Prospect Info: Devils Picking 4th Overall, Part II

[Buck Dancer]

I would stay far away from Edvinsson. Taking a defensive dman in the top #5 of a draft is the last thing I want. If all 3 dmen are off the board, give me Eklund, even if we have a glaring need for a dman.

 

[Buck Dancer]

Slovakia and league where Butcher was best defenseman. Yeah, no advantage, I agree.

no, I’m not. Especially in compare to Clarke and Hughes. There is nothing to worry about. Edvinsson is a prospect with better potential and I did enough work to explain why. With proof and specifics. I know that people now value other people's feelings above the facts, but this is not me.

I think there’s too many red flags, so to speak, on the big Swede to view him as a top #5 pick. Dmen that have been picked higher up in the draft all had amazing offensive attributes and guys that needed to work on that aspect of the game ended us being middle to bottom pairing dmen.

I just don’t see the offensive upside in Edvinsson to take him at #4.

 

[Guadana]

I think there’s too many red flags, so to speak, on the big Swede to view him as a top #5 pick. Dmen that have been picked higher up in the draft all had amazing offensive attributes and guys that needed to work on that aspect of the game ended us being middle to bottom pairing dmen.

I just don’t see the offensive upside in Edvinsson to take him at #4.

Guys who were picked top-10 in the past 5-10 years and have success, have good defensive abuility and were good skaters. Anyway I did enough coments and give enough proofs and make enough comparison about his producing and offensive attributes before and dont wanna repeat myself for the another statement.

If you don`t see offensive upside, you can try to get closer. You can try to do the same with Clark and Hughes and evaluate their defensive upside. And on the basis of a more careful study, decide for yourself which Defenseman is better to choose.

 

[MartyOwns]

I would stay far away from Edvinsson. Taking a defensive dman in the top #5 of a draft is the last thing I want. If all 3 dmen are off the board, give me Eklund, even if we have a glaring need for a dman.

i don't think i got an answer the last time i asked someone who said that, but i'll ask again- what do you think a defensive defenseman is? nothing i've read on edvinsson suggests he's a slow, plodding, matvichuk type shut down guy. in fact, it seems like he might be one of the most well-rounded defensemen available.

not that it really matters- i cannot envision a scenario where 3 defensemen (power hughes and clarke) are taken with the first 3 slots. that just never happens. regardless, IMO we need to take a defenseman at 4, no question.

 

[Buck Dancer]

i don't think i got an answer the last time i asked someone who said that, but i'll ask again- what do you think a defensive defenseman is? nothing i've read on edvinsson suggests he's a slow, plodding, matvichuk type shut down guy. in fact, it seems like he might be one of the most well-rounded defensemen available.

not that it really matters- i cannot envision a scenario where 3 defensemen (power hughes and clarke) are taken with the first 3 slots. that just never happens. regardless, IMO we need to take a defenseman at 4, no question.

To me, the definition of a stud defensive defensemen is someone like McDonaugh. Can skate real well, can make a solid breakout pass, plays the body but will never run a PP our lead our blue line in pts. I’d take a player like that on my team any day of the week if we have that offensive dman to pair with but we don’t have that at the moment or in our pipeline.

I’d rather target a more mobile dman who can kick start our offense from the back end, something we’ve been missing since Niedermayer and to a lesser extent, Rafalski. If Powers, Clarke and Hughes are off the board, I’d rather take Eklund over Edvinsson.

It’s just a personal preference, nothing more.

 

[My3Sons]

I would stay far away from Edvinsson. Taking a defensive dman in the top #5 of a draft is the last thing I want. If all 3 dmen are off the board, give me Eklund, even if we have a glaring need for a dman.

You'd prefer Eklund over Beniers?

 

[Hisch13r]

You'd prefer Eklund over Beniers?

I’m split on the 2. I like Eklund’s upside better but the idea of running Jack, Nico, Beniers down the middle for 50 minutes a night is tempting

 

[My3Sons]

I’m split on the 2. I like Eklund’s upside better but the idea of running Jack, Nico, Beniers down the middle for 50 minutes a night is tempting

My general thought is if they are both great take the center. That said, if you think Eklund and Holtz could both flank Jack that's tempting also. I think Jack needs to play with bigger wingers to win board battles and help with puck retrieval but that's just my impression.

 

[Buck Dancer]

You'd prefer Eklund over Beniers?

With Jack and Nico going anywhere anytime soon, it seems like overkill to draft a center un Beniers. I know you never draft for need but if we would be in that situation, I’d look to trade down one spot, get more assets and pick Eklund.

If we can’t trade down, it would be a real hard decision, I’m not going to lie.

 

[Hisch13r]

My general thought is if they are both great take the center. That said, if you think Eklund and Holtz could both flank Jack that's tempting also. I think Jack needs to play with bigger wingers to win board battles and help with puck retrieval but that's just my impression.

