StevenToddIves
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2024 NEW JERSEY DEVILS DRAFT REVIEW
The most important way to start this is to say the Devils finest move was not trading the #10 overall pick. The Devils are still building and need more pieces for the core. In LD Anton Silayev and G Mikhail Yegorov, they have potentially found two. No one expected Silayev to be available at #10, and his trade value already far exceeds the rumored returns for the pick prior to the draft. And he fits a player type the Devils sorely need.
1st Round (10): LD ANTON SILAYEV, Nizhny Novgorod KHL
I don’t think there’s any way the Devils felt Silayev would be available at #10. With two potential all-world young offensively gifted defensemen already on the roster in LD Luke Hughes and RD Simon Nemec and potentially another one on the way in RD Seamus Casey, NJ hit a home run in taking the defenseman with the greatest shut-down potential in the draft in Silayev.
Silayev is 6’7-205 and is a gifted, effortless skater. We often hear the term “skates well for a big man”, but Silayev skates beautiful for an any-sized man. With his sheer athleticism, graceful mechanics and long, powerful stride Silayev can cover huge swaths of ice in the blink of an eye. His 4-way mobility and agility are almost freakishly good. If he can improve his acceleration — the one simply “okay” point of his skating — Silayev can become one of the handful of best skating defenders in the NHL.
Silayev’s combination of size, wingspan and speed make him an absolute defensive weapon. You can’t beat him to the outside or inside no matter how fast or good with the puck you are, because he covers so much ice that the outside and inside are simply too far away. He seemingly clogs up half the ice at once singlehandedly. Silayev adds to this by being a very smart positional and anticipatory defender with excellent gaps and great decision making off the puck. He’s also very strong and willing to mix it up physically. He’s easily projectable as an elite NHL defender who is virtually impossible to beat one-on-one in any singular aspect.
Offensively, Silayev is not to be confused with Cale Makar or Quinn Hughes, but that does not mean he has no potential in this respect. He’s very good with the outlet passing game and has the speed and puck-protection ability to rush the puck himself. In the offensive zone he shows a good shot and the ability to activate off the point to create scoring opportunities. He has the upside of a 2PP player who can top the 40+ point threshold at the highest levels. If he has a weakness, it’s that strong forechecking can force him into questionable puck decisions, but it would also be a mistake to label him error-prone, because his play with the puck is already quite sound at the KHL level. Experience should iron this out.
Silayev was an outstanding pick who offers the perfect defensive compliment to the Devils almost unbelievably talented stable of young blueliners. It is incredibly enticing to envision the quartet of RDs Nemec + Casey and LDs Luke Hughes and Silayev as, one day, the best defensive core in the entirety of the NHL.
2nd Round (49) G MIKHAIL YEGOROV, Omaha USHL
Without pretending to be an expert on goaltending, several experts have stated that Yegorov is the most talented netminder with the highest upside of any goalie in the 2024 class. Like Silayev, Yegorov combines great size (6’5-187) with an almost freakish level of athleticism. Like all amateur goaltenders, he has some fundamentals to improve upon, but he will return to the USHL next year before going to a top-notch Boston University program for the 2025-26 campaign.
Drafting goaltenders is playing the long game, for sure. This is not a player we can expect to see with the big club any time soon. But it is crucial to note that the payoff is potentially huge. Judging by the mix of size and athleticism and the sterling reports on his character, this is a young man with the potential to be a high-end NHL starting goaltender. And therefore, the pick is worth the risk.
It’s also important to note that the Devils did not start the draft with this pick — they received it (as well as a 2nd rounder in 2025) in exchange for RD John Marino in a trade with Utah. So due credit must be given to Tom Fitzgerald for making a strong draft-day deal which allowed them to make this pick.
The Two 3rd Round Picks
The Devils turned their attention to filling the future bottom 6 with power wingers, and grabbed two huge, mobile and physical kids out of Scandinavia with RW Kasper Pikkarainen (TPS, Finland Jr.) and RW Herman Traff (HV71, Sweden Jr.).
The son of former Devil Ilkka Pikkarainen, Kasper is listed at 6’3-190 and, with an August birthday, was one of the youngest players in the 2024 draft class. He’s a strong shooter who plays a physical, interior north/south style game. He has a lot of work to do in his reads and play off the puck and, though I would call him mobile for his size, his skating could use some refinement. But he’s very young and has upside and is worth monitoring closely in the years to come, though it’s important to realize that he’s several years from competing for a professional roster.
Herman Traff is 6’3-215 and one of the most proactively physical forwards in the draft. He lives to hit and mix it up. He is also a strong shooter who plays an interior, north/south style. Like Pikkarainen, his strongest offensive feature is his shooting and he has some refinement ahead of him in his skating and off-puck game.
