GDT: 2022 NHL Draft Lottery - Devils win 2nd overall pick!

[Clam Jensen]

@StevenToddIves forgive me if you’ve already done this, but if last years top-5 and this years projected top-5 were in the same draft, how would it shake out in your opinion?

 

[FooteBahl]

@StevenToddIves forgive me if you’ve already done this, but if last years top-5 and this years projected top-5 were in the same draft, how would it shake out in your opinion?

I’m clueless when it comes to prospects, but I would rank them:

Wright
Hughes
Power
Slaf
Beniers

 

[Clam Jensen]

I’m clueless when it comes to prospects, but I would rank them:

Wright
Hughes
Power
Slaf
Beniers

Appreciate it dawg. I was thinking Slaf over matty B too. But I am also clueless lol.

 

[Doublechin]

No, but I listen to management.

Fitzgerald has repeatedly stated a desire to ice a team which plays a heavier and more physical game, and is more difficult to play against. This on a team which is set with an elite 1/2 center duo of Hughes/Hischier which Cooley could not crack into. This is also a team with a need for an interior top 6 skill winger (like Slafkovsky) or a potential 1RD (like Jiricek or Nemec).

So no -- I don't think the Devils use the #2 pick to go against their stated and oft-repeated team needs and use the #2 overall pick to take Cooley to be their #3C or to try to teach Cooley a new position and hope he's just as good there. It seems... highly unlikely, to say the least.

In the thread I opened tonight, I posted detailed write ups of the likely Devils picks of Slafkovsky, Jiricek and Nemec -- and this is why. Though nothing is impossible, I opted not to include remote possibilities like Nazar or Gauthier or Cooley or Miroshnichenko.

But there's a whole element of what if they had Cooley at 1. Then they go BPA, a smart GM will never draft based on need until he's got multiple players within a tier. Saying that it's impossible that they have a certain guy at one especially one we now know is at least on some teams lists as one is simply assumption

In that case they go BPA and adapt

 

[FooteBahl]

Appreciate it dawg. I was thinking Slaf over matty B too. But I am also clueless lol.

It doesn’t matter because we have 2 of the 5…to go with Jack/Nico/Mercer/Holtz…it’s been 4 hours, I think I need to call the doctor lol

 

[Clam Jensen]

It doesn’t matter because we have 2 of the 5…to go with Jack/Nico/Mercer/Holtz…it’s been 4 hours, I think I need to call the doctor lol

You and me both lol

 

[Maine Fan]

Congrats on the draft. #2 pick well.

Go Devils

 

[devilsblood]

But there's a whole element of what if they had Cooley at 1. Then they go BPA, a smart GM will never draft based on need until he's got multiple players within a tier. Saying that it's impossible that they have a certain guy at one especially one we now know is at least on some teams lists as one is simply assumption

In that case they go BPA and adapt

If we draft a sub 6' fwd, while there is a huge skilled fwd, and a 6'3" high end RD on the board, I am going to go on a dog kicking spree.

 

[My3Sons]

If we draft a sub 6' fwd, while there is a huge skilled fwd, and a 6'3" high end RD on the board, I am going to go on a dog kicking spree.

That’s awful. Find something inanimate to threaten.

 

[StevenToddIves]

@StevenToddIves forgive me if you’ve already done this, but if last years top-5 and this years projected top-5 were in the same draft, how would it shake out in your opinion?

I haven't. I'll give it a shot, but keep in mind how close it is at the top -- this is very, uh... "shuffle-able":

1 Wright
2 Power
3 Hughes
4 Slafkovsky
5 Beniers
6 McTavish
7 Jiricek
8 Nemec
9 Edvinsson
10 Cooley

 

[Guttersniped]

Did you not take "Great for a rebuilding team" as an insult? I did.

Not everyone is a sensitive soul like yourself.

 

[Its Always Sundstrom]

If you’re a 32 Thoughts fan or a podcast fan in general, have a listen to the Slafkovsky interview Marek and Friedman did with shortly after the Olympics. Good stuff.

 

[Hisch13r]

Appreciate it dawg. I was thinking Slaf over matty B too. But I am also clueless lol.

