Draft 2022 - Lottery - Devils get second pick!

[Guadana]

Too bad Devils will draft in top-10 this year with a high probability. But it`s great there will be pretty good players on the draft.


Bob McKenzie`s Mid-Season Draft Rankings

Top 12
1 Shane Wright C (R) 6’1” 187 Jan 5 04
Kingston (OHL) [0]
2 Logan Cooley C (L) 5’10” 174 May 4 04
USA U-18 (USHL) [+4]
3 Joakim Kemell RW (R) 5’11” 176 Apr 27 04
JYP (SM Liiga) [+6]
4 Matt Savoie C (R) 5’9” 179 Jan 1 04
Winnipeg (WHL) [+3]
5 Juraj Slafkovsky LW (L) 6’4” 225 Mar 30 04
TPS (SM Liiga) [-1]
6 Ivan Miroshnichenko LW (R) 6’1” 185 Feb 4 04
Omsk (VHL) [-4]
7 David Jiricek D (R) 6’3” 190 Nov 28 03
Plzen (CZE) [+3]
8 Danila Yurov RW (L) 6’1” 179 Dec 22 03
Magnitogorsk (MHL) [0]
9 Simon Nemec D (R) 6’1” 192 Feb 15 04
Nitra (SVK) [+2]
10 Conor Geekie C (L) 6’4” 205 May 5 04
Winnipeg (WHL) [-5]
11 Brad Lambert C/RW (R) 6’0” 179 Dec 19 03
Lahti (SM Liiga) [-8]
 

 

[Guadana]

I did start to make my pre draft job.

Time to flex.
 I did like Seider pick very much. I did make a lot of pre draft job in 2020. I was pro Sanderson writer and pro Raymond. I ranked Quinn higher than Holtz and want him as our first pick, I was very pro Mercer and want him even before Arizona made the playoff and we could have 9-12 pick. The most fun thing was my anti Rossi position, because I didnt want another playmaking center. I still think he has good potential to be solid NHLer, I dont think its time to critisize him. But  if you watchin today Devils game, you are understanding, that Devils problem is not the lack of small center with avarage speed\skating and good playmaking.
I did make enough pre draft job last year and I was pro Edvinsson writer,  and rank his game higher than avarage. I dont think Luke is a bad pick, I think it`s pretty good.

 

Hope i will make another good pre draft job, I think I have good understanding of gm`s (Seider, Mctavish, Sanderson, Edvinsson were not surprisingly high for me) and I hope will tell you about prons and cons of the future potential devils pick.

Edited January 22, 2022 by Guadana

[Nicomo]

I see at least a couple names Dano won’t be able to pronounce on that list…

[Nicomo]

10 minutes ago, Guadana said:

I did start to make my pre draft job.

Time to flex.
 I did like Seider pick very much. I did make a lot of pre draft job in 2020. I was pro Sanderson writer and pro Raymond. I ranked Quinn higher than Holtz and want him as our first pick, I was very pro Mercer and want him even before Arizona made the playoff and we could have 9-12 pick. The most fun thing was my anti Rossi position, because I didnt want another playmaking center. I still think he has good potential to be solid NHLer, I dont think its time to critisize him. But  if you watchin today Devils game, you are understanding, that Devils problem is not the lack of small center with avarage speed\skating and good playmaking.
I did make enough pre draft job last year and I was pro Edvinsson writer,  and rank his game higher than avarage. I dont think Luke is a bad pick, I think it`s pretty good.

 

Hope i will make another good pre draft job, I think I have good understanding of gm`s (Seider, Mctavish, Sanderson, Edvinsson were not surprisingly high for me) and I hope will tell you about prons and cons of the future potential devils pick.

Glad you’ve come around a bit on the “sugar puppy”

[mfitz804]

6 minutes ago, Nicomo said:

I see at least a couple names Dano won’t be able to pronounce on that list…

For sure. 

I say play the odds and get Conor Geekie, because people named Conor are always good at hockey. 

[Nicomo]

1 minute ago, mfitz804 said:

For sure. 

I say play the odds and get Conor Geekie, because people named Conor are always good at hockey. 

