Prospects Thread- 2021-21

[Nicomo]

Not a great D+1 season for a 1st round pick…

[mfitz804]

59 minutes ago, Nicomo said:

Let’s see…

stay in school and party for another year 

or

ride the bus in the AHL

pretty easy decision for most teenagers. 

I meant hockey wise lol. 

[Nicomo]

9 minutes ago, mfitz804 said:

I meant hockey wise lol. 

Oh I know. Just pointing out there’s other factors. Hard to say which would be better for his development long term, but at least at Michigan he’s going to be THE GUY with Power and so many of his teammates moving onto the NHL. He might not have seen as big of a role in Utica. 

Plus, there’s a chance Dineen could be in NJ next year, so who even knows who Luke’s coach would have been. He obviously already has a good coach at Michigan. 

[mfitz804]

39 minutes ago, Nicomo said:

Oh I know. Just pointing out there’s other factors. Hard to say which would be better for his development long term, but at least at Michigan he’s going to be THE GUY with Power and so many of his teammates moving onto the NHL. He might not have seen as big of a role in Utica. 

Plus, there’s a chance Dineen could be in NJ next year, so who even knows who Luke’s coach would have been. He obviously already has a good coach at Michigan. 

Is Michigan’s coach expected to survive the investigation that’s going on over there?

[Nicomo]

16 minutes ago, mfitz804 said:

Is Michigan’s coach expected to survive the investigation that’s going on over there?

His current contract expires April 30th, and they were reportedly waiting until after the Frozen Four to talk extension, so we should know soon enough. I’d be surprised if he wasn’t back though. 

[Devilsfan118]

1 hour ago, Nicomo said:

Not a great D+1 season for a 1st round pick…

Does anyone still consider him a first round talent at this point, let's be real.

[Nicomo]

Just now, Devilsfan118 said:

Does anyone still consider him a first round talent at this point, let's be real.

Terrible pick. At least Muk was a “swing for the fences” boom or bust type pick. Stillman is just as MEH as it gets. 

[mfitz804]

29 minutes ago, Nicomo said:

Terrible pick. At least Muk was a “swing for the fences” boom or bust type pick. Stillman is just as MEH as it gets. 

As we unfortunately know from Boucher, really good OHL stats don’t necessarily mean anything in the NHL. And Stillman’s stats are not really good as far as OHL stats go.

The guy forecast as this year’s #1OA has 94 points in 63 games and that’s only 8th place in the league. League leader has put up 1.82 PPG. 

Edited April 18, 2022 by mfitz804

[nessus]

The Stillman situation is just so odd. He is one of those high motor, hard working players. But he's also got quite a bit of skill to go with it. In the highlights I've seen, he has displayed some really impressive vision, creativity, and shooting - far better than what you'd expect from someone with such unimpressive D+1 stats. I'm not sure if anyone has watched full games, but I wonder what the issue is. The tools and motivation seem to be there. Maybe the IQ isn't.

Raty really should have been that pick. Basically the 2021 version of Anton Lundell - "solid but not great at any one thing" followed by a point/game Liiga season. Lundell turned out to be one of the best rookies this season. Coincidentally Raty is a nearly ideal candidate for one of the Devils' greatest positions of need at 3C. I'm not going to pretend it's easy to be an amateur scout, but this one is looking rough so far.

[MadDog2020]

https://thehockeynews.com/news/hobey-baker-winner-accepts-six-month-suspension-over-doping-violation?fbclid=IwAR3DcTI5Gil6SA72FpDi9v9WpIW3zUyOOjErfJVYjVb6qqwJRgPPBbBgdNY

[Devilsfan118]

3 hours ago, Nicomo said:

Terrible pick. At least Muk was a “swing for the fences” boom or bust type pick. Stillman is just as MEH as it gets. 

But even Muk could've been had with a trade-down.

Both these picks scream "mismanagement" to me, from Fitz.  If you're going to go this off the board with the pick you might as well try and acquire some additional assets.

The obvious disclaimer is we can't fault him if he really wanted Muk and knew the next team in line wanted him (unlikely).  Likewise with Stillman (even more unlikely). 

[NJDevils1214]

25 minutes ago, MadDog2020 said:

https://thehockeynews.com/news/hobey-baker-winner-accepts-six-month-suspension-over-doping-violation?fbclid=IwAR3DcTI5Gil6SA72FpDi9v9WpIW3zUyOOjErfJVYjVb6qqwJRgPPBbBgdNY

[NJDevils1214]

1 minute ago, Devilsfan118 said:

But even Muk could've been had with a trade-down.

Both these picks scream "mismanagement" to me, from Fitz.  If you're going to go this off the board with the pick you might as well try and acquire some additional assets.

The obvious disclaimer is we can't fault him if he really wanted Muk and knew the next team in line wanted him (unlikely).  Likewise with Stillman (even more unlikely). 

I was super excited when Raty was still there. I hope Stillman is worth it in the long run.

[mfitz804]

56 minutes ago, NJDevils1214 said:

Ok maybe we don’t want him…

[smelly]

8 hours ago, Devilsfan118 said:

Would really love to see Luke here next year, but another year in college certainly wouldn't hurt him I guess.

FWIW I was told the week before the Frozen Four that the organization had been in touch with the Hughes family about his leaving school immediately after the NCAAs with the plan being that he would join Utica for the playoffs.  Hughes' team said they would only do that if the Devils guaranteed that he would be on the NHL roster at the beginning of next season.  The Devils (understandably IMO) could not make any such assurances at this point, so Luke decided (also understandably IMO) to stay in school.

