What to do with #2?

[Jerzey]

Assuming Montreal drafts Wright.

 

[mfitz804]

Flush it lol. 

[DevsMan84]

Draft Cooley isn't an option?  He is on many lists as #2.

[mfitz804]

I chose "trade for immediate help", but I pick that with the caveat of it having to be in a deal for our goalie of the future, should that not be Blackwood. 

[Jerzey]

1 minute ago, DevsMan84 said:

Draft Cooley isn't an option?  He is on many lists as #2.

Added 

[DevsMan84]

5 minutes ago, Jerzey said:

Added 

Thanks.  I already said Other but let's just pretend it is for Cooley

[Jerzey]

1 minute ago, DevsMan84 said:

Thanks.  I already said Other but let's just pretend it is for Cooley

Sorry about that. I thought you could change your vote for some reason.

[DevsMan84]

Just now, Jerzey said:

Sorry about that. I thought you could change your vote for some reason.

All good

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

This is a tough one.  The guy almost guaranteed to be the BPA at #2 (Cooley) isn't really what the Devils need.  

Already said it elsewhere, but I try to trade down with Arizona with the hope that I can get one of their other 2022 firsts (those were originally Carolina's and Colorado's, so they're near the bottom of the first), or two of their 2022 seconds (I'd try to get at least Arizona's or Philly's 2nd as one of those).  If that can't happen, then I guess I take Cooley and try to figure it out later.  Not sure I love trying to force a guy to play out of position, but if he's really considered to be THAT much better than Slafkovsky...     

[Nicomo]

I definitely wouldn’t be crazy about taking another small-ish center. We could end up with a top 6 where Nico is literally the biggest guy. Obviously not ideal. Especially for the postseason. And from everything I’ve read it doesn’t sound like the players after Wright are separated by that much. Feels like one of those drafts where 2-5 could fall a number of different ways. 

For me - right now - it’s probably between Slaf and Nemec. My opinion could change the more I dig into things, but today I vote Slaf. 

[Jimmy Leeds]

16 minutes ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

This is a tough one.  The guy almost guaranteed to be the BPA at #2 (Cooley) isn't really what the Devils need.  

Already said it elsewhere, but I try to trade down with Arizona with the hope that I can get one of their other 2022 firsts (those were originally Carolina's and Colorado's, so they're near the bottom of the first), or two of their 2022 seconds (I'd try to get at least Arizona's or Philly's 2nd as one of those).  If that can't happen, then I guess I take Cooley and try to figure it out later.  Not sure I love trying to force a guy to play out of position, but if he's really considered to be THAT much better than Slafkovsky...     

What's the return on going from #2 to #3?    All you suggest.....?   I dunno

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

4 minutes ago, Jimmy Leeds said:

What's the return on going from #2 to #3?    All you suggest.....?   I dunno

If Arizona is that bullish on Cooley and/or the Devils would rather draft by positional need, I’m just trying to get something extra out of the Yotes.  I’m guessing Fitz will probably just keep the pick.  

[Jimmy Leeds]

1 minute ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

If Arizona is that bullish on Cooley and/or the Devils would rather draft by positional need, I’m just trying to get something extra out of the Yotes.  I’m guessing Fitz will probably just keep the pick.  

I'm totally in agreement......... but I would 100% definitely entertain dropping 1 or 2 max and seeing how it shakes out

[nessus]

Slafkovsky at the moment for me. I truly believe he is the best player after Wright, and I don’t think there was any chance he would have made it to 5 if the Devils stayed put at their original spot.

Slaf arguably has the highest upside in this draft, but a long way to go before he gets there. You just don’t see many players like him these days. While BPA is always the way to go with top picks, elite wingers is what this team needs, especially given their commitment to Jack and Nico. To me, it really is the perfect pick.

That said, I would be happy with Jiricek or Nemec. Both project to be very good players.

Trading for immediate help only makes sense if it’s for a goaltender IMO, and I haven’t come across a reasonable trade scenario.

[mfitz804]

We need to be posting more outrageous takes so that later we can look back at these posts and laugh about how wrong they are.  I'll give it a whirl:

We have to draft Slaf. You simply cannot take a guy like Cooley or Nemec at #2, they will never amount to anything in this league and will probably be playing in Europe by 2025. 

Let's check on that in a couple of years lol. 

[Jerzey]

2 minutes ago, mfitz804 said:

We need to be posting more outrageous takes so that later we can look back at these posts and laugh about how wrong they are.  I'll give it a whirl:

We have to draft Slaf. You simply cannot take a guy like Cooley or Nemec at #2, they will never amount to anything in this league and will probably be playing in Europe by 2025. 

Let's check on that in a couple of years lol. 

I actually voted for Kakko over Hughes when we did this in 2019.

 

Edited May 11, 2022 by Jerzey

[Devilsfan118]

Not crazy about drafting another undersized "skill" center from the USNTDP.  Took Jack, an undeniably better player, almost three years to acclimate to the NHL.

Slaf or trade the pick, imo.

[mfitz804]

2 minutes ago, Devilsfan118 said:

Took Jack, an undeniably better player, almost three years to acclimate to the NHL.

Yeah, not really though. It was not really 3 years since they were all shortened, by COVID or by injury. Jack has missed a full season's worth of time already. No doubt that has to have had an effect on his development. Either getting him to where he is slower than he should have, or him actually not being as good as he would have been with another 80 games of experience under his belt. 

Plus, he seemed pretty well acclimated to the NHL  from day one this season, problem is he was turned upside down on day two lol. 