I was going to say this checks out (Connor McDavid, Kyle Connor, etc), but then I remembered the one we drafted (Connor Chatham) never even made it to the NHL. 

[pumpkin cutter]

depressing to be picking in the top 10 again. i am so over shiny new toys. 

[mfitz804]

10 minutes ago, Nicomo said:

I was going to say this checks out (Connor McDavid, Kyle Connor, etc), but then I remembered the one we drafted (Connor Chatham) never even made it to the NHL. 

Don’t forget Connor Bedard is on his way also. Connor McMichael is supposed to be good too. 

It’s not a lock, but if you play the odds, Get a Connor. 

[Guadana]

7 minutes ago, Nicomo said:

Glad you’ve come around a bit on the “sugar puppy”

I was pretty good on him from the beggining, but he still is a sugar puppy for me =-D Anyway, when Smith perform as i expected, I see we have open spot for a job, that Luke can solve. Especially if Severson will gone. Ofocurse I have my own vision what kind of players help to win games, but if you have some kind of Quinn Hughes\Cale Makar, it doesnt give you a Cup right into your hands, but deffenitely will help. 
But we must find a good partner for Luke to help to make his magic. And I think we have one specific defenseman in that list. Jiricek. I`m not done and I don`t think he is ideal candidate to pick in 4-8 range, but he is on my "good" list for now.

My first two are Jiricek and Slavkofsky. 

Jiricek is fun.

Height  191 cm / 6'3"

Weight 86 kg / 190 lbs

Position D

Shoots R

https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/559522/david-jiricek - stats

I don`t think he is from the same league as Sieder or Sanderson.  He isn`t even Edvinsson. He cant drive play.
What is exited - he is so great skater for THIS body. Long legs, lengs arms. He is cartroony. But skates pretty well. He reminds me Subban, if Subban could be a bit faster today. I know everybody hates Subban. But Subban is a good hockey player(i`m not talking about salary). And Jiricek looks like defensive version of him. I like how he watching game and play against. How he decides where he must go, watchin guys, change zone, etc. How he works in play against, using his body and the stick. Pretty good stick play against.

He play against man, and play good. I know we all remember Kakko discussion and I wasn`t on the Kakko side, but when we talk about young defenseman - it`s a different story. It`s easy to dominate against kids with size or skill or both. But he is good defenseman in his age. Defenseman. Not "supporter" - defenseman.
But you know.. I dont know what to think. He looks like his ceiling is there. May be he can mature more and gain more weight?... He can easy be havier on 14 kg. And I can`t imagine how hard his shot will be(there is a component of the game where he reminds me Subban a lot. In a bad and in a good way). But I think he has very good floor. He is fokin tall like a tower, can be havier, and skates pretty well. Surprisingly well for THIS body. And he read defensive game.


Not for only you, but for any man who read it. Defensemen is the fokin gold now. Look at actual contracts. Defensemen are bank thiefs. And great defense is what you need to win.
If we will draft defenseman this year, he will play NHL after next year or even after next 2 years or even later. And first three years will be on ELC. Its a 5-6 or even seven years. Hamilton deal will be over. Think about it.
 

 

[Guadana]

12 minutes ago, pumpkin cutter said:

depressing to be picking in the top 10 again. i am so over shiny new toys. 

You cant trade your top-10 pick in the draft year like that, especially when you are still in rebuild mode. Only for M Tkachuk or something like that. 
This is how Colorado got Byram, Ottawa got Stuzle, Toronto got Amirov and Arizona got Guenther. Islanders got Dobson, Flyers got Farabee. This guys all are better than what teams got for what they trade for.

Edited January 22, 2022 by Guadana

[Devil Dan 56]

I want Miroschnichenko purely to watch Dano’s head explode 

[nessus]

Very interesting draft. Jiricek and Nemec look like good targets if the Devils go for RD in the first round.

Slafkovsky is a very interesting prospect. I don't think a top pick should ever be anything other than BPA, but he seems to be the perfect player to complement Hughes. Big power forward with great offensive instincts and playmaking ability. He's got that almost Mercer-like puck control too. Good skater for a player of his size.

