Prospect Info: Devils Win #2 Overall -- Slafkovsky vs. Jiricek vs. Nemec

[Nico Hischier]

A sharks fan posted this trade on a different thread.

Meier and 11th overall for

Zacha smith and 2nd overall

It’s honestly not a bad offer if you factor in 1) can we resign Meier and severson and 2) do we like who is a available at 11. According to @StevenToddIves mock draft these 3 players would be interesting at 11:

1. LW Cutter Gauthier, US-NTDP the Ducks love drafting the big/tough guys, and Gauthier may be the best pure power F in the 2022 class; plays like a lost Tkachuk brother and features a bomb of a shot
2. RW/C Brad Lambert, Pelicans Finland Lambert is a top 3 talent with perhaps the best combination of skating and puck skills in the class; questions about compete and consistency could drop him out of the top 10 and San Jose has a huge need to juice up the high-end skill level for their future top 6
3. RD Ryan Chesley, US-NTDP right up GM Lou Lamoriello’s alley is a player like Chesley — the best shut-down defender in the draft who also is quite competent with the puck and features a rocket-launcher shot from the point

Gauthier and Chesley would fill needs while lambert might be bpa

I think I would say yes to the trade

 

[RSeen]

A sharks fan posted this trade on a different thread.

Meier and 11th overall for

Zacha smith and 2nd overall

It’s honestly not a bad offer if you factor in 1) can we resign Meier and severson and 2) do we like who is a available at 11. According to @StevenToddIves mock draft these 3 players would be interesting at 11:

1. LW Cutter Gauthier, US-NTDP the Ducks love drafting the big/tough guys, and Gauthier may be the best pure power F in the 2022 class; plays like a lost Tkachuk brother and features a bomb of a shot
2. RW/C Brad Lambert, Pelicans Finland Lambert is a top 3 talent with perhaps the best combination of skating and puck skills in the class; questions about compete and consistency could drop him out of the top 10 and San Jose has a huge need to juice up the high-end skill level for their future top 6
3. RD Ryan Chesley, US-NTDP right up GM Lou Lamoriello’s alley is a player like Chesley — the best shut-down defender in the draft who also is quite competent with the puck and features a rocket-launcher shot from the point

Gauthier and Chesley would fill needs while lambert might be bpa

I think I would say yes to the trade

If we can extend Meier, I would do that.

 

[JimEIV]

A sharks fan posted this trade on a different thread.

Meier and 11th overall for

Zacha smith and 2nd overall

It’s honestly not a bad offer if you factor in 1) can we resign Meier and severson and 2) do we like who is a available at 11. According to @StevenToddIves mock draft these 3 players would be interesting at 11:

1. LW Cutter Gauthier, US-NTDP the Ducks love drafting the big/tough guys, and Gauthier may be the best pure power F in the 2022 class; plays like a lost Tkachuk brother and features a bomb of a shot
2. RW/C Brad Lambert, Pelicans Finland Lambert is a top 3 talent with perhaps the best combination of skating and puck skills in the class; questions about compete and consistency could drop him out of the top 10 and San Jose has a huge need to juice up the high-end skill level for their future top 6
3. RD Ryan Chesley, US-NTDP right up GM Lou Lamoriello’s alley is a player like Chesley — the best shut-down defender in the draft who also is quite competent with the puck and features a rocket-launcher shot from the point

Gauthier and Chesley would fill needs while lambert might be bpa

I think I would say yes to the trade

I'd much rather make the #2 overall selection and figure out other creative ways to move Zacha and Smith.

 

[Fanatik]

Honestly at the end of the day I hope we just take whoever the scouts view as the best player. From watching highlights, Slaf seems appealing, but then again so did Zacha.

If I recall correctly, there were many people on the board (myself included), who wanted Pavel. Poor decision then.

The size and skillset of Slaf is appealing but if Cooley or one of the Dmen are ranked higher, take them.

We just cannot afford to miss here if we want to be an elite team.

Call me crazy but I genuinely think we could fraft someone here with 0 NHL games played ever and, minus the embarrassment of it all, I dont think we wont still be contenders at some time

Both Hughes, Nico and Jesper, Dougie and Siegenthaler, Mercer and Holtz... find a goalie and some supporting cast and you can win a Cup with that team as they get to their primes

Thats why I think they go for need and take one of Slafkovsky for his size and tools or Nemec for his RH and all around game

 

[Nubmer6]

Honestly at the end of the day I hope we just take whoever the scouts view as the best player. From watching highlights, Slaf seems appealing, but then again so did Zacha.

