So NJ has now moved its unlikely source of NHL Players from the sixth round to the fifth round? There may be something to that (Sharangovich, Schmid, and Gritsyuk).
I'd say Studenic was also a terrific 5th round pick in 2017. Keep in mind, that -- as late as the 5th round -- if you can get a player who is very good on your AHL team and able to fill in capably in case of injury for your NHL squad -- well, that's a terrific pick.
Under ex-GM Ray Shero, the Devils did an extraordinary job of drafting in the 5th/6th rounds. Truly extraordinary -- let's take a look.
2017
5th: Gilles Senn -- borderline AHL goaltender, not likely a great pick but not a complete washout
5th: Marian Studenic -- speedy and capable fill-in F for the bottom 6.
6th: Aarne Talvitie -- was looking like a steal until slowed by injuries and adversity. Still has capability to fill a AHL/NHL role like Studenic.
2018
5th: Akira Shmid -- looks like he has the possibility of being an NHL back-up and at the very least a good AHL goaltender, so a very good pick this late.
5th: Yegor Sharangovich -- a 2nd line-caliber F with 30+ goal upside, and an absolutely steal. The best 5th rounder of the 2018 draft, by far.
6th: Mitchell Hoelscher -- not likely to ever play in the NHL, so not a good pick.
2019:
5th: Cole Brady -- still developing for a middling Arizona State program, and a long shot to make the NHL. Clearly Shero liked rolling the dice on goalies in these rounds, and Shmid might be the only one who hits.
5th: Arensi Gritsyuk -- tearing up the KHL and looking like he'll one day be a terrific 2nd line F, the early returns are that Gritsyuk was an absolute steal and the best pick of the 2019 5th round.
6th: Patrick Moynihan -- Jack Hughes' good buddy has been excellent at Providence College, and although there's still time before any conclusion can be made, he's looking like a very solid candidate for the future of the Devils bottom 6.
I think we need to step back and realize how amazing these picks were. Shero did a tremendous job of accumulating late round picks and then consistently knocking them out of the park. What team gets the possibility of two top-6 Fs, two bottom-6 Fs and a back up goaltender in
just three years of 5th and 6th round picks?? It's just a tremendous job by Shero and the scouting department.
Unfortunately -- and I need to state that I'm a big supporter of Tom Fitzgerald -- his strategy in the later rounds has been much more questionable than Shero. Where Shero went consistently for goaltending lottery picks, character/intangibles Fs (Talvitie, Moynihan) and upside Fs (Studenic, Sharangovich, Gritsyuk) -- Fitzgerald seems to have less of a "strategy" and more of a propensity to give certain scouts late picks of players they individually like to reward them and build loyalty. Fitzgerald's 5th/6th rounders after 2 years (Shlaine, Baumgartner, Vilen, Hurtig) have absolutely zero high upside guys and one guy with a pretty solid floor as a steady, defensive defender (Vilen), but at a position (LD) where he's absolutely buried on the depth chart -- ranking well below names like L. Hughes, Mukhamadullin, Okhotyuk, Bahl, Vukojevic, Misyul.
As a "young" GM, I feel Fitzgerald can improve upon this by working a more defined plan -- unifying the rankings of his entire scouting core and targeting areas of need, whether it be types of players he seems to covet at the professional level (defensively responsible and capable defensemen with size and the ability to handle the puck) or players this current scouting core was able to identify in the past (high-upside under-the radar Fs like Sharangovich, Gritsyuk, Thompson). I do feel that -- after questionable picks in the 3rd through 6th rounds last year -- the Devils made an outstanding pick in the 7th with F Zakhar Bardakov.
