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

[SteveCangialosi123]

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.

#2 for #6 and #12. Take Cutter with 6, move #12+ for Meier.

 

[My3Sons]

#2 for #6 and #12. Take Cutter with 6, move #12+ for Meier.

I doubt the value at 12 is enough to entice SJ. The plus would have to be more than a typical plus. I doubt adding Zacha or Ty Smith gets it done. Maybe it would have to be Holtz.

 

[Fanatik]

Do you have any type of degree in psych?

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

No degree but I saw a psychologist for about 14 years and took about 3-4 psychology courses in community college. I got to pick my psych's brain about it a lot, and it was the same man the entirety of it so we built an extremely strong foundation to where hed know my emotion walking in the door (though I dont hide it lol). Its also something my brain works well with, Ive always had a good judge of character.

And I dont say that in some pompous way but instead that Ive helped many a friend figure some things out, Im a helpful person in that manner. So I take somewhat of an interest in it. Never made a career of it though, unfortunately I chose a harder path that my brain doesnt pick to as easily lol

 

[Bankers Box]

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

As someone who has worked internationally and with people from all over, you can never conduct an accurate psychological test on someone who is not speaking in their native language.

I don’t know how they do these tests in sports but the business world gave up these tests (unless in native language) 20 years ago.

 

[JrFischer54]

I don’t know what thread had it but there were posters actually posting they wouldn’t trade the 2 for rantanen or a player of his caliber lol.

 

[Guttersniped]

I don’t know if this was posted yet but here’s the combine weights & heights.


2022 NHL Combine Heights & Weights

 

[Captain3rdLine]

I don’t know if this was posted yet but here’s the combine weights & heights.


2022 NHL Combine Heights & Weights

Not sure why they don’t measure and weigh the players that don’t participate in the fitness testing like Slafkovsky.

 

[PKs Broken Stick]

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.

yep, tons of people get hired because they're good with words and then they absolutely suck balls on the job. I wonder why?

 

[Capt Nico Poo]

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.

Not disagreeing with you but I started to think on the definition of core. What constitutes a core for a successful club? I think its like 4 players, max. Preferably 3. Thats a core.

For example, Marty, Stevens, Nieds = core

Stamkos, Kucherov, Hedman, Vasilievski = core

As for right now we have two, what i want to believe, are core pieces. Nico and Jack. We really need Luke to pan out. And we need to find us a goalie, desperately. Did not help at all to watch avs oilers highlights last night, we had even worse goaltending than that for the most of the season

 

[JimEIV]

Not disagreeing with you but I started to think on the definition of core. What constitutes a core for a successful club? I think its like 4 players, max. Preferably 3. Thats a core.

For example, Marty, Stevens, Nieds = core

Stamkos, Kucherov, Hedman, Vasilievski = core

As for right now we have two, what i want to believe, are core pieces. Nico and Jack. We really need Luke to pan out. And we need to find us a goalie, desperately. Did not help at all to watch avs oilers highlights last night, we had even worse goaltending than that for the most of the season

It's an interesting list of core players you have.

I'm not sure Stamkos is all that critical to that team winning but he is certainly one of the leagues elite players

And that is the most important point "Elite players". Being at all objective I'm not sure how you fit Nico into that mold... he's not elite and I don't think is a critical component to winning. A nice piece for sure but if someone like Elias doesn't reach a Devils core level, I'm not sure how Nico does?

I suppose ever team has a "core" no matter how bad they are but if we are talking about a select group of players that are essential to winning a championship, Nico never comes close to that and Jack is still very much unknown at this point.

So from my perspective, if core means a select group, necessary to win a championship,. I don't believe we have a single player I would say that about for certain today.

 

[JrFischer54]

If one of Nemec or Jiricek is available at Pick #7.

Should we swap Holtz to Ottawa for Nemec/Jiricek?

the simple fact that people are willing to move on from holtz already should be a cautionary tail when not trading a pick

 

[goonybird]

Give Holtz another year to show that he can bump elbows and dig at least one puck out of traffic

 

[RSeen]

I get people not liking what they saw from Holtz at the NHL level but PPG in the D+2 season in the AHL is strong production.

We do not have any other players who have a 35-40 goal potential. Look at a team like Carolina, they dearly missed having a goal scorer. Holtz is also close to NHL ready, whereas another draft pick might need another couple of seasons of development. I'm pretty sure management won't want to lose potentially 2 seasons of NHL readiness.

Our PP is also terrible and we need some pure scorers so I see little reason to trade him.

 

[Dallas1229]

I get people not liking what they saw from Holtz at the NHL level but PPG in the D+2 season in the AHL is strong production.

We do not have any other players who have a 35-40 goal potential. Look at a team like Carolina, they dearly missed having a goal scorer. Holtz is also close to NHL ready, whereas another draft pick might need another couple of seasons of development. I'm pretty sure management won't want to lose potentially 2 seasons of NHL readiness.

Our PP is also terrible and we need some pure scorers so I see little reason to trade him.

People get very critical about young players. But the second an older (24-26 year old) player busts out they flip the switch and try to shit on all the haters and stroke off the team that saw a valuable player in a late bloomer.

