Prospect Info: Devils Picking 4th Overall, Part II

[Nico Hughes]

if anything else is taken into account it should be which side they play, because our pool is stacked at one side vs the other

While true, I dont think that really matters to ownership.

also Id argue handedness is a bit overrated (needing 3-3 of each). Isnt Tampa's defense mostly one handedness?

Either way Im speaking mainly from the viewpoint of the org and not just what I want. In a contract year I gotta asume Ownership has a slight say; and theres no chance theyre advocating for anyone not named Luke Hughes

 

[Emperoreddy]

Side isn't really a big issue either as we don't have anyone in the system on Luke's level outside of Smith and who is to say any of the guys below them pan out.

 

[Its Always Sundstrom]

God damn it haha. 3 prospects, all 3 say it would be a dream come true to play with a certain person who plays on the Devils. What are the odds.

Who’s the third? Is there a Bratt brother I haven’t heard about?

 

[Poppy Whoa Sonnet]

Tie breaker goes to whichever player is the brother of NJ's burgeoning superstar and the centerpiece of the team for the next 5 years minimum. I know it's nice to pretend it's not the case and NJ has a choice here but it's just the way it is. If Hughes goes before 4 you can (realistically) claim the price was too high to move up.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Who’s the third? Is there a Bratt brother I haven’t heard about?

Eklund is best friends with Holtz and he talked about wanting to play with him (and vice versa)

 

[Emperoreddy]

Tie breaker goes to whichever player is the brother of NJ's burgeoning superstar and the centerpiece of the team for the next 5 years minimum. I know it's nice to pretend it's not the case and NJ has a choice here but it's just the way it is. If Hughes goes before 4 you can (realistically) claim the price was too high to move up.

People tie themselves into knots over this needlessly. The team would be absolutely justified in taking him at 4 based on talent alone.

If he wasn't worthy of being selected in that spot, there wouldn't be a discussion.

 

[Darkauron]

The only solution is to trade up and get picks like 4,5,6 and draft Hughes, Clarke, and Eklund!

 

[Emperoreddy]

The only solution is to trade up and get picks like 4,5,6 and draft Hughes, Clarke, and Eklund!

Buffalo is supposedly in love with Eklund so even if this was a serious idea, he seems the least likely for us to draft at this point.

It would be too expensive, but I am pretty on board with the idea of trying to trade up with the Isles pick for 3 or 5 so we could draft both Lule and Clarke

 

[Darkauron]

Buffalo is supposedly in love with Eklund so even if this was a serious idea, he seems the least likely for us to draft at this point.

It would be too expensive, but I am pretty on board with the idea of trying to trade up with the Isles pick for 3 or 5 so we could draft both Lule and Clarke

Yeah if Clarke or something drops into the teens then I would totally be on board with trading up and nabbing him

 

[Jersey Fresh]

When initially reported it seemed like there was a range of damage that could have be done. This timeline of injury recovery sounds like it was on the lesser end? I’m just going off memory though.

It was always weird the way they talked about his injury. The recovery time was never really clear, but people blew it up into this thing where it was possible his skating would never be the same and it doesn't sound like the severity is anything close to that.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Anyway if i were to read way too much into these media calls, I would guess the team has it down to Hughes or Clarke.

Both said they have spoken with the team multiple times.

 

[StevenToddIves]

First of all - Sanderson is the Батя. Ofcourse he is better. I would pick him 1OA on this draft.

