2018 NHL Draft Thread

[LittleBallofHate]

Julie R is doing a 3 part story on the Devils 2018 Draft.  This part is mainly about the stats they gather on the kids and how/why it's compiled:  https://www.nhl.com/devils/news/devils-leaving-no-stone-unturned-ahead-of-2018-nhl-draft/c-298952932

Snippet:   The challenge is to sift through all the information that's out there and find what's valuable to management so they can determine which players will fit into the culture and identity of being a New Jersey Devil. 

"Since Ray took over in New Jersey, the entire management and scouting staff along with our coaches have really done a good job of mapping out the DNA of a Devils player and the qualities and characteristics we want every player to have both on and off the ice and, with every player we evaluate, we hold that lens over them to see how well they fit into our criteria," MacKinnon explained. "It's no secret that we value speed and compete and skating and skill and we drill deeper in each of those boxes to see how well they fill out that box, but if you're going to play for Ray Shero and John Hynes with the New Jersey Devils you have to be able to skate and have the mindset that you're going to win the 50/50 puck battles and then have the hockey sense to turn a play and read what's going on around you and adjust and then have the skill to do something with that. 

[Chimaira_Devil_#9]

17 hours ago, Daniel said:

All you Brits stick together

Gotta get the sport recognised in the country. More success = more investment ( in theory). Plus we replace cricket as the countrys third most popular sport!!!!!!!

[Nicomo]

12 minutes ago, Chimaira_Devil_#9 said:

Gotta get the sport recognised in the country. More success = more investment ( in theory). Plus we replace cricket as the countrys third most popular sport!!!!!!!

What’s the second?

[moustic]

2 hours ago, Nicomo said:

What’s the second?

Rugby ? 

[mfitz804]

4 hours ago, Nicomo said:

What’s the second?

Royal wedding watching. 

No wait, that was us lol. 

[Aitchmack]

12 hours ago, Chimaira_Devil_#9 said:

Gotta get the sport recognised in the country. More success = more investment ( in theory). Plus we replace cricket as the countrys third most popular sport!!!!!!!

I actually live in a town with a hockey team but they seem to spend most of their time trying to not go bankrupt and their profile has really dwindled over the years. If the NHL made a few visits to the UK I think it could make a big difference to interest (and investment) over here. It'll be interesting to see if baseball grips the public imagination once the Red Sox and Yankees have played here next year.

[Chimaira_Devil_#9]

14 hours ago, Nicomo said:

What’s the second?

Yeah rugby is second I would say, certainly in terms of team sports.  

[Chimaira_Devil_#9]

10 hours ago, mfitz804 said:

Royal wedding watching. 

No wait, that was us lol. 

It's fvcking hilarious how other countries seem so fascinated by it and over here most people couldn't really care either way. 

[Chimaira_Devil_#9]

2 hours ago, Aitchmack said:

I actually live in a town with a hockey team but they seem to spend most of their time trying to not go bankrupt and their profile has really dwindled over the years. If the NHL made a few visits to the UK I think it could make a big difference to interest (and investment) over here. It'll be interesting to see if baseball grips the public imagination once the Red Sox and Yankees have played here next year.

I have always been disappointed that a team hasn't been back to the UK. I went to the King's Vs Ducks game and it sold out straight away. 

Who's your local team? Constantly going bankrupt makes me think it's Bracknell lol , but it could actually be any of them outside the Elite league. 

[Aitchmack]

42 minutes ago, Chimaira_Devil_#9 said:

I have always been disappointed that a team hasn't been back to the UK. I went to the King's Vs Ducks game and it sold out straight away. 

Who's your local team? Constantly going bankrupt makes me think it's Bracknell lol , but it could actually be any of them outside the Elite league. 

You're dead right!

[Chimaira_Devil_#9]

13 hours ago, Aitchmack said:

You're dead right!

Haha, yeah I used to play for the Blizzards and lived in Reading. 

The new leauge structure makes it even harder to follow anything outside the Elite League. The league structure in the UK had always been it's downfall. 

