What to do with #2?

[Chimaira_Devil_#9]

From Pronman at the Athletic, revised mock draft projection based on talk from the combine. 

Interesting comments about the defenseman. 

If Slaf is there I think we go for him. If he is not I think the Priority will be a trade. 

[jagknife]

1 hour ago, Chimaira_Devil_#9 said:

From Pronman at the Athletic, revised mock draft projection based on talk from the combine. 

Interesting comments about the defenseman. 

If Slaf is there I think we go for him. If he is not I think the Priority will be a trade. 

 

I know how I reacted when we won our portion of the lottery, but after a few weeks I'm all aboard the DRAFT Slaf or trade it away thanks largely to this board. I don't want us going defender at 2 when we have a player with actual size available.

[NJDevils1214]

I don't know what the right answer is. I was all about Slaf when he shot up the rankings, but my PTSD from taking a player like Zacha thinking his play will "grow into" his size just kind of scares me. There are likely safer picks on the board. While I know we don't need another undersized player, Cooley seems like a much safer pick.

Again, I don't know. Thankfully it isn't my decision.

[Nicomo]

The Zacha comparisons are just completely unfounded. If Slaf was playing in juniors instead of Liiga he would have likely put up insane numbers. Zacha’s production was totally pedestrian. Zacha also never did anything on the world stage like Slaf has either. 

[nessus]

1 hour ago, NJDevils1214 said:

I don't know what the right answer is. I was all about Slaf when he shot up the rankings, but my PTSD from taking a player like Zacha thinking his play will "grow into" his size just kind of scares me. There are likely safer picks on the board. While I know we don't need another undersized player, Cooley seems like a much safer pick.

Again, I don't know. Thankfully it isn't my decision.

To echo what @Nicomo said above, most of the deficiencies in Zacha's game are strength's in Slafkovsky's. Slaf just oozes confidence, and he is relentless along the boards. He has that high energy, high intensity game that Zacha lacks. He's also one of those players who will drive the net, and always finds a way to be in the middle of the action. I get that there's a natural inclination to compare the two since, they're both big guys who can skate well and have impressive skill sets. But I wouldn't worry so much about Slafkovsky following a similar trajectory.

Slaf went to Finland at age 15 to work on his skating and defensive game. He really buys into the lower event Finnish system, which in part explains the discrepancy between his production with team Slovakia vs. his production with TPS. When he gets some freedom to do his thing, he really just goes off. I think this makes him such a difficult prospect to evaluate. You wonder if there's more to the story regarding his lower Liiga production. Recent prospects like Lundell produced at a far higher rate. I get that Slaf started producing in the later part of the season, so his stats are weighed down by the pre-Olympics performance, but you'd still like to see him rivaling the production of other recent first rounders if you're picking him 2 OA. I still want the Devils to select him at 2, but just another prospective there.

[Nicomo]

4 minutes ago, nessus said:

You wonder if there's more to the story regarding his lower Liiga production. Recent prospects like Lundell produced at a far higher rate. I get that Slaf started producing in the later part of the season, so his stats are weighed down by the pre-Olympics performance, but you'd still like to see him rivaling the production of other recent first rounders if you're picking him 2 OA. I still want the Devils to select him at 2, but just another prospective there.

Maybe something as simple as the language barrier? Guys like Lundell, Laine, Kakko, etc all were playing in their native country. 

[NJDevils1214]

4 hours ago, nessus said:

To echo what @Nicomo said above, most of the deficiencies in Zacha's game are strength's in Slafkovsky's. Slaf just oozes confidence, and he is relentless along the boards. He has that high energy, high intensity game that Zacha lacks. He's also one of those players who will drive the net, and always finds a way to be in the middle of the action. I get that there's a natural inclination to compare the two since, they're both big guys who can skate well and have impressive skill sets. But I wouldn't worry so much about Slafkovsky following a similar trajectory.

Slaf went to Finland at age 15 to work on his skating and defensive game. He really buys into the lower event Finnish system, which in part explains the discrepancy between his production with team Slovakia vs. his production with TPS. When he gets some freedom to do his thing, he really just goes off. I think this makes him such a difficult prospect to evaluate. You wonder if there's more to the story regarding his lower Liiga production. Recent prospects like Lundell produced at a far higher rate. I get that Slaf started producing in the later part of the season, so his stats are weighed down by the pre-Olympics performance, but you'd still like to see him rivaling the production of other recent first rounders if you're picking him 2 OA. I still want the Devils to select him at 2, but just another prospective there.

My mention of Zacha in my post is really superficial(basically just size forwards with "tools"). I'm sure there's a lot of details that separate them.