If I recall correctly, there were many people on the board (myself included), who wanted Pavel. Poor decision then.

The size and skillset of Slaf is appealing but if Cooley or one of the Dmen are ranked higher, take them.

We just cannot afford to miss here if we want to be an elite team.

It's funny. I wasn't on these boards back then, but Zacha was a pick completely out of the blue for me. I suppose I wasn't watching the prospects as closely back then, but I thought for sure we were going to pick Barzal.

Then again, when we traded for Cory, I thought I was hoping we'd pick Hunter Shinkarick.

 

[JimEIV]

My thought is the drop off from #2 to #11 is just too significant. I think at #2 you can get a Meier level player and I think at #11 just about anything we would really want will be gone.

I also think this team is two successful drafts away from being serious personally...and to not make this pick would be a serious misstep.

 

[Nubmer6]

I think at #2 you can get a Meier level player and I think at #11 just about anything we would really want will be gone.

That's cause the board hasn't really investigated the players who would be available at 11 and haven't convinced themselves that some player we expect to be available there is the second coming of Connor McJesus.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

So Cooley is nearly 5-11 180 lbs with a huge wingspan. Size: not an issue

 

[StevenToddIves]

Honestly at the end of the day I hope we just take whoever the scouts view as the best player. From watching highlights, Slaf seems appealing, but then again so did Zacha.

If I recall correctly, there were many people on the board (myself included), who wanted Pavel. Poor decision then.

The size and skillset of Slaf is appealing but if Cooley or one of the Dmen are ranked higher, take them.

We just cannot afford to miss here if we want to be an elite team.

There is no need to ever mention Zacha in a comparison with Slafkovsky. They have absolutely nothing in common except the language they speak.

Similarly, Montreal is making a choice between Wright and Slafkovsky at #1 overall. If Slafkovsky falls to #2, why he is all of a sudden in a mix of other players? You take the best player, and hopefully that player fills a need. With Slafkovsky, that's the case on both counts.

 

[RSeen]

Call me crazy but I genuinely think we could fraft someone here with 0 NHL games played ever and, minus the embarrassment of it all, I dont think we wont still be contenders at some time

Both Hughes, Nico and Jesper, Dougie and Siegenthaler, Mercer and Holtz... find a goalie and some supporting cast and you can win a Cup with that team as they get to their primes

Thats why I think they go for need and take one of Slafkovsky for his size and tools or Nemec for his RH and all around game

Your right, we would still have a route to being a very good team, but you still cannot miss at #2. It is too valuable of an opportunity.

 

[StevenToddIves]

It's funny. I wasn't on these boards back then, but Zacha was a pick completely out of the blue for me. I suppose I wasn't watching the prospects as closely back then, but I thought for sure we were going to pick Barzal.

Then again, when we traded for Cory, I thought I was hoping we'd pick Hunter Shinkarick.

I'm trying to find my 2015 draft notebooks, but I remember having a top 4 of:

1 McDavid
2 Eichel
3 Hanifin
4 Barzal

I know this because someone challenged me to a fight on the hockeywriters.com (I was writing for them at the time) for ranking Barzal over Strome. I'm fairly certain I had Zacha at #9 or #10, which I'm pretty sure was around his consensus ranking. When we picked him, I know I had 3 players ranked firmly ahead of him -- Barzal, Provorov and Werenski and I think I had Kyle Connor one slot ahead of Zacha, as well.

I was absolutely surprised by the Zacha pick. I wanted Barzal, but I thought the pick would be Werenski, and I was fine with that, too. Zacha was not what I expected at all.

As for the Cory trade, I was at that draft. The guy I wanted there was absolutely Nichushkin. But maybe we'll sign him as a UFA this year and everything will come full circle.

That's cause the board hasn't really investigated the players who would be available at 11 and haven't convinced themselves that some player we expect to be available there is the second coming of Connor McJesus.

They can always just read the amazingly good and well-written HFBoards Devils draft threads.

So Cooley is nearly 5-11 180 lbs with a huge wingspan. Size: not an issue

Yep, Arizona is going to be very happy with Cooley, for sure.