[vadvlfan]

14 hours ago, Chimaira_Devil_#9 said:

I have always been disappointed that a team hasn't been back to the UK. I went to the King's Vs Ducks game and it sold out straight away. 

Who's your local team? Constantly going bankrupt makes me think it's Bracknell lol , but it could actually be any of them outside the Elite league. 

I have a couple folks (friends0 on FB that live in Cardiff . Big C-Devils fans. I know Cam Janssens played for Nottingham one year. But they won it all this year.

[moustic]

19 hours ago, Chimaira_Devil_#9 said:

It's fvcking hilarious how other countries seem so fascinated by it and over here most people couldn't really care either way. 

You know what we do to Royal people here in France right ? ; ) 

[Daniel]

18 minutes ago, moustic said:

You know what we do to Royal people here in France right ? ; ) 

 

[Chuck the Duck]

2 hours ago, Daniel said:

 

It's Enrico Palazzo!!!!!

[NJDfan1711]

So the draft is in 11 days and normally I don't really follow many of the prospects, but with us having a pretty mediocre pick, and also no second and third round picks (right?), I've paid even less attention than normal.   Can someone provide some cliff notes of some potential signings (their strengths and weaknesses), that we might take at 17?  Obviously we need some defenseman, but is there anyone really worth taking at that spot?

Is this a year where we should just trade down and try to acquire a couple picks and hope we get lucky?  I feel like we could use the organizational depth right now and would be better off taking a shot in the dark with a few random players in later rounds rather than take a shot with someone at 17 who isn't considered a must-have world beater.

[caron14]

Kravkov is being train by Bob Hartley right now and he just said his talent is elite. Do we have a shot at him or will he be gone?

[Derlique]

8 minutes ago, caron14 said:

Kravkov is being train by Bob Hartley right now and he just said his talent is elite. Do we have a shot at him or will he be gone?

Kravstov? I think it's borderline, but more likely he'll be gone

[vadvlfan]

12 hours ago, NJDfan1711 said:

So the draft is in 11 days and normally I don't really follow many of the prospects, but with us having a pretty mediocre pick, and also no second and third round picks (right?), I've paid even less attention than normal.   Can someone provide some cliff notes of some potential signings (their strengths and weaknesses), that we might take at 17?  Obviously we need some defenseman, but is there anyone really worth taking at that spot?

Is this a year where we should just trade down and try to acquire a couple picks and hope we get lucky?  I feel like we could use the organizational depth right now and would be better off taking a shot in the dark with a few random players in later rounds rather than take a shot with someone at 17 who isn't considered a must-have world beater.

Devs have taken a fw 1st in last 3 drafts. Never know who might drop to you, but some folks think it'll D men Bodie Wilde, Ty Smith, Jason Issacson. There are some potential FW's Hayton, Kupari could still be around. After Dahlin, only 6-7 are very good, after that crap shoot.

[NJDfan1711]

10 hours ago, vadvlfan said:

Devs have taken a fw 1st in last 3 drafts. Never know who might drop to you, but some folks think it'll D men Bodie Wilde, Ty Smith, Jason Issacson. There are some potential FW's Hayton, Kupari could still be around. After Dahlin, only 6-7 are very good, after that crap shoot.

Yeah, I definitely think a d-man is in order.  If there's nothing that sticks out by the time we draft at 17, I think we should just trade down and try to acquire a few more decent picks.

[LittleBallofHate]

Last installment of the JR 3-part draft story:  https://www.nhl.com/devils/news/scouts-honor-devils-staff-readies-for-nhl-draft-in-dallas/c-299056492

After the interviews at the combine, Castron and Orlando have almost daily conversations as they spend the final few weeks before the draft tweeking the list. 

"There comes a point where not everyone has seen everyone play and that's where Gates and I really have to mesh the lists," he explained. "Sometimes Ray or Dan or [Tom Fitzgerald, Devils assistant general manager] only see a guy once and maybe he has a terrible game. They're not going to veto the opinion of a scout that's seen him play multiple times over the course of a season. All they can say is, 'I don't see what you guys see in him.' So, we have to make the decisions for the group. We'll go back to the area scouts and get their opinions, but in the end the decision comes down to Gates and I. We make the list."