I probably would’ve agreed with you had the Johnsson-Hughes-Bratt line not just absolutely dominate the flow of play before everyone got Covid

 

[PKs Broken Stick]

the devils were rebuilding. why did they need someone, who can step into the line-up? they could have signed average joe out of the ahl. drafting with short term goals is the wrong approach.

They didn't really start "rebuilding" until the 2015-2016 season. Shero publicly stated the 2015 draft was conte's (and most likely a lot of Lou's influence as well) call.

 

[PKs Broken Stick]

Ok after looking at next year's draft, I'm not as stubborn about picking a d-man in this draft anymore. Next year's draft is absolutely filled with RHD. Although, I'm not sure if the devils are going to be in top 5 again (because I hope they aren't in that spot).

 

[Jason MacIsaac]

Guenther is the guy we never seem to draft. A bigger winger with production and a skillset to match.

 

[My3Sons]

Guenther is the guy we never seem to draft. A bigger winger with production and a skillset to match.

I've seen him listed at anywhere from 6 foot even and 166 pounds to maybe 6 foot 1 and maybe 175 pounds. Is he that big? He seems to be a mid-sized wing at that size.

 

[Guadana]

To me, the definition of a stud defensive defensemen is someone like McDonaugh. Can skate real well, can make a solid breakout pass, plays the body but will never run a PP our lead our blue line in pts. I’d take a player like that on my team any day of the week if we have that offensive dman to pair with but we don’t have that at the moment or in our pipeline.

I’d rather target a more mobile dman who can kick start our offense from the back end, something we’ve been missing since Niedermayer and to a lesser extent, Rafalski. If Powers, Clarke and Hughes are off the board, I’d rather take Eklund over Edvinsson.

It’s just a personal preference, nothing more.

Mcdonaugh was rangers best defenseman in points 2 times and was close to it a couple of times. And he was close to be best their defenseman\he was best rangers defenseman in rangers prime. If you compare Edvinsson with him - it`s a great example for me. Thanks.
And Edvinssov is very mobile defenseman. He is much more mobile than Power and Clarke.
Btw we have Smith for the first pp line.
And if you take Eklund you will only improve, if improve at all, part of the team, if you take defenseman - you get new the most significant part of the team.

It`s just a common sense, nothing more.

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

 

[Nico Hughes]

Guenther is the guy we never seem to draft. A bigger winger with production and a skillset to match.

Thats not true, We drafted Pavel Zacha

 

[Nico Hughes]

I’m split on the 2. I like Eklund’s upside better but the idea of running Jack, Nico, Beniers down the middle for 50 minutes a night is tempting

Im not sure how I feel about drafting a 3rd line center fourth overall

 

[Auto Pilot]

I would stay far away from Edvinsson. Taking a defensive dman in the top #5 of a draft is the last thing I want. If all 3 dmen are off the board, give me Eklund, even if we have a glaring need for a dman.

Probably better off taking Edvinsson over power and Clarke. Eklund at 4 even over Hughes might be worthwhile.

I’d also go with Wallstedt at 4 if Hughes or Eklund aren’t available. Hell maybe even if they are, he’s going to be a stud

 

[RememberTheName]

Thats not true, We drafted Pavel Zacha

Zacha as a prospect was not even remotely similar to Guenther as a prospect.

 

[Nico Hughes]

Zacha as a prospect was not even remotely similar to Guenther as a prospect.

All he said was 'a bigger forward with production and skill to match it', which is exactly what Zacha was on draft day

I wasnt comparing them though

 

[RememberTheName]

All he said was 'a bigger forward with production and skill to match it', which is exactly what Zacha was on draft day

I wasnt comparing them though

I thought he said winger, and we drafted Zacha to be a center. Zacha also never had any sort of history of production. He was under 1.00 PPG in the OHL in his draft year and was selected because of his potential and physical tools. Guenther went 2.00 PPG this year.

I know you weren't comparing them, but Guenther is very different because he has the production to match his skills.

 

[Nico Hughes]

I thought he said winger, and we drafted Zacha to be a center. Zacha also never had any sort of history of production. He was under 1.00 PPG in the OHL in his draft year and was selected because of his potential and physical tools. Guenther went 2.00 PPG this year.

I know you weren't comparing them, but Guenther is very different because he has the production to match his skills.

Thats fair, and were also picking higher

but we definitely shot for that type of player in Zacha and I think itd be disingenuous to not see it; Guenther is a better prospect for sure but during the rebuild we only picked 4 (now) and 6 (Zacha), other than that it was two 1sts and then outside the top-10, so its pretty rare to get a chance at that anyway

 

[AusDev]

Guenther is the guy we never seem to draft. A bigger winger with production and a skillset to match.

Not sure how much his size will be a part of his game at the NHL level, but his hands look incredible when he has/gets the puck in tight around goal. I think it's super unlikely we draft him given all the other possibilities and our needs, but when you watch some of his highlights you can picture him as a guy whose head and hands could actually keep up with or finish some of the plays that Hughes makes.

 

[PKs Broken Stick]

Thats not true, We drafted Pavel Zacha

Zacha never had production....