Joakim Kemell is having a huge season in Liiga, outperforming players like Rantanen and Laine in their draft years. Essentially producing at a Barkov rate, very impressive. Would be an awesome fit if the Devils were lucky enough to draft him.

The player I am most interested in this time around is Brad Lambert. I first started following him at last year's WJC, when he was the early front runner for #2 overall in this draft. He played on the same team as Kemell for much of this season, but his production has been nowhere close to Kemell's at that level. A lot of factors can contribute to that, but it certainly isn't encouraging. I did catch some of his play for one game during this year's WJC. He looked amazing. He has a high end skill set, and honestly just looks like an offensive force in every way. He can skate and think the game on the level of Hughes and Bratt, which I don't think can be said about many players. It's possible that he just isn't yet ready to play against men. But against his peers, he looks like a high end player. The only other red flag is that his father seems to be too involved in Brad's career, and you see him jumping around to different teams. I hope there isn't an attitude problem as well. Seems like this year's risky pick, but a skill set worth gambling on IMO.

[MadDog2020]

19 minutes ago, Devil Dan 56 said:

I want Miroschnichenko purely to watch Dano’s head explode 

Hopefully Dano isn’t calling games anymore by the time he makes the team. 

[Guadana]

18 minutes ago, nessus said:

Very interesting draft. Jiricek and Nemec look like good targets if the Devils go for RD in the first round.

Slafkovsky is a very interesting prospect. I don't think a top pick should ever be anything other than BPA, but he seems to be the perfect player to complement Hughes. Big power forward with great offensive instincts and playmaking ability. He's got that almost Mercer-like puck control too. Good skater for a player of his size.

Joakim Kemell is having a huge season in Liiga, outperforming players like Rantanen and Laine in their draft years. Essentially producing at a Barkov rate, very impressive. Would be an awesome fit if the Devils were lucky enough to draft him.

The player I am most interested in this time around is Brad Lambert. I first started following him at last year's WJC, when he was the early front runner for #2 overall in this draft. He played on the same team as Kemell for much of this season, but his production has been nowhere close to Kemell's at that level. A lot of factors can contribute to that, but it certainly isn't encouraging. I did catch some of his play for one game during this year's WJC. He looked amazing. He has a high end skill set, and honestly just looks like an offensive force in every way. He can skate and think the game on the level of Hughes and Bratt, which I don't think can be said about many players. It's possible that he just isn't yet ready to play against men. But against his peers, he looks like a high end player. The only other red flag is that his father seems to be too involved in Brad's career, and you see him jumping around to different teams. I hope there isn't an attitude problem as well. Seems like this year's risky pick, but a skill set worth gambling on IMO.

I`m not so high on Lambert. 

I found people call Lambert as Raymond of this year.

Brad Lambert

https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/414961/brad-lambert - stats

Height 183 cm / 6'0"

Weight 81 kg / 179 lbs

Shoots R

Position C/RW

Time to figure it out.
Will Devils sign Bratt for long term? If they will, so whats for Devils will draft Lambert? Devils have Hughes(2 штуки - Luke and Jack), Jesper and Dougie to drive the play. Even Nico. Mercer has great potential to drive the play. Do you know who Mercer is? RW\C. Do you know who Lambert is? Rw\C. Did you know Mercer has great potential as good 200 foot player? I did. Did you know Lambert has potential as good 200 foot player? I didn`t see that anywhere. And Mercer is much better in puckhandling.

I think he has great potential as bone of contention in fan base. Someone will like him and will defend him, someone will hate him. I see great potential for absolutely different season from this guy, especially when he will play with different partners. 45 players one year, 75 next year, 45 points year after.

He is nowhere close to Raymond. Raymond was very copmpetitive. His compete level was very high. He is very good forechecker. And I don`t like zone working and forechecking work from Lambert. And he is out of physical aspect of the game. Raymond can lose the puck battles etc but he is involved. And Raymond has much better IQ.

He is great play driver, but he is taken the puck too much on my taste,I didnt see great puckmover vision. Good - ofcourse, but not great. Nemec have much better IQ. I dont think Lambert have excellent skating. And I really dont like his body work\technique in shooting. He reminds me Foudy with more playdriveing abuility(bad compersation).
I don`t like him as top-10 pick, especially in this draft, especially for the Devils, who needs in absolutely another material.