I’d have Beniers over Power and Slaf. Maybe over Luke and Wright too. I think he’s really good

 

[Clam Jensen]

I haven't. I'll give it a shot, but keep in mind how close it is at the top -- this is very, uh... "shuffle-able":

1 Wright
2 Power
3 Hughes
4 Slafkovsky
5 Beniers
6 McTavish
7 Jiricek
8 Nemec
9 Edvinsson
10 Cooley

Appreciate it! Wright at 1OA makes sense, he was just the clear cut favorite for so long that he suffered from prospect fatigue IMO.

I’d have Beniers over Power and Slaf. Maybe over Luke and Wright too. I think he’s really good

He definitely looked good in his debut towards the end of the season.

 

[Hisch13r]

Appreciate it! Wright at 1OA makes sense, he was just the clear cut favorite for so long that he suffered from prospect fatigue IMO.

I mean he didn’t have a clear cut 1OA type year. He had a 1.49 PPG while Nico had a 1.51 and Nico wasn’t the clear 1 in a weak year

 

[devilsblood]

That’s awful. Find something inanimate to threaten.

Nope it's gotta be dogs. Hide em if you got em.

 

[Captain3rdLine]

I mean he didn’t have a clear cut 1OA type year. He had a 1.49 PPG while Nico had a 1.51 and Nico wasn’t the clear 1 in a weak year

Nico also started much lower and had a lot less stock already built up. Those numbers which are similar to Wright shot him up draft boards to number 1

I’m gonna use what Fitz keeps bringing up in a body of work. Wright had a really nice body of work coming into his draft year and then had a solid overall season. Not great but good enough for a number 1 pick.

 

[Clam Jensen]

I mean he didn’t have a clear cut 1OA type year. He had a 1.49 PPG while Nico had a 1.51 and Nico wasn’t the clear 1 in a weak year

No he didn’t have a clear cut 1OA year, but he was being talked about for 1OA for a couple of years now. I remember polls on the main board asking to rank Wright, Bedard, and Mitchkov (which seems silly now, I know, but just to provide some context as to how he was viewed).

 

[Hisch13r]

No he didn’t have a clear cut 1OA year, but he was being talked about for 1OA for a couple of years now. I remember polls on the main board asking to rank Wright, Bedard, and Mitchkov (which seems silly now, I know, but just to provide some context as to how he was viewed).

My point is that it isn't just fatigue. It's that he wasn't great and other guys have caught up. It really does give me some Nolan vibes (without the absurd injury history). A guy who was head and shoulders above his class for years but stagnates a bit as he approaches his draft and also lacks that high end dynamic ability. I'd still lean Wright at 1 this time whereas in 2017 I was all aboard the Nico train and did not want Nolan at all but it's not just fatigue.

 

[StevenToddIves]

I’d have Beniers over Power and Slaf. Maybe over Luke and Wright too. I think he’s really good

Yep, that's fair too -- I love Beniers, the kid's a stud.

 

[FooteBahl]

Yep, that's fair too -- I love Beniers, the kid's a stud.

Steven, I think the big question here that your p***yfooting around is—do any of the d-men project favorably to Ben Lovejoy?

 

[JimEIV]

Not everyone is a sensitive soul like yourself.

sensitive, caring and overall humanitarian

 

[Nubmer6]

Steven, I think the big question here that your p***yfooting around is—do any of the d-men project favorably to Ben Lovejoy?

Unpossible.

 

[StevenToddIves]

My point is that it isn't just fatigue. It's that he wasn't great and other guys have caught up. It really does give me some Nolan vibes (without the absurd injury history). A guy who was head and shoulders above his class for years but stagnates a bit as he approaches his draft and also lacks that high end dynamic ability. I'd still lean Wright at 1 this time whereas in 2017 I was all aboard the Nico train and did not want Nolan at all but it's not just fatigue.

If anything, Wright finished the season far, far stronger than how he started it. I watched Kingston all year long. His first couple months were his most suspect, but he looked great in the stretch run.

 

[Captain3rdLine]

My point is that it isn't just fatigue. It's that he wasn't great and other guys have caught up. It really does give me some Nolan vibes (without the absurd injury history). A guy who was head and shoulders above his class for years but stagnates a bit as he approaches his draft and also lacks that high end dynamic ability. I'd still lean Wright at 1 this time whereas in 2017 I was all aboard the Nico train and did not want Nolan at all but it's not just fatigue.

First things first. Patrick was never viewed as highly as Wright who had a ton of hype ever since his OHL draft year where he got exceptional player status. Patrick was also a late birthday from the previous year and had a worse draft year than Wright. They aren’t very comparable.