[Devil Dan 56]

10 minutes ago, smelly said:

FWIW I was told the week before the Frozen Four that the organization had been in touch with the Hughes family about his leaving school immediately after the NCAAs with the plan being that he would join Utica for the playoffs.  Hughes' team said they would only do that if the Devils guaranteed that he would be on the NHL roster at the beginning of next season.  The Devils (understandably IMO) could not make any such assurances at this point, so Luke decided (also understandably IMO) to stay in school.

That makes sense. I’m glad the Devils didn’t make a promise they couldn’t necessarily keep. 

[Oglethorpe13]

Yeah, best to let the kid marinate a little longer. No need to rush him into the big league when they've been as disappointing as they've been. Still excited for his first devil game!

[Nicomo]

On 3/22/2022 at 6:18 PM, devlman said:

Bahl is definitely in the NHL Regulars bucket

 

On 3/22/2022 at 9:53 PM, Nicomo said:

I’m not so sure. Dude seems to play almost primarily on the 3rd pairing in Utica. At his size and age that’s a little telling. 

I might have to end up putting him in the “guy I was dead wrong about” thread. Not that I felt too strongly about him one way or the other, but after reading about yet another really good game for him tonight I did think about this post. 

He’s also a little younger than I thought (21). Not sure why I thought he was older than that. 

[devlman]

17 minutes ago, Nicomo said:

 

I might have to end up putting him in the “guy I was dead wrong about” thread. Not that I felt too strongly about him one way or the other, but after reading about yet another really good game for him tonight I did think about this post. 

He’s also a little younger than I thought (21). Not sure why I thought he was older than that. 

Yeah he’s still got plenty of runway and a lot of the tools. Can’t be hard on your reasoning however - seeing him play a lot of third pairing minutes earlier on. 

Love the smarts he’s been showing out there. Now we just need to get him the hell away from our coaches before Nas ruins him.

[Chimaira_Devil_#9]

11 hours ago, nessus said:

The Stillman situation is just so odd. He is one of those high motor, hard working players. But he's also got quite a bit of skill to go with it. In the highlights I've seen, he has displayed some really impressive vision, creativity, and shooting - far better than what you'd expect from someone with such unimpressive D+1 stats. I'm not sure if anyone has watched full games, but I wonder what the issue is. The tools and motivation seem to be there. Maybe the IQ isn't.

Raty really should have been that pick. Basically the 2021 version of Anton Lundell - "solid but not great at any one thing" followed by a point/game Liiga season. Lundell turned out to be one of the best rookies this season. Coincidentally Raty is a nearly ideal candidate for one of the Devils' greatest positions of need at 3C. I'm not going to pretend it's easy to be an amateur scout, but this one is looking rough so far.

He has been on two absolutely god awful teams this season. There were rumours he was supposed to be traded to a contender in a three way deal, but the whole thing got messed up and he ended up staying with the Pats. 

I haven't watched a full game of his this season, but he has shown some real glimpses of talent, and as you say his work ethic is incredible. Not willing to write him off this early. He just seems to have had a really stop start , unsettled year, he had two injuries that kept him out, then the trade which slowed him down, then the suspension for the hit. 

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

8 hours ago, mfitz804 said:

Ok maybe we don’t want him…

Yeah that's that.

 

[Chimaira_Devil_#9]

1 minute ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

Yeah that's that.

 

 

8 hours ago, mfitz804 said:

Ok maybe we don’t want him…

Really? Did you guys read the full story? Because if so that seems like a very harsh take on something that was a genuin mistake which he went to great lengths to prove. 

 

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

8 minutes ago, Chimaira_Devil_#9 said:

 

Really? Did you guys read the full story? Because if so that seems like a very harsh take on something that was a genuin mistake which he went to great lengths to prove. 

 

Maybe, but it's hard for me to be as bullish on him as I was.  Curious to see if this affects his stock.  

[Chimaira_Devil_#9]

2 hours ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

Maybe, but it's hard for me to be as bullish on him as I was.  Curious to see if this affects his stock.  

I don't think it will. My personal take is that If anything the guy was conscientious enough when taking a supplement to keep himself fit through COVID to note what it was and check the ingredients so he could trace it back and prove it was a mistake. A lot of young guys wouldn't do that.

He has then decided to take the ban at the proposed length to speed up the process rather than go to a hearing and potentially delay things so he can start playing again. 

Finally the NCAA were so unconcerned that they let him continue to compete whilst this process was going on because the levels offered no performance benefit. So I think he will be fine. 

[mfitz804]

1 hour ago, Chimaira_Devil_#9 said:

I don't think it will. My personal take is that If anything the guy was conscientious enough when taking a supplement to keep himself fit through COVID to note what it was and check the ingredients so he could trace it back and prove it was a mistake. A lot of young guys wouldn't do that.

He has then decided to take the ban at the proposed length to speed up the process rather than go to a hearing and potentially delay things so he can start playing again. 

Finally the NCAA were so unconcerned that they let him continue to compete whilst this process was going on because the levels offered no performance benefit. So I think he will be fine. 

Maybe he will be. But as a baseline, it’s said he will have difficulty getting an NHL job because of his size. This ban certainly won’t improve the way he is viewed.