I`m still not a "fan" of any player on this draft, but Lambert is in the end of my list. No matter how easy I can imagine how he will produce 75+ points on the NHL level. Play driving is the most imprtant thing in NHL on my taste. But he has pretty low floor on my taste and I dont like combination of his prons and cons. Devils needs stabilily, grit and scoring in top-6 and stone cold defensive specialist in defense.
 

 

Edited January 22, 2022 by Guadana

[devlman]

This is depressing. I’d be more than willing to trade the pick for some immediate help.

Edited January 22, 2022 by devlman

[mfitz804]

1 hour ago, Devil Dan 56 said:

I want Miroschnichenko purely to watch Dano’s head explode 

That would be shortened to “Miro” instantly. 

[Nicomo]

54 minutes ago, nessus said:

The only other red flag is that his father seems to be too involved in Brad's career, and you see him jumping around to different teams. I hope there isn't an attitude problem as well. Seems like this year's risky pick, but a skill set worth gambling on IMO.

Wasn’t there a bit of that with Zacha? I seem to recall some rumblings about Pavel not being super into hockey, and that his father was the one that pushed him towards playing hockey professionally. 

[CarpathianForest]

Would be cool if the guy we draft could step in a make a positive difference. 

[Devilsfan118]

2 hours ago, pumpkin cutter said:

depressing to be picking in the top 10 again. i am so over shiny new toys. 

Especially when you realize these kids likely won't step into the NHL for another couple years.

[Chimaira_Devil_#9]

Lambert is really interesting. I have seen a lot of people saying he is this year's Raty. 

Another player who is interesting is Conor Geekie. He is a unit and has amazing hands, but he is a centre and he isn't the best skater, so not sure he would fit our profile or need. 

Edited January 23, 2022 by Chimaira_Devil_#9

[Chimaira_Devil_#9]

Also, if anyone is interested in this year's Goalie class here is a really good write up. 

 

https://www.recruitscouting.com/recruit-scouting-nhl-draft-2022-goaltending-prospects-by-frank-longo/

 

[mfitz804]

10 minutes ago, Chimaira_Devil_#9 said:

Also, if anyone is interested in this year's Goalie class here is a really good write up. 

 

https://www.recruitscouting.com/recruit-scouting-nhl-draft-2022-goaltending-prospects-by-frank-longo/

 

I like that there’s a guy named Braden Holt, like Holtby minus the “by”. 

[nessus]

54 minutes ago, Chimaira_Devil_#9 said:

Lambert is really interesting. I have seen a lot of people saying he is this year's Raty. 

Another player who is interesting is Conor Geekie. He is a unit and has amazing hands, but he is a centre and he isn't the best salter, so not sure he would fit our profile or need. 

I agree, I think we need someone like this:

[Chimaira_Devil_#9]

6 hours ago, nessus said:

I agree, I think we need someone like this:

Siegenthaler?

[Guadana]

11 hours ago, Chimaira_Devil_#9 said:

Lambert is really interesting. I have seen a lot of people saying he is this year's Raty. 

Another player who is interesting is Conor Geekie. He is a unit and has amazing hands, but he is a centre and he isn't the best skater, so not sure he would fit our profile or need. 

Yeah. Lambert is great. Especially his father, who take his word every time when he wasn`t asked. (khm khm PZ). He create A LOT of points, oops, that was Kemmel from the same team\same age, and Lambert achived nothing as offensive minded player. WIth every red flags of offensive minded player(bad diffensively, lost phiysicaly etc), with absolutely bad shot technique\makin decision. Great add for our top-6. We need more softies!
But yeah, like a driver he is good. 

 

18 hours ago, devlman said:

This is depressing. I’d be more than willing to trade the pick for some immediate help.

 

19 hours ago, Guadana said:

You cant trade your top-10 pick in the draft year like that, especially when you are still in rebuild mode. Only for M Tkachuk or something like that. 
This is how Colorado got Byram, Ottawa got Stuzle, Toronto got Amirov and Arizona got Guenther. Islanders got Dobson, Flyers got Farabee. This guys all are better than what teams got for what they trade for.

reread and rethink.