These are both players I had ranked in my top 75 and liked heading into the draft. I must add a disclaimer that, as they are similar-type players at the same RW position, I would have preferred the Devils take one of them and also drafted LD Matvei Shuravin — a 1st round caliber talent who fell to Florida later in the round. But in a vacuum, these are both intriguing players who potentially fill an organizational need for interior, physical forwards and as such must be considered solid selections.
The Other Goalie
With pick #146 in the 5th round, the Devils went back to the pipes and selected G Veeti Louhivaara, a huge 6’4-207 specimen from JVP (Finland Jr.). Although not as freakishly athletic as Yegorov, Louhivaara’s athleticism is very good for the position and he was quite highly regarded coming into the draft year.
Unfortunately, Louhivaara was involved in a serious car accident in which he sustained major injuries. Louhivaara was never fully healthy in the 2023-24 campaign and it showed in his play. But in the 5th round, the Devils decided to roll the dice on the idea that a fully recovered Louhivaara will take off in his development going forward. As this is clearly a talented kid at a crucial position, I’d have to say this is a very intelligent chance to take as late as Round 5.
The Two Over-Aged Centers
If there’s a criticism I have for the Devils 2024 draft, it’s taking double over-aged centers Max Graham (#139) and Matyas Melovsky (#171) in the 5th and 6th rounds. It’s a small criticism relative to an excellent draft day, because these are very late picks, after all.
But it absolutely bears noting that either of these players could have been signed to a tryout contract an hour after the draft ended. What are the odds that Graham, with 42 points in 67 games for Kelowna as a 20 year old and known best for hitting and fighting, would have been taken later in the draft? Or that Melovsky — a defensive specialist who skates well — would not have lasted another 30 picks?
Melovsky at least fills an immediate organizational need, as he should be a depth center in the AHL as early as next season. Graham is a greater question, as he is more difficult to project in anything greater than a minor league enforcer role.
It’s a minor criticism, but the smart money may have been to hold out hope these two made it through the final handful of picks, and instead sign them both to tryout deals after drafting two players with more discernible upside.
In Conclusion
The day must be considered a success for Devils fans, plain and simple.
Anton Silayev is an absolute victory for the New Jersey organization — a rare and talented player and surefire future key piece of a winning core. Yegorov gives the Devils their best hope in years for a future star goaltender. And a few later picks brimming with NHL possibility.
No team is perfect and no draft is perfect, but it is my strong conviction that the 2024 NHL Draft will long be remembered as a banner day for the New Jersey Devils.
The most important way to start this is to say the Devils finest move was not trading the #10 overall pick. The Devils are still building and need more pieces for the core. In LD Anton Silayev and G Mikhail Yegorov, they have potentially found two. No one expected Silayev to be available at #10, and his trade value already far exceeds the rumored returns for the pick prior to the draft. And he fits a player type the Devils sorely need.
1st Round (10): LD ANTON SILAYEV, Nizhny Novgorod KHL
I don’t think there’s any way the Devils felt Silayev would be available at #10. With two potential all-world young offensively gifted defensemen already on the roster in LD Luke Hughes and RD Simon Nemec and potentially another one on the way in RD Seamus Casey, NJ hit a home run in taking the defenseman with the greatest shut-down potential in the draft in Silayev.
Silayev is 6’7-205 and is a gifted, effortless skater. We often hear the term “skates well for a big man”, but Silayev skates beautiful for an any-sized man. With his sheer athleticism, graceful mechanics and long, powerful stride Silayev can cover huge swaths of ice in the blink of an eye. His 4-way mobility and agility are almost freakishly good. If he can improve his acceleration — the one simply “okay” point of his skating — Silayev can become one of the handful of best skating defenders in the NHL.
Silayev’s combination of size, wingspan and speed make him an absolute defensive weapon. You can’t beat him to the outside or inside no matter how fast or good with the puck you are, because he covers so much ice that the outside and inside are simply too far away. He seemingly clogs up half the ice at once singlehandedly. Silayev adds to this by being a very smart positional and anticipatory defender with excellent gaps and great decision making off the puck. He’s also very strong and willing to mix it up physically. He’s easily projectable as an elite NHL defender who is virtually impossible to beat one-on-one in any singular aspect.
Offensively, Silayev is not to be confused with Cale Makar or Quinn Hughes, but that does not mean he has no potential in this respect. He’s very good with the outlet passing game and has the speed and puck-protection ability to rush the puck himself. In the offensive zone he shows a good shot and the ability to activate off the point to create scoring opportunities. He has the upside of a 2PP player who can top the 40+ point threshold at the highest levels. If he has a weakness, it’s that strong forechecking can force him into questionable puck decisions, but it would also be a mistake to label him error-prone, because his play with the puck is already quite sound at the KHL level. Experience should iron this out.
