Prospect Info: 2022 Devils Centric Mock Draft 3.0 -- We won pick #2!!!

[Captain3rdLine]

Slafkovsky assist on a Tomas Tatar powerplay goal. Slafkovsky was out front providing a good screen on a shot went off him right to Tatar who scored.

 

[Nubmer6]

The first three names you mentioned all interest me in the second round if they get to #37. If they're not there, then go BPA (I prefer it to be RHD).

If there's no one I love there, I'd love to do what Shero did and start trading down to grab extra picks and accumulate a bunch of shutdown D like we did with Okhotiuk, Vukojevic, McCarthy, etc, but focusing on RHD.

 

[StevenToddIves]

The first three names you mentioned all interest me in the second round if they get to #37. If they're not there, then go BPA (I prefer it to be RHD).

If you haven't checked out my top 100 rankings for April on the Devils HFBoards, I mention several prospects who would make outstanding 2nd round picks for the Devils.

If you want my in-depth write-up of any of these prospects, I will gladly link you to them. I'm going to re-write-up Miroshnichenko, because the criticisms I had of him when I initially wrote him up probably had more to do with the onset of Hodgkin's disease than his own actual accountability.

Slafkovsky assist on a Tomas Tatar powerplay goal. Slafkovsky was out front providing a good screen on a shot went off him right to Tatar who scored.

Slafkovsky is absolutely outstanding in the opposing crease, and this is a talent we should be talking about even more.

Slafkovsky is an immovable screen who also has the soft hands to deflect shots and the anticipation/awareness to bang home rebounds. What this would do to accentuate the talents of Devils' skill forwards like Hughes, Hischier, Bratt, Mercer and Holtz is immeasurable.

Simply, the Devils haven't had a net front presence with Slafkovsky's potential in that regard since, well... Brendan Shanahan in the 1980s.

 

[ChopRite]

Ive heard hes a good player and just for the fun of it youd have to consider Jack Hughes at 37 lol

I do like the idea of reaching for a RD but if you dont mind me asking, where would you or other major pundits like the NA consensus have Rinzel ranked? If hes past the 2nd round then Im not surr about taking him that high in the 2nd, where usually these lesser top-end drafts have some major sleepers escaping the 1st.

 

[Eggtimer]

Let's talk second round, STI! Two guys I'd love to hear your view on are Seamus Casey and Noah Östlund. I was sad last year with us passing on Morrow and Stankoven, however Casey and Östlund seem like this year's comparables respectively. Also, how does Casey compare to Rinzel in your opinion?

One of the Russian kids if they fall or Ostlund is who I want with our 2nd,

 

[Guadana]

If you haven't checked out my top 100 rankings for April on the Devils HFBoards, I mention several prospects who would make outstanding 2nd round picks for the Devils.

If you want my in-depth write-up of any of these prospects, I will gladly link you to them. I'm going to re-write-up Miroshnichenko, because the criticisms I had of him when I initially wrote him up probably had more to do with the onset of Hodgkin's disease than his own actual accountability.


Slafkovsky is absolutely outstanding in the opposing crease, and this is a talent we should be talking about even more.

Slafkovsky is an immovable screen who also has the soft hands to deflect shots and the anticipation/awareness to bang home rebounds. What this would do to accentuate the talents of Devils' skill forwards like Hughes, Hischier, Bratt, Mercer and Holtz is immeasurable.

Simply, the Devils haven't had a net front presence with Slafkovsky's potential in that regard since, well... Brendan Shanahan in the 1980s.

Clarkson was very good in front of the net.

 

[My3Sons]

Clarkson was very good in front of the net.

Clarkson struck me more as Inspector Clueseau on the ice, having success despite himself.

 

[Guadana]

Clarkson struck me more as Inspector Clueseau on the ice, having success despite himself.

I always prefer inspectors of Louis de Funès, but I can't compare him with Clarkson in any way.

 

[Goptor]

That Andreychuk guy was decent

 

[StevenToddIves]

Ive heard hes a good player and just for the fun of it youd have to consider Jack Hughes at 37 lol

I do like the idea of reaching for a RD but if you dont mind me asking, where would you or other major pundits like the NA consensus have Rinzel ranked? If hes past the 2nd round then Im not surr about taking him that high in the 2nd, where usually these lesser top-end drafts have some major sleepers escaping the 1st.