I'm torn due to how Slaf shot up draft rankings last min. Really just don't want to pick another player in the top ten that doesn't pan out and I see plenty of people that put Slaf ahead of Cooley because of the late push/size. 

Is Slaf's size/late push enough to win out over Cooley's evident skill(and Cooley has been ranked high for a while)? Cooley could still be BPA at #2 and he's being left on the board just because the need for size up front ends up being the focus. 

Again, I don't know the answer. I just hope it works out regardless, obviously.

[Guadana]

If you will compare good players from draft with bad players from previous draft with “he is the same size” or “I don’t like his euro face” or “ his surname is too hard to spell for Daneyko” we will never be a good team. 
 

I am all in to trade the pick, if Wright is available. Teams like Arizona, Buffalo or Columbus will pay a lot for him. And talks from guys, who doesn’t watch prospects and tell you about poor 2022 draft are just don’t know what are they talking about. It’s not offense, it’s just fact. Guys like Nazar or Yurov(will) could fall from top-10. 
Arizona could pay a lot for Wright, and Fitz could draft defenseman he like more. I like Jiricek more, but this isn’t what’s I’m talking about. If we will trade with Columbus we could easily pick one of defenseman or Gauthier, who will be great nhl scorer and power forward. He lacks of driving game, but we have Bratt and Jack. We will complement this guys easily. He play very strong game, and the thing I like, he looks smart and stay up. I like it. This is what I want to see from kid who should play his role. And second pick we could use for player like Nazar, Yurov, Chesley.  Or trade it for a guy like Fiala. Or good goaltender(especially if Boston will decide to make some rebuild or clean cap space for sign big agent instead). 
same thing with Buffalo. 

[Lateralous]

My understanding is that the Flames really need a C, especially if Gaudreau leaves.   If Wright fell to #2, Nico for Tkachuk?  
 

I would obviously trade the second pick for Tkachuk instead but I would imagine Calgary would want the established center that can step right in next year.   
 

Edit: That being said, with where they are with their roster, I don’t know how Montreal could possibly pass on a Center to go and take a LW #1.   

Edited June 8, 2022 by Lateralous

[Devilsfan118]

Throw out a scenario here:

To NJD:

Q. Hughes

B. Boeser

+?

To VAN:

2OA

+?

Is there any scenario here where you'd entertain this?  What would the "+" need to be to make this passable for both sides?

[mfitz804]

Just now, Devilsfan118 said:

Throw out a scenario here:

To NJD:

Q. Hughes

B. Boeser

+?

To VAN:

2OA

+?

Is there any scenario here where you'd entertain this?  What would the "+" need to be to make this passable for both sides?

I mean of course we would entertain that, it's all about who the ?'s are.

To that end, I don't think we would get anything additional in that deal and I think I would be fine with it. 

I have no idea what Vancouver would want for their ?, but I think it probably starts with at least one of Mercer and Holtz. 

[Guadana]

1 hour ago, Devilsfan118 said:

Throw out a scenario here:

To NJD:

Q. Hughes

B. Boeser

+?

To VAN:

2OA

+?

Is there any scenario here where you'd entertain this?  What would the "+" need to be to make this passable for both sides?

- 2OA

[RunninWithTheDevil]

2 hours ago, Devilsfan118 said:

Throw out a scenario here:

To NJD:

Q. Hughes

B. Boeser

+?

To VAN:

2OA

+?

Is there any scenario here where you'd entertain this?  What would the "+" need to be to make this passable for both sides?

They would most likely demand Bratt in the return, along with pieces a'la Mercer

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

7 minutes ago, RunninWithTheDevil said:

They would most likely demand Bratt in the return, along with pieces a'la Mercer

Yeah you're not getting without giving.  You're getting what should be all prime cost-controlled seasons out of Q Hughes.  Mercer has a year of NHL experience and should get better, but he's not a gimme.  And Holtz is definitely a question mark...as long as he's here, I'm sure as hell hoping it happens for him, but not going to pretend he's some sure thing at this point.  They're gonna want someone who's been productive in the NHL...Bratt would fit the bill.

Edited June 8, 2022 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[NJDevils1214]

9 hours ago, Guadana said:

If you will compare good players from draft with bad players from previous draft with “he is the same size” or “I don’t like his euro face” or “ his surname is too hard to spell for Daneyko” we will never be a good team.

Zacha's face is one of the few things about him that isn't on my list of dislikes.

I just don't want another bust and because Slaf shot up last min vs Cooley that has always been ranked high Slaf comes off to me as more of a risky pick "maybe" pick. I lean risk adverse and just say take BPA and that to me is Cooley. A lot of people like slaf cause he is big but my gut tells me Cooley's lack of size won't affect his ability to transition his game to the NHL.