 

[RSeen]

It's funny. I wasn't on these boards back then, but Zacha was a pick completely out of the blue for me. I suppose I wasn't watching the prospects as closely back then, but I thought for sure we were going to pick Barzal.

Then again, when we traded for Cory, I thought I was hoping we'd pick Hunter Shinkarick.

Zacha's size and the fact that he was a C likely led to him being overrated. He was less than PPG in his draft year in the CHL and still went #6.

I think there is a bias towards size and I wonder how much of a factor it is here with Slaf.

There is no need to ever mention Zacha in a comparison with Slafkovsky. They have absolutely nothing in common except the language they speak.

Similarly, Montreal is making a choice between Wright and Slafkovsky at #1 overall. If Slafkovsky falls to #2, why he is all of a sudden in a mix of other players? You take the best player, and hopefully that player fills a need. With Slafkovsky, that's the case on both counts.

Do you recall what you thought of Zacha during his draft year?

My fear with Slaf is that he potentially gets overrated due to his size, but I say this as someone who doesn't have prospect knowledge. Just a general bias I see.

 

[StevenToddIves]

Zacha's size and the fact that he was a C likely led to him being overrated. He was less than PPG in his draft year in the CHL and still went #6.

I think there is a bias towards size and I wonder how much of a factor it is here with Slaf.


Do you recall what you thought of Zacha during his draft year?

My fear with Slaf is that he potentially gets overrated due to his size, but I say this as someone who doesn't have prospect knowledge. Just a general bias I see.

Yeah, I loved Zacha. I think I had him #10. I don't rank a player top 10 unless I'm super high on them. I realized there was some risk, however, as his game was so very raw.

However, I felt he was a bit of a reach at #6 overall, because I was far higher on Barzal at C, and either of Provorov and Werenski as hockey players. I had two tiers between Barzal and Zacha, and one tier between those two D and Zacha.

This should not be a fear with Slafkovsky, who has elite puck-handling, playmaking and hockey IQ, all areas which Zacha struggled a bit in. With the NHL Draft, it's the big/fast/big shot combo which often confuses even NHL scouts into falling too hard and over drafting so-so players, from Hugh Jessiman to Philip Broberg to Tyler Boucher. But the high awareness/puck skill guys are completely different player types.

 

[Capt Nico Poo]

My thought is the drop off from #2 to #11 is just too significant. I think at #2 you can get a Meier level player and I think at #11 just about anything we would really want will be gone.

I also think this team is two successful drafts away from being serious personally...and to not make this pick would be a serious misstep.

I agree. We are very close and the core is nearly complete but still not quite yet there.

 

[BurntToast]

Cutter’s interviews are phenomenal. He is a f*$king politician. If the Devils reach for him, I wouldn’t even be that mad. His maturity reminds me of Mercer. Is he that good, I don’t know, bamboozled..

 

[Jack Be Quick]

I can appreciate his honesty and even the ability to be reflective over his past ability and confidence level, though (and I only comment this since we have a psychology team at these interviews) I take issue with one of his comments about his growth over the last year. Id argue it would show more internal confidence if he instead stated that he felt he was playing the same way the whole time, and that added icetime and confidence is what helped him become a stronger prospect in the scouts eyes.

Now obviously it wouldnt have to he worded like that lol, but to say that he knew he could play at a certain level but essentially didnt shows me a certain trait that someone whos still a bit immature would have.

Im not necessarily saying he is lying or that his confidence didnt rise or wasnt the reason for his improvements, but psychologically (and id obviously need more than eight minutes with him to build a foundation to even comment off of) I would have preferred a more humbled answer, one that doesnt necessarily blame his confidence but instead adds it as a reason of more than one, perhaps the biggest

Otherwise he speaks well for his age and it being a foreign language, so he certainly is smart and seems to have a charisma about him, even if it doesnt usually come out in a Europeans' interview lol

Do you have any type of degree in psych?

It's an admittedly obnoxious, rhetorical question, but an honest one.

 

[JimEIV]

I agree. We are very close and the core is nearly complete but still not quite yet there.

I don't know if we are close...but Luke turning into an elite Dman and whoever we pick #2 turning into a quality player would be huge. Theoretically that would be the two successful drafts

As it stands right now, I don't think we are close at all. Meaning I don't think the existing core of players is good enough to be surrounded with just ancillary players and be successful...we are still at least two maybe 3 (depending on the quality ) quality players away from being a good team.