Here's some Rinzel rankings:

Me: 30
Eliteprospects: 21
McKenzie: 47
McKeens: 41
Button: 38
Recruites: 74
Smart Scouting: 47

 

[StevenToddIves]

The WC is certainly upping the Slafkovsky stock. The passing vision he's displaying is sublime, and the combination of this and his strength is simply rare. The mistakes he makes are almost reminiscent of an early Jack Hughes, where he's just trying to be magnificent in certain situations where simplicity might be warranted. This is something which is easily repairable in development. The compete level and IQ are clearly just so high end.

 

[Devs3cups]

The WC is certainly upping the Slafkovsky stock. The passing vision he's displaying is sublime, and the combination of this and his strength is simply rare. The mistakes he makes are almost reminiscent of an early Jack Hughes, where he's just trying to be magnificent in certain situations where simplicity might be warranted. This is something which is easily repairable in development. The compete level and IQ are clearly just so high end.

Are you somewhat worried Montreal goes with Slaf? Do you see it as a win-win regardless for us? I really like Slaf, but I like Wright too.

 

[FooteBahl]

Are you somewhat worried Montreal goes with Slaf? Do you see it as a win-win regardless for us? I really like Slaf, but I like Wright too.

The odds had us likely picking at six on Monday..it’s all gravy at this point. I’m on team Slaf, but it we have to be “stuck” with Wright, it’s a much better feeling than we all had on Monday.

 

[beekay414]

If we're not sold on taking Wright, which I don't know why we wouldn't be, we could dangle the 2nd pick to either Arizona or Seattle and try to acquire 30/31 from Arizona or 35 from Seattle to fall back 1 or 2 spots and take Jiricek. Columbus for 6 and 12 make sense as well but that would mean likely losing out on Jiricek and Nemec.

 

[Devs3cups]

The odds had us likely picking at six on Monday..it’s all gravy at this point. I’m on team Slaf, but it we have to be “stuck” with Wright, it’s a much better feeling than we all had on Monday.

100% agree with this, I actually mentioned it a few times. The pick in general is gravy this year.

 

[StevenToddIves]

Are you somewhat worried Montreal goes with Slaf? Do you see it as a win-win regardless for us? I really like Slaf, but I like Wright too.

Yeah, I'm concerned, but not overly so.

Shane Wright has not been great for the OHL playoffs. Slafkovsky seems to have another gear for international play which hints at simply stratospheric upside. But again, Montreal is going to be under heavy pressure to take Wright.

I've been projecting the draft for years, and I'm just very confident the top 3 looks like:

1 MTL Wright
2 NJ Slafkovsky
3 ARI Cooley

I think it opens up after this. At #4, Seattle could go in literally any direction, and at #5 Philly could go for a RD or a C.

 

[Devs3cups]

Yeah, I'm concerned, but not overly so.

Shane Wright has not been great for the OHL playoffs. Slafkovsky seems to have another gear for international play which hints at simply stratospheric upside. But again, Montreal is going to be under heavy pressure to take Wright.

I've been projecting the draft for years, and I'm just very confident the top 3 looks like:

1 MTL Wright
2 NJ Slafkovsky
3 ARI Cooley

I think it opens up after this. At #4, Seattle could go in literally any direction, and at #5 Philly could go for a RD or a C.

Thanks for the response. Any insight or thoughts on us potentially picking Wright if he falls? I like Wright so I think that’s be a steal and you can never have too many good options. I’d be a little disappointed as I really like Slaf, but that’d fade real quick with a prospect of Wright’s caliber imo.

 

[Lou is God]

Yeah, I'm concerned, but not overly so.

Shane Wright has not been great for the OHL playoffs. Slafkovsky seems to have another gear for international play which hints at simply stratospheric upside. But again, Montreal is going to be under heavy pressure to take Wright.

I've been projecting the draft for years, and I'm just very confident the top 3 looks like:

1 MTL Wright
2 NJ Slafkovsky
3 ARI Cooley

I think it opens up after this. At #4, Seattle could go in literally any direction, and at #5 Philly could go for a RD or a C.

If Wright exceeds his expectations, he would be a disastrous first step for the new front office to have to deal with in Montreal, on the other hand if Wright struggles, not everyone is going to hold them accountable on selecting him since everyone wanted Wright.

 

[FooteBahl]

If we're not sold on taking Wright, which I don't know why we wouldn't be, we could dangle the 2nd pick to either Arizona or Seattle and try to acquire 30/31 from Arizona or 35 from Seattle to fall back 1 or 2 spots and take Jiricek. Columbus for 6 and 12 make sense as well but that would mean likely losing out on Jiricek and Nemec.