Devils general manager Ray Shero concurs: "I'm involved in the discussion, but the decision isn't mine to make when I've never seen them play or have only seen them once. Each of these scouts are here because they're very good at their job and I've got to rely on them and trust their opinion."

[CommonDreads]

If you're so inclined, I just released my Draft Book for this year, 44 pages of content including scouting reports for the Top 100 Prospects 

https://ridingpinehockey.files.wordpress.com/2018/06/rp_2018draftbook4.pdf

Edited June 21, 2018 by CommonDreads

[nessus]

In my opinion, pick 17 is right about where there's a drop off in talent, at least as far as defensemen go. Bode Wilde will likely be picked right in the middle of round 1, which would leave us with K'Andre Miller, Rasmus Sandin, and (maybe) Jonny Tychonick as the next best defensemen. If Shero is set on taking a dman at 17, then I suspect he'll trade down, hoping to select one of those three later in the first. But if he's going BPA, which I think we all suspect he'll do, there are quite a few good forwards who will be available in the mid-first round. If Kravtsov or Bokk makes it to 17, you definitely need to take one of them. These two are late risers with superstar potential. Rasmus Kupari is another player that, although raw, is super talented with very high upside - probably what you would consider your classic "risky" pick. Another player to potentially be excited about is Martin Kaut, a Czech RW that is a mature, complete player that fits Shero's mold. He played against men in the Czech league this season, and finished the season with a strong playoffs performance, with 5 points in 7 games (only one player on the team was better with 6 points in 7 games). This is another guy that I think could be a steal. Interestingly, he was on the Czech team for the World Championships, and Zadina was not.

To summarize, I think the Devils are in a fine spot.  In my opinion, it makes most sense to shoot for the stars and go for one of the high potential forwards. I understand that the organization needs more defense, but none of the guys likely to be available at 17 are even 2 years from being NHL ready. We've seen how much organizational needs can change, so it does not make much sense to skip on a really good forward for the sake of filling a need. 

[CommonDreads]

4 minutes ago, nessus said:

In my opinion, pick 17 is right about where there's a drop off in talent, at least as far as defensemen go. Bode Wilde will likely be picked right in the middle of round 1, which would leave us with K'Andre Miller, Rasmus Sandin, and (maybe) Jonny Tychonick as the next best defensemen. If Shero is set on taking a dman at 17, then I suspect he'll trade down, hoping to select one of those three later in the first. But if he's going BPA, which I think we all suspect he'll do, there are quite a few good forwards who will be available in the mid-first round. If Kravtsov or Bokk makes it to 17, you definitely need to take one of them. These two are late risers with superstar potential. Rasmus Kupari is another player that, although raw, is super talented with very high upside - probably what you would consider your classic "risky" pick. Another player to potentially be excited about is Martin Kaut, a Czech RW that is a mature, complete player that fits Shero's mold. He played against men in the Czech league this season, and finished the season with a strong playoffs performance, with 5 points in 7 games (only one player on the team was better with 6 points in 7 games). This is another guy that I think could be a steal. Interestingly, he was on the Czech team for the World Championships, and Zadina was not.

To summarize, I think the Devils are in a fine spot.  In my opinion, it makes most sense to shoot for the stars and go for one of the high potential forwards. I understand that the organization needs more defense, but none of the guys likely to be available at 17 are even 2 years from being NHL ready. We've seen how much organizational needs can change, so it does not make much sense to skip on a really good forward for the sake of filling a need. 

Of the guys that will realistically be there, Dom Bokk is definitely who I want the most. Kid has the talent to boom into a star, he reminds me a ton of David Pastrnak. If Bode Wilde is there at 17 I'd take a long look at him too, I've grown to like him more and more.

[Marshall]

I think Bokk is a reach at 17. Wilde/Miller for me.