That's what I honestly think...then once we have the personnel, we'll still need to go through the process of learning how to win...we've watched that happen with Colorado for the last few years and I would say Edmonton too is still learning how to shake the loser mentality even with the riches in talent they have. That all takes time.

 

[Jack Be Quick]

Cutter’s interviews are phenomenal. He is a f*$king politician. If the Devils reach for him, I wouldn’t even be that mad. His maturity reminds me of Mercer. Is he that good, I don’t know, bamboozled..

That's exactly why these questions and the people who stage them are garbage. It doesn't matter if it's the NHL or management at an olive garden, these personality tests are beyond useless. More and more studies are showing that they're actually counterproductive.

What kind of animal are you? I'm a bee, I like honey sweet tits.

 

[My3Sons]

A sharks fan posted this trade on a different thread.

Meier and 11th overall for

Zacha smith and 2nd overall

It’s honestly not a bad offer if you factor in 1) can we resign Meier and severson and 2) do we like who is a available at 11. According to @StevenToddIves mock draft these 3 players would be interesting at 11:

1. LW Cutter Gauthier, US-NTDP the Ducks love drafting the big/tough guys, and Gauthier may be the best pure power F in the 2022 class; plays like a lost Tkachuk brother and features a bomb of a shot
2. RW/C Brad Lambert, Pelicans Finland Lambert is a top 3 talent with perhaps the best combination of skating and puck skills in the class; questions about compete and consistency could drop him out of the top 10 and San Jose has a huge need to juice up the high-end skill level for their future top 6
3. RD Ryan Chesley, US-NTDP right up GM Lou Lamoriello’s alley is a player like Chesley — the best shut-down defender in the draft who also is quite competent with the puck and features a rocket-launcher shot from the point

Gauthier and Chesley would fill needs while lambert might be bpa

I think I would say yes to the trade

Take out Smith.

 

[My3Sons]

They can always just read the amazingly good and well-written HFBoards Devils draft threads.

thank you. I try to be both erudite and illuminating.

 

[Zacha37]

Anyone else believe Cutter Gauthier might seriously be in consideration at 2? Ignoring all the social media looks he’s gotten from us, he fits in like a glove and is exactly what Fitz wants. Scares me a bit since Slafkovsky should be the easy selection.

 

[Devils731]

Anyone else believe Cutter Gauthier might seriously be in consideration at 2? Ignoring all the social media looks he’s gotten from us, he fits in like a glove and is exactly what Fitz wants. Scares me a bit since Slafkovsky should be the easy selection.

Not me.

 

[RSeen]

I don't know if we are close...but Luke turning into an elite Dman and whoever we pick #2 turning into a quality player would be huge. Theoretically that would be the two successful drafts

As it stands right now, I don't think we are close at all. Meaning I don't think the existing core of players is good enough to be surrounded with just ancillary players and be successful...we are still at least two maybe 3 (depending on the quality ) quality players away from being a good team.

That's what I honestly think...then once we have the personnel, we'll still need to go through the process of learning how to win...we've watched that happen with Colorado for the last few years and I would say Edmonton too is still learning how to shake the loser mentality even with the riches in talent they have. That all takes time.

I think the seasons where we can actually be a threat is a season or two away (i.e., not next year), when players like Mercer, Luke and Holtz will have multiple seasons under them and we will have hopefully the #2 pick also coming in. Could have 3 or 4 prominent players on ELC's and who knows with players like Gritsyuk as well.

 

[StevenToddIves]

Anyone else believe Cutter Gauthier might seriously be in consideration at 2? Ignoring all the social media looks he’s gotten from us, he fits in like a glove and is exactly what Fitz wants. Scares me a bit since Slafkovsky should be the easy selection.

I'd say there is a possibility of a trade down to the #3-#7 range if Slafkovsky went first to Montreal, and in the #3-#7 range Gauthier would certainly be one of the top possibilities along with Nemec and Jiricek. But I can't see taking him at #2 overall at this stage of the game.

 

[Cheddabombs]

Anyone else believe Cutter Gauthier might seriously be in consideration at 2? Ignoring all the social media looks he’s gotten from us, he fits in like a glove and is exactly what Fitz wants. Scares me a bit since Slafkovsky should be the easy selection.

Yeah, I think Cutter is too good of a name to pass up