Do we really need more picks though? This isn’t five years ago…we have a top 3 farm prospect pool which may move up once we pick in 7 weeks or however long it is. We have quantity already, let’s not sacrifice quality.

Now If Arizona would want to take our first this year for their unprotected first next year

 

[beekay414]

Do we really need more picks though? This isn’t five years ago…we have a top 3 farm prospect pool which may move up once we pick in 7 weeks or however long it is. We have quantity already, let’s not sacrifice quality.

Uh...we wouldn't be in that scenario.

 

[StevenToddIves]

Thanks for the response. Any insight or thoughts on us potentially picking Wright if he falls? I like Wright so I think that’s be a steal and you can never have too many good options. I’d be a little disappointed as I really like Slaf, but that’d fade real quick with a prospect of Wright’s caliber imo.

Shane Wright is still my #1 and pretty much the #1 for anyone who matters in the draft-analyzing community. It's tough to see anyone overtaking him with the possible exception of Slafkovsky, if he completely dominates the WC tournament start to finish -- and even then, it's still probably Wright.

Wright is a two-way center with high-end size, skating and skill -- he's got a laser of a shot and incredible hockey sense. He's the highest floor player in the draft -- even as a "bust" he'll be a tremendous middle 6 center at the NHL level. I think it's a fairly safe bet that Montreal takes him #1.

 

[Forge]

Do we really need more picks though? This isn’t five years ago…we have a top 3 farm prospect pool which may move up once we pick in 7 weeks or however long it is. We have quantity already, let’s not sacrifice quality.

Now If Arizona would want to take our first this year for their unprotected first next year

Depends on how you evaluate the players. There's a case to be made that if you think Shane Wright is in the same tier as the others, that picks 1-6 or so are fairly interchangeable. You're not really losing talent, just preference. I'd sacrifice my preference for another pretty high pick in this draft which really feels like a crap shoot. More picks isn't a bad thing unless you're sacrificing talent to do it imo.

 

[FooteBahl]

Depends on how you evaluate the players. There's a case to be made that if you think Shane Wright is in the same tier as the others, that picks 1-6 or so are fairly interchangeable. You're not really losing talent, just preference. I'd sacrifice my preference for another pretty high pick in this draft which really feels like a crap shoot. More picks isn't a bad thing unless you're sacrificing talent to do it imo.

I get what your saying. But we are absolutely oozing with talent under the age of 23 and the type of skill set Slaf possesses has me thinking we’re on the verge of a dynasty…if it weren’t for you damn kids and a lack of a goalie (scooby doo reference for the millennials in here lol)

 

[beekay414]

I get what your saying. But we are absolutely oozing with talent under the age of 23 and the type of skill set Slaf possesses has me thinking we’re on the verge of a dynasty…if it weren’t for you damn kids and a lack of a goalie (scooby doo reference for the millennials in here lol)

Oh I agree with you on Slaf but the principle idea of trading back came from Slaf going #1 and whether or not we want to take Wright or capitalize on Arizona/Seattle/Columbus needing C and trying to recoup value for the pick and still landing a blue chip prospect.

 

[StevenToddIves]

Depends on how you evaluate the players. There's a case to be made that if you think Shane Wright is in the same tier as the others, that picks 1-6 or so are fairly interchangeable. You're not really losing talent, just preference. I'd sacrifice my preference for another pretty high pick in this draft which really feels like a crap shoot. More picks isn't a bad thing unless you're sacrificing talent to do it imo.

I think sometimes there is a demarcation, though.

With sniping RWs, you have Kemell and Lekkerimaki, but I think it's pretty clear Kemell is better. With power LWs you have Slafkovsky and Gauthier, but it's pretty clear Slaf is better. With Cs, you have Wright and Cooley and Wright certainly gets the edge.

Like I've been saying, I think it's far closer in my 1-6 than is normal years, with a bit of a drop off at #7.

1 Wright
2 Slafkovsky
3 Jiricek
4 Nemec
5 Nazar
6 Cooley
7 Gauthier

But still, I feel you are correct that there is a certain degree of "preference". I can't emphatically aver that Slafkovsky is better than Jiricek or Nemec, but do you want a LW or RD. I think it's so close between Nazar and Cooley you can't stick a thread between them, and I'd say it's pretty tight between Jiricek and Nemec, as well.