 

[Nicomo]

2 minutes ago, Devilsfan118 said:

Not crazy about drafting another undersized "skill" center from the USNTDP.  Took Jack, an undeniably better player, almost three years to acclimate to the NHL.

Slaf or trade the pick, imo.

I mean, it might take Slaf that long, too. The reason I would rather go in a different direction is we already have a bunch of playmaking forwards that Cooley’s size. The only shoot first winger we have in the pipeline is Holtz. Ideally I’d like to be able to give both Jack and Nico a legit sniper. I know we have Sharongovich, but in a perfect world he’s on the 3rd line anyway. 

[Guadana]

Slafkovsky. Or Jiricek. May be Nemec, but for Nemec Devils could trade down. Even for Jiricek. If they want to draft 2OA - it is Slafkovsky only. Because he is BPA, better than Cooley, Kemmel, Savoie, Nazar etc now. And he represent great need. Unlike Kakko, he can skate. Unlike Zacha, he is smart, competitive, work hard and use his body.  Unlike Cooley... ) another playmaker will not help Devils to win. Cooley will be great player, as other guys. But he will not be great on the boards and he isn`t interior forward. Cooley should play center role. When you believe he can play wing, lets remember how Hughes did look on the wing.

Jiricek and Nemec have good pitential. DIfferent people rank forwards and defensemen against each other differently.  I would say good defenseman who can defend greatly and produce 45+ is a better player than forward with 70+ points. But we are talking about power forward who can clean the zone, create the space and have very good hockey vision. Slafkovsky is very good. On the other hand Jiricek is THAT kind of defenseman. His injury is worry me. The thing we could understand from draft history is drafting healthy players is better.  Nemec have potential to be 60+ points. But I`m not a fan of his defensive game. He isn`t bad, but he is playmaking defenseman from the beggining.

Anyway if we are talking about tactics on the draft - it`s a thing how our scouts rank players. We can draft Slafkovsky by  second pick. If Fitz and co think that we must draft Jiricek - they can trade down.. I believe only to 3OA. If they want to draft Nemec, they can trade down to 4th.

[NJDevils1214]

Today: Slaf
Tomorrow: Nemec
Friday: Jiricek

[Guadana]

3 minutes ago, Nicomo said:

I mean, it might take Slaf that long, too. The reason I would rather go in a different direction is we already have a bunch of playmaking forwards that Cooley’s size. The only shoot first winger we have in the pipeline is Holtz. Ideally I’d like to be able to give both Jack and Nico a legit sniper. I know we have Sharongovich, but in a perfect world he’s on the 3rd line anyway. 

Btw Shoot first are Wright, Gauthier, Kemmel and may be Nazar from top-10. Lekkerimiaki is a good shooter too.  Slafkovsky is more playmaking player. With absolutely different kind of playmaking style than Bratt or Jack. His hand will help him to score more, his vision and body work will help me too. And our centers ofcourse. I believe he can score a lot with good partners. But we can`t draft him because "he is scorer and we need scorer". He isn`t classic shooter.  If you want physical scorer - draft Gauthier. You can easily trade down for him. 

 

[mfitz804]

Is there any chance the Canadiens pass on Wright and we have to make that decision? I was reading an article about how he wasn't producing in the OHL the way a #1OA usually does (ex. Hischier had a higher PPG) because he had a slow start. 

Any chance they may want a guy like Slaf who has "played with men" and then we have to make a decision?

[Chimaira_Devil_#9]

2 hours ago, mfitz804 said:

I chose "trade for immediate help", but I pick that with the caveat of it having to be in a deal for our goalie of the future, should that not be Blackwood. 

There is no way you trade this pick for any goalie that is likely going to be available. That would be the worst outcome. 

[Guadana]

19 minutes ago, mfitz804 said:

Is there any chance the Canadiens pass on Wright and we have to make that decision? I was reading an article about how he wasn't producing in the OHL the way a #1OA usually does (ex. Hischier had a higher PPG) because he had a slow start. 

Any chance they may want a guy like Slaf who has "played with men" and then we have to make a decision?

Slafkovsky play well after Olympics(and he was good in the tournament too), but he has his own slow start too. So if they will decide that producing is an argument, it isn`t an argument for Slafkovsky too. 
But I think we still have a chance Montreal will draft Slafkovsky. I would say it is not big, but still. If Wright is available for Devils pick, would be interesting to see what Fitz will do. Wright have great shot, he is pretty good two way player.  He looks like a 27 yo man and I don`t like it, but still. Fitz can draft him and call it a day. He can trade down with Arizona(who will sell A LOT for a chance to draft Wright) and pick Jiricek. Or even trade down with Columbus, pick very phisical and great shooter Gauthier  by 6 pick and Chesley by 12th. Chesley is some kind of light version of Jiricek - Chesley is hard to play against. good defensively, have a great shot. He isn`t as great as puck mover, but have some potential because he is great skater.  Gauthier is great as shooter and great phisically. Only Metthews and Cofield have a better gpg rate in ushl in predraft year. He is some kind of Tkachuk`s type. He is very good on the boards, create space. I think his game in center is questionable, I dont think he is good playdriver, but he is good skater, have great shoot. Hughes and Bratt will help.

It is an interesting case if Mtl will decide to draft Slafkovsky. Wirght, Jiricek and a lot of different picks in the end of the first and in the beggining of the second rounds, or Gauthier and Chesley - every opportunity is great for the Devils organisation.