Silayev was an outstanding pick who offers the perfect defensive compliment to the Devils almost unbelievably talented stable of young blueliners. It is incredibly enticing to envision the quartet of RDs Nemec + Casey and LDs Luke Hughes and Silayev as, one day, the best defensive core in the entirety of the NHL.
2nd Round (49) G MIKHAIL YEGOROV, Omaha USHL
Without pretending to be an expert on goaltending, several experts have stated that Yegorov is the most talented netminder with the highest upside of any goalie in the 2024 class. Like Silayev, Yegorov combines great size (6’5-187) with an almost freakish level of athleticism. Like all amateur goaltenders, he has some fundamentals to improve upon, but he will return to the USHL next year before going to a top-notch Boston University program for the 2025-26 campaign.
Drafting goaltenders is playing the long game, for sure. This is not a player we can expect to see with the big club any time soon. But it is crucial to note that the payoff is potentially huge. Judging by the mix of size and athleticism and the sterling reports on his character, this is a young man with the potential to be a high-end NHL starting goaltender. And therefore, the pick is worth the risk.
It’s also important to note that the Devils did not start the draft with this pick — they received it (as well as a 2nd rounder in 2025) in exchange for RD John Marino in a trade with Utah. So due credit must be given to Tom Fitzgerald for making a strong draft-day deal which allowed them to make this pick.
The Two 3rd Round Picks
The Devils turned their attention to filling the future bottom 6 with power wingers, and grabbed two huge, mobile and physical kids out of Scandinavia with RW Kasper Pikkarainen (TPS, Finland Jr.) and RW Herman Traff (HV71, Sweden Jr.).
The son of former Devil Ilkka Pikkarainen, Kasper is listed at 6’3-190 and, with an August birthday, was one of the youngest players in the 2024 draft class. He’s a strong shooter who plays a physical, interior north/south style game. He has a lot of work to do in his reads and play off the puck and, though I would call him mobile for his size, his skating could use some refinement. But he’s very young and has upside and is worth monitoring closely in the years to come, though it’s important to realize that he’s several years from competing for a professional roster.
Herman Traff is 6’3-215 and one of the most proactively physical forwards in the draft. He lives to hit and mix it up. He is also a strong shooter who plays an interior, north/south style. Like Pikkarainen, his strongest offensive feature is his shooting and he has some refinement ahead of him in his skating and off-puck game.
These are both players I had ranked in my top 75 and liked heading into the draft. I must add a disclaimer that, as they are similar-type players at the same RW position, I would have preferred the Devils take one of them and also drafted LD Matvei Shuravin — a 1st round caliber talent who fell to Florida later in the round. But in a vacuum, these are both intriguing players who potentially fill an organizational need for interior, physical forwards and as such must be considered solid selections.
The Other Goalie
With pick #146 in the 5th round, the Devils went back to the pipes and selected G Veeti Louhivaara, a huge 6’4-207 specimen from JVP (Finland Jr.). Although not as freakishly athletic as Yegorov, Louhivaara’s athleticism is very good for the position and he was quite highly regarded coming into the draft year.
Unfortunately, Louhivaara was involved in a serious car accident in which he sustained major injuries. Louhivaara was never fully healthy in the 2023-24 campaign and it showed in his play. But in the 5th round, the Devils decided to roll the dice on the idea that a fully recovered Louhivaara will take off in his development going forward. As this is clearly a talented kid at a crucial position, I’d have to say this is a very intelligent chance to take as late as Round 5.
The Two Over-Aged Centers
If there’s a criticism I have for the Devils 2024 draft, it’s taking double over-aged centers Max Graham (#139) and Matyas Melovsky (#171) in the 5th and 6th rounds. It’s a small criticism relative to an excellent draft day, because these are very late picks, after all.
But it absolutely bears noting that either of these players could have been signed to a tryout contract an hour after the draft ended. What are the odds that Graham, with 42 points in 67 games for Kelowna as a 20 year old and known best for hitting and fighting, would have been taken later in the draft? Or that Melovsky — a defensive specialist who skates well — would not have lasted another 30 picks?
Melovsky at least fills an immediate organizational need, as he should be a depth center in the AHL as early as next season. Graham is a greater question, as he is more difficult to project in anything greater than a minor league enforcer role.
It’s a minor criticism, but the smart money may have been to hold out hope these two made it through the final handful of picks, and instead sign them both to tryout deals after drafting two players with more discernible upside.
In Conclusion
The day must be considered a success for Devils fans, plain and simple.
Anton Silayev is an absolute victory for the New Jersey organization — a rare and talented player and surefire future key piece of a winning core. Yegorov gives the Devils their best hope in years for a future star goaltender. And a few later picks brimming with NHL possibility.
No team is perfect and no draft is perfect, but it is my strong conviction that the 2024 NHL Draft will long be remembered as a banner day for the New Jersey Devils.