About Edvinsson. I watched couple of his SHL games and all of his shift by shift videos. And I will talk about what I saw. He is pretty fast and good enough in puck battles and physical play. Not consistent, but this was SHL games. And what does make him much better than Schneider - he is much better skater and puck handler. Schneider is better puckmover. At first sight. But Edvinsson has great fast first steps. And he is big and good puck handler. This will make him great defensive defenseman. I dont know will he ever be good offensive defenseman. He is good puck handler and he is fast, but he has a lot to work on. If he will not, he will be great minute eater. He has a chance to be defenseman who will not produce much, less than Hughes and Clarke, but you know what? Will Butcher is 0.5 ppg player past year and it`s not something new for him. If Guenther or Eklund will be great wingers we have a big chance to never know that if we will pick them because we may have wingers and centers on the long term for the moment when they will be ready for NHL. If they even will be ready. But we have all chances to develope all kind of defenseman and give them roster spots because our defensive line is what it is. Even Walsh will have a shot. Even if he will not fix his game. And Walsh is a guy who must ever play in ahl, makes results but never play in NHL more than 4 games per season.
Is Eklund or Guenther has potential to produce 60+ points in NHL? Yes, they have. Do they have some kind of lacks? Yes.
Is Edvinsson has potential to play top-4 minutes? Yes he has. If he will not be great producer. his size, speed and stick skills will help him to be shotdown guy. Is it worth top-4 pick? I think yes ofcourse. Slavin deserved to be picked 4th. In his year Reinhart was pick 4th and he was Schneider type player as I remember. Big defenseman with below avarage skating. From WHL) Reilly was 5th pick. Oh we have a couple of Reilly type defensemen in top-5) You like Morgan Reilly defensive game? I`m not. Slavin is good skater and stick player. Slavin did produce better in draft year, but Edvinsson did produce pretty enough on junior level. He was 1st-2nd best D wherever he played in ppg from U17 D year ago. Past year his producing was down, but that was a COVID year, he played in defferent leagues with different partners. And he was best point producer in Allsvenskan from u18 defensemen. His lack of point producing is very overrated, he played in much better competition and he has great tools to be much better offensive defenseman. If he will not? Good enough tools to be great shotdown guy.

The most sad thing to me is we will not draft him if Hughes will be "on the table".

You're going to need to translate that first line, because my Russian is awful. It basically consists of telling girls from Ufa they're pretty and knowing the (very slight) difference between the Russian words for "water" and "vodka".

My problems with Edvinsson are simply based on my own criteria for ranking defensemen -- I rank extremely highly based on passing ability and hockey IQ. I do not feel Edvinsson is particularly impressive in either of those capacities. While his skating and puckhandling are clearly superior to Schneider, I feel Schneider is a superior outlet passer with superior decision-making.

If it's any consolation, I feel Brock Faber is another similar defenseman who will be superior in his NHL career to either Schneider or Edvinsson -- and he did not go until the middle of the second round last year.

I agree with you philosophically about defense -- probably more than anyone else on the Devils draft threads. However, I don't feel you can take Edvinsson in the top 5 -- because as high as his defensive potential is, there's still just too much risk there. Because I do agree with you that I would take Jake Sanderson #1 overall in the 2021 draft -- but he was just light years better defensively than Edvinsson at the same age. Edvinsson is very mistake prone, and for a defensive-minded D who lacks offensive upside, that's a very scary pick for #4 overall.

 

[StevenToddIves]

Buffalo is supposedly in love with Eklund so even if this was a serious idea, he seems the least likely for us to draft at this point.

It would be too expensive, but I am pretty on board with the idea of trying to trade up with the Isles pick for 3 or 5 so we could draft both Lule and Clarke

If the Buffalo Sabres pick Eklund #1 -- and no mistake is too big for the Sabres organization -- this would be an unbelievable opportunity for the Devils. With Power and Beniers being the very likely 2/3 picks, this would give the Devils their choice between Hughes and Clarke.

 

[StevenToddIves]

Yes! Luke Hughes thinks I'm cool!



I have a guess as to one trade of his you don't like

I feel giving up Joey Anderson was no tremendous loss considering the Devils extreme prospect depth at RW, but the Devils received a very bad contract for a very, very bad player in return. So yes, good guess.

 

[Nico Hughes]

Anyway if i were to read way too much into these media calls, I would guess the team has it down to Hughes or Clarke.

Both said they have spoken with the team multiple times.

I could very well be in the minority here.. but I think the team has an idea of who theyre taking well before the last month until the draft.

Consider it like a 'soft' opening at a restaurant. They have a guy at their #1 until theyre not (Hischier rose and is an example of this).

This obviously gets trickier the later in the round you go - I was mainly referring to a top-10 pick.

 

[Nico Hughes]

Id be curious to know who the team had #1 overall, and if it could be Luke.

not many at all have him #1 but, for such a wide open draft, his young age could prove to be the determining factor.