______

Juraj Slafkovsky

Height 192 cm / 6'4"

Weight 102 kg / 225 lbs

Shoots L

https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/527423/juraj-slafkovsky - stats

Let`s start from his speed. If you watch him in the game you can`t say he is slow or he is fast. His cruising speed is avarage. He work with the steam of the game, he is involved, but he isn`t faster. He can create speed on the breakaway, but he isn`t the guy, who will force every opponent. He can create speed "there", but will not add speed "after".
On the other hand I`m very exited about his zone workin. From what I saw he workin in the game, sometimes miss his player, but he is much mire involved in two way game, workin on the 200 foot. And doesn`t lose the race.

Skating overall is good, puckhandling is great. He is a big guy and he skates like a good skater, not great, but good enough.

I think he has GREAT compete level. I think he will be good NHL player. Good hockey iq for the man of his size. Good two way game for his size. He play against, change opponents when situation ask him, work with defensive zones, he is pretty good playmaker, his puckhandling and body helps him to protect the puck and he use it for finding his partners.

About his wing game. And this is a hard word from me. I cant say that I like how he create space for his own shot. If we want power winger for our centers, we must wait something like... Nolan Foote with good skating and speed. Juraj can create speed and I like how he protect the puck in breakaways, but I didn`t see this... menthal work, what you can see from scoring winger, when they standing here and there and focus on defensemen, and when defenseman lose attention, they immidietly change their position. Or actively fighting for open space, goin on the slot and workin on it. He play a lot on the perimetr. I want to see very egoistiс game from winger, but I think Juraj is too much altruistic. With his size and foote work he could(and must) fight for the spot, find a way to score on rebounds, close the vision for a goalie, play on the redirects.

How he is working with rediraction? I didn`t see any attempt from him.

I understand that he is good passer, he is watching ice very well. And I think he has enough to be good playmakin winger. I like his board work, how he protect the puck. I didn`t see enough drive from him, but I think he has good potential in this aspect. Because of his size, puck protection and skating.

But I didn`t see enough... what I want. Devils needs in SHOOT FIRST player. And I think you can agree with it. The most consistent workers on the slot are Sharangovich(and I don`t think he is good enough in that kind of play), Bastian and Wood. And Nico. That`s bad. Yegor must be better, Bastian and Wood are good hockey players, but they are bottom line players.
We don`t have enough... rebounders. And players who can redirect the puck. We`v got Subban, Hamilton, even Severson, Graves and Smith. They all can make pre-redirection play. But who try to make rediraction on regulary basis? I think only Johnsson.
And it`s a problem. And I don`t see how Slafkovsky can solve it. I don`t see how he can solve the problem of slot work. And it bother me, because he has size to make it.

His u-20 production is pretty good enough, but he didn`t score enough. And(like Lambert) he score nothing on adult level. 

May be, I say may be, he is very good potential partner for Nico. To make boards play and two way work to help Nico score more. And his passing abuility can help Nico to focus on scoring(I do really think Nico has 30+ goals potential with good two way winger). But I dont think he can help Jack enough. He works on the boards and along the boards, but I want to see more "cutting knife" work from winger, who play with Jack.

You can say this is Zacha 2.0. Big czech player. But they are absolutely different. Zacha is pretty fast player with great shot and absolutely nothing as 200 foot player, Slafkovsky is a very good two way winger, with good board work, but isn`t great scorer with avarage shot. I think his summ of his skills is better to help team to play good every minute on the ice, but if you want some scoring - this is not your man. At least for now. He has good hands, he is great puckhandler and can score on breakaways, but in NHL I think players have 1-2 chances on breakaways in 2-3 games, and some of this chances NHL goalies will stop. 10-15-20 goals isn`t a level you wait from the winger from top-6 on the draft. Especially for the Devils, where is a lack of consistent goal scorers.

But this is only vision. I do really think he is a great player who looks like he can grow on himself. He is smart, compete, involved in the game and make a real impact in the game on the both ends on the ice.
 

 

Edited January 23, 2022 by Guadana