see in Mikey – fast, strong on the puck, competitor – but there are guys I would prefer over him. Dominik Bokk really intrigues me, loaded with skill, can play both wings, and really reminds me a lot of David Pastrnak, if he's available at 17th I'd really like him. Vitali Kravtsov is interesting too at forward; defenseman I'd realistically like the most at 17th is Bode Wilde or Ryan Merkley if teams get scared off by him in the top 10.

Edited April 23, 2018 by CommonDreads

[Daniel]

13 minutes ago, CommonDreads said:

I'm sure they'd look at him, he has a lot of the same qualities they see in Mikey – fast, strong on the puck, competitor – but there are guys I would prefer over him. Dominik Bokk really intrigues me, loaded with skill, can play both wings, and really reminds me a lot of David Pastrnak, if he's available at 17th I'd really like him. Vitali Kravtsov is interesting too at forward; defenseman I'd realistically like the most at 17th is Bode Wilde or Ryan Merkley if teams get scared off by him in the top 10.

Merkley apparently wasn't even in the Central Scouting top 50.  I know people mock the "attitude problems" or "poor interviews" that result in some guys slipping.  But apparently, they're more often than not a lot worse than some guys needing to grow up a little.  My guess though is that the Rangers loaded up on those second a low first rounders so they could take at least one big gamble.

[CommonDreads]

1 minute ago, Daniel said:

Merkley apparently wasn't even in the Central Scouting top 50.  I know people mock the "attitude problems" or "poor interviews" that result in some guys slipping.  But apparently, they're more often than not a lot worse than some guys needing to grow up a little.  My guess though is that the Rangers loaded up on those second a low first rounders so they could take at least one big gamble.

It's such a tricky line to walk with Merkley, yeah he has the attitude issues but he's easily one of the most skilled players in this draft, for my money the most purely skilled defenseman in the draft as well. For a team to pick him they need to be sure they can iron this kid out, but if they sort him out they're going to have a superstar on their hands, he's that good. It's just evaluating how much of a gamble you're willing to take, for some to not even have him ranked though is pure lunacy. The intention of the draft should be to find your future stars, if you're passing on a kid with star potential for a guy you see as a future 3rd liner, you're doing the draft wrong. It is tricky though, I'm curious to see where he goes.