I like Power a lot though and think Eklund is a top line forward before 22. Power is a safe pick and likely top-4 dman, while Luke has insane potential but a much lower floor (I think his skating can make him at least a bottom pairing dman)

My only concern with Luke is that his tendon or whatever was hurt is not going to be a problem long-term.

 

[Guadana]

You're going to need to translate that first line, because my Russian is awful. It basically consists of telling girls from Ufa they're pretty and knowing the (very slight) difference between the Russian words for "water" and "vodka".

My problems with Edvinsson are simply based on my own criteria for ranking defensemen -- I rank extremely highly based on passing ability and hockey IQ. I do not feel Edvinsson is particularly impressive in either of those capacities. While his skating and puckhandling are clearly superior to Schneider, I feel Schneider is a superior outlet passer with superior decision-making.

If it's any consolation, I feel Brock Faber is another similar defenseman who will be superior in his NHL career to either Schneider or Edvinsson -- and he did not go until the middle of the second round last year.

I agree with you philosophically about defense -- probably more than anyone else on the Devils draft threads. However, I don't feel you can take Edvinsson in the top 5 -- because as high as his defensive potential is, there's still just too much risk there. Because I do agree with you that I would take Jake Sanderson #1 overall in the 2021 draft -- but he was just light years better defensively than Edvinsson at the same age. Edvinsson is very mistake prone, and for a defensive-minded D who lacks offensive upside, that's a very scary pick for #4 overall.

Батя - it`s an analog of father. But more... familiar. Sometimes this is using for people who is obviously better in something and do something like a man who know how to do it. Professional, who make his professioanl things easy.

I do really thing this red flags are about his young age and little expirience on adult level. He is too good when he play one on one. His skills are on the good level. And when you talk about some lacks - Hughes can`t defend. On junior level. This is what Devils absolutely don`t need. I know he can (or even can not) produce a lot of points because he is great line driver - yeah, thats great, but will it give win and play off wins for the devils? Can he grow as a defenseman? Yes he can. But I thing he must go through longer way than Edvinsson to be better puckmover. And Clarke. He is really great defenseman. I watched some of his slovakian games and that was really fun expirience because of quality of translation. And he is impressive. I cant say that I want Edvinsson more, because Clarke is RD, he can play defense, he can be competitive on boards and one on one. But his skating. I cant close my eyes and dont think about it. Edvinsson must be better with short and fast passes, but his way to be better passer is much shorter than Clarke`s way to be better skater. And I do really think guy who has pretty good dignities that guy like Slavin has on his draft day. And I do really think Devils need a guy like that to be competitive. May be more than anything. And I do really think Slavin deserved to be picked 4th in his draft day if we make redraft. I want to make conclusions - what will make NHL defensemen...good NHL defenseman. And I really think Edvinsson has the easiest way to fix his problems. Because he show signs of that in his previous years. Did Clarke skate better? Did Hughes play better defensively? I dont even think that his older defenseman brother is a good defensive defenseman. boo, guadana, boo, how can you even talk like that. boo. Yes, I think Edvinsson deserved to be picked in top-5, especially in this year. If he will never be good passer, he will be very hard to play against at least. We dont have any defenseman, who is hard to play against. May be Bahl, Vuko and Okhotyuk will be that kind of guys, but we dont know. Those three dont skate like Edvinsson, and Edvinsson is pretty big like Bahl. Imagine if they will be our roster defensemen both. And I dont know, will Clarke or Hughes be that magic guy, who were puckmover and linedriver in their junior years and than translate into the great defensive guy, like Niedermayer did change his game. I do really think.

BTW Lindholm wasnt much better producer in his draft year. Reilly who is pretty similiar to Clarke, was drafted before him. Overthink about it, Steve.

 

[Eggtimer]

The only solution is to trade up and get picks like 4,5,6 and draft Hughes, Clarke, and Eklund!

Then we just need Boqvist bro from the Hawks snd McLeods from the Oilers .
The funny thing is that those players would actually be awesome to get snd are all very damn good .