Edited June 8, 2022 by NJDevils1214

[Guadana]

3 hours ago, NJDevils1214 said:

Zacha's face is one of the few things about him that isn't on my list of dislikes.

I just don't want another bust and because Slaf shot up last min vs Cooley that has always been ranked high Slaf comes off to me as more of a risky pick "maybe" pick. I lean risk adverse and just say take BPA and that to me is Cooley. A lot of people like slaf cause he is big but my gut tells me Cooley's lack of size won't affect his ability to transition his game to the NHL.

This is the most surface analyse I did read int he past few weeks. 
You have 9K posts here. As I understand you didn`t watch some games of them, You can read this forum closely and find more info about what people love in Slaf, if you want from people to read your comments too.  Your(and not only your) mantra of Best Player Available doesn`t work, because you shold start to name where Cooley is better.

Edited June 8, 2022 by Guadana

[NJDevils1214]

2 hours ago, Guadana said:

This is the most surface analyse I did read int he past few weeks. 
You have 9K posts here. As I understand you didn`t watch some games of them, You can read this forum closely and find more info about what people love in Slaf, if you want from people to read your comments too.  Your(and not only your) mantra of Best Player Available doesn`t work, because you shold start to name where Cooley is better.

Burn.

[andy]

10 hours ago, NJDevils1214 said:

Zacha's face is one of the few things about him that isn't on my list of dislikes.

I just don't want another bust and because Slaf shot up last min vs Cooley that has always been ranked high Slaf comes off to me as more of a risky pick "maybe" pick. I lean risk adverse and just say take BPA and that to me is Cooley. A lot of people like slaf cause he is big but my gut tells me Cooley's lack of size won't affect his ability to transition his game to the NHL.

I want them to go with the guy they think has the highest potential, not the safest.

 

[Crisis]

I'm listening to the 32 Thoughts Podcast from June 3rd where they talk about the Scouting Combine and Jeff Marek mentions that Slafkovsky was asked by a few teams if he can play center.  Two teams that Slafkovsky named were New Jersey and Vancouver.  Friedman then chimes in that sure, Slaf is on the Devils radar, by why Vancouver?  They're selecting 15th..

And that, my friends, is how rumors are started.  2OA for Quinn Hughes and the trifecta is now complete.

[jagknife]

1 hour ago, Crisis said:

I'm listening to the 32 Thoughts Podcast from June 3rd where they talk about the Scouting Combine and Jeff Marek mentions that Slafkovsky was asked by a few teams if he can play center.  Two teams that Slafkovsky named were New Jersey and Vancouver.  Friedman then chimes in that sure, Slaf is on the Devils radar, by why Vancouver?  They're selecting 15th..

And that, my friends, is how rumors are started.  2OA for Quinn Hughes and the trifecta is now complete.

So it got me thinking of who has term and is good enough to be valued in part of a deal for the 2nd overall in Vancouver.

most of their guys have 1-2 years left before UFA status. Garland, OEL & Quinn all have 4 & 5 each respectively. Out of those three, Quinn is the only one I’d say is close to 2nd overall worthy…

[2ELIAS6]

38 minutes ago, MB3 said:

It would cost so, so fvcking much to get Quinn Hughes. It's the dream but it seems nearly impossible.

2OA, 2023 lotto-protected 1st, 2022 2nd, Ty Smith and Arseni Gritsyuk? Like, that feels realistic but it also feels like a psychotic overpay. 

No thanks, i dont know why people act like this guy is the absolute end all be all.. enough with this already. He’s not the only quality defenseman in hockey and just because both of his brothers will be in the organization doesn’t mean we need to have him too. Keep it moving. 

[MadDog2020]

44 minutes ago, MB3 said:

2OA, 2023 lotto-protected 1st, 2022 2nd, Ty Smith and Arseni Gritsyuk? Like, that feels realistic but it also feels like a psychotic overpay. 

That’s because it is a psychotic overpay. 

[mfitz804]

You can’t have Quinn. It’s like when you play Monopoly and your opponent owns Boardwalk and then you land on Park Place. You don’t really want to spend the money on it , but you do just to keep the other guy from having the set. 

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

1 hour ago, MadDog2020 said:

That’s because it is a psychotic overpay. 

It is but that’s probably what it would take.  The Canucks don’t want to trade him.

[MadDog2020]

7 minutes ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

It is but that’s probably what it would take.  The Canucks don’t want to trade him.

Nor do they have a reason to. He’s signed to a long-term, team-friendly deal. There is literally no reason for Vancouver to trade Quinn unless he demanded it himself, which he would never do. 

Edited June 10, 2022 by MadDog2020