 

[Eggtimer]

I could very well be in the minority here.. but I think the team has an idea of who theyre taking well before the last month until the draft.

Consider it like a 'soft' opening at a restaurant. They have a guy at their #1 until theyre not (Hischier rose and is an example of this).

This obviously gets trickier the later in the round you go - I was mainly referring to a top-10 pick.

There’s still a ton of moving parts though . Teams ahead of them could go off the board a little but I’m sure the Devils have prepared for every possible scenario under the sun .
I think the Hughes brother thing is over rated by fans that say we should not take him just because of the brother connection . I disagree as I feel regardless of the kids last name that he is what the team needs the most . What handed our current D are should have very little value . 5 years from now our roster / player pool will likely look different , just look at it 5 years in the past from today . Our best prospects were thought to be our defence ( merril gelinas Larsson etc )
I also think people under estimate how much ownership has say where having jacks brother here is an excellent marketing opportunity and story line . This is a business after all and having taken a shit kicking in gate revenues etc the last while will definitely have an effect in decisions made

 

[Eggtimer]

If I was making the draft selections , I’d have these 4 players in order on my list and scratch them off accordingly as they are picked .
Power
Benier
Hughes
Clarke

If by some shit luck all the 3 D are gone , then you go Benier and sort shit out later .

 

[Nico Hughes]

Im not so sure Beniers is a high-end forward

I like him for a top-6 center, but idk if I can say hes a surefire 1C. From what Ive seen hes similar to Nico except with better dkating and less individual playmaking

Eklund is my only surefire first line talent I know of atm

 

[Better Call Sal]

NHL Draft Confidential: Inside what scouts and executives really think about the top prospects

Didn't see this shared from the Athletic. Pronman getting some comments from NHL teams' scouts and advisors on some of the picks. Some interesting comments, I'll just include the ones on Clarke and Hughes:

Brandt Clarke, RHD, Barrie-OHL: Clarke is a potential top-10, if not top-five pick known for his offense who played in Slovakia because of the canceled OHL season.

“He concerns me, mostly due to the skating, he will have issues in the NHL in transition and handling NHL pressure. He’s very skilled, I wish when I watched him this season I saw a player that screamed elite offense instead of just very good with his skating. I don’t see him as a great NHL defender.”

“He has tremendous skill, he has tremendous hockey sense. The skating is a little odd, but it’s not poor, he gets around the ice well. He can walk the line in the offensive zone and escape pressure in the defensive zone and isn’t a liability when the play is bearing down on him.”

“You are hoping he turns into an Adam Fox-like player, who despite his skating is so skilled and so smart he runs PP1 and is a solid even strength guy. If he doesn’t become that and can’t generate offense at an NHL pace, I think he’s going to struggle to find a role.”

Luke Hughes, LHD, USNTDP-USHL: Hughes is the youngest brother of NHL players Jack and Quinn, and a potential top-10 pick. Like his brothers, he’s very talented but also much bigger.

“He’s not in the top-three conversation for me due to his defending, but he’s an elite skater with skill and size so he’s in that next group.”

“His ceiling is sky-high, could argue he has the most potential of anyone in the draft. Can he defend, and can he stop overcomplicating the game are my big two questions with Hughes.”

“He has a rare combination of size, skating and skill that you can easily see projecting to the top of an NHL lineup.”

 

[Devils731]

NHL Draft Confidential: Inside what scouts and executives really think about the top prospects

Didn't see this shared from the Athletic. Pronman getting some comments from NHL teams' scouts and advisors on some of the picks. Some interesting comments, I'll just include the ones on Clarke and Hughes:

You can really see how divided people are on Edvinsson. Some people think he’s a unicorn on the way to stardom and others think he’s an athletic guy who doesn’t contribute enough on either end of the ice.

 

[devilsblood]

Side isn't really a big issue either as we don't have anyone in the system on Luke's level outside of Smith and who is to say any of the guys below them pan out.

This is a good point. Specifically with the #4 pick.

But later in the draft, I think RHD is a spot that needs to be addressed.

 

[aboriginal]

If Luke can be another Hamilton, I won’t give a single f*** about his game at all. Ronco.