As far as the 2020 draft goes we had 3 first rounders. If one of those is a top line talent, one is scoring depth, and one is a bust I think I can live with the 2 picks being a disappointment. So far Mercer is looking to be the top line talent so anything else is gravy.

 

[Captain3rdLine]

I get people not liking what they saw from Holtz at the NHL level but PPG in the D+2 season in the AHL is strong production.

We do not have any other players who have a 35-40 goal potential. Look at a team like Carolina, they dearly missed having a goal scorer. Holtz is also close to NHL ready, whereas another draft pick might need another couple of seasons of development. I'm pretty sure management won't want to lose potentially 2 seasons of NHL readiness.

Our PP is also terrible and we need some pure scorers so I see little reason to trade him.

As a lot of people on here have talked about when it comes to prospects there’s a lot more to it than production. He produced really well which is great but his skating doesn’t look very good at all (at the AHL level too) and he’s not good enough along the boards and in battles.

With these things it’s hard for me to see him ever being a 35+ goal scorer. I’d say there’s at least 3-4 other players who I think are more likely to get to 35-40 goals than him on our team. Jack already produced at that pace this last season.

I’m also not sure what makes him close to NHL ready. He’s done well in the AHL production wise but he didn’t look good and wasn’t able to keep up when he got a shot in the NHL and I’m pretty sure he was demoted to the 3rd line for Utica in playoffs.
He needs to get faster and stronger IMO which isn’t easy to do.

I’m not saying we should discard him but I’m having a hard time seeing him turning out in the NHL right now and I’d have no problem with him being traded in the right deal.

I should add that I do think production becomes more and more important as prospects age, move up levels and get closer to the NHL but the other stuff and evaluating there skillsets still matters a ton and probably more.

 

[Devils731]

People didn’t think Holtz would score like this at the AHL because of how he performed in his 10 AHL games last year. People said he looked lost and bad. Fast forward a year and had a great year in the AHL.

Now we’re using this years 9 NHL games to say it doesn’t look like he will be an impact player in the NHL now or ever.

I don’t know what the future holds but the poo poo’ing of Holtz because of his 9 NHL games this year doesn’t seem that different to what people were saying last year.

 

[Captain3rdLine]

People didn’t think Holtz would score like this at the AHL because of how he performed in his 10 AHL games last year. People said he looked lost and bad. Fast forward a year and had a great year in the AHL.

Now we’re using this years 9 NHL games to say it doesn’t look like he will be an impact player in the NHL now or ever.

I don’t know what the future holds but the poo poo’ing of Holtz because of his 9 NHL games this year doesn’t seem that different to what people were saying last year.

Who’s saying he won’t because of his 9 games?
I’m not sure he will because his skating isn’t close to good enough in general (both levels). I would just say him having a poor 9 games at the NHL level this season is just an argument against him being NHL ready.

 

[Devs3cups]

Who’s saying he won’t because of his 9 games?
I’m not sure he will because his skating isn’t close to good enough in general (both levels). I would just say him having a poor 9 games at the NHL level this season is just an argument against him being NHL ready.

Right now, his skating isn't the best. Fitz has even said so. If I remember correctly, Fitz talked about his "first step" needing to get better. So that's clearly an area he needs to improve on, the team knows it and Alex knows it (he's training with Bratt's skating coach too this summer).

With that being said, this aspect of his game can, and probably will, get better. Of course he'll never be the fastest or best skater, skating usually doesn't improve that dramatically. But with his skillset, if he becomes average to slightly above average, he'll get his looks with the type of players we have, who are mostly "playmaker types".

To me, the fact that Holtz put up those numbers in his first true pro, N.A season with his skating being a weakness is a good sign, not a bad one, and shows to me that his scoring touch really is that good. Kid basically just turned 20, and has things to work on, as many prospects do. I wouldn't give up on him right now, unless there's a deal you can't pass up on.

 

[Devils731]

Who’s saying he won’t because of his 9 games?
I’m not sure he will because his skating isn’t close to good enough in general (both levels). I would just say him having a poor 9 games at the NHL level this season is just an argument against him being NHL ready.

That’s why people said he wouldn’t perform at the AHL this year too.

 

[StevenToddIves]

Who’s saying he won’t because of his 9 games?
I’m not sure he will because his skating isn’t close to good enough in general (both levels). I would just say him having a poor 9 games at the NHL level this season is just an argument against him being NHL ready.

Holtz will be worth having even if his overall play level never rises above middle 6 level, because having his shot from the circle on the 1PP will make him worth the pick alone.

The fact is, Holtz has an elite-level shot. That's why NJ drafted him. I'm not looking to ship him out, because we haven't seen what Holtz can do for the Devils' elite playmakers on the PP yet.

 

[Captain3rdLine]

That’s why people said he wouldn’t perform at the AHL this year too.

Huh no it isn’t. It was mostly because he struggled in the SHL and in his AHL stint last season.

 

[RSeen]

As a lot of people on here have talked about when it comes to prospects there’s a lot more to it than production. He produced really well which is great but his skating doesn’t look very good at all (at the AHL level too) and he’s not good enough along the boards and in battles.

With these things it’s hard for me to see him ever being a 35+ goal scorer. I’d say there’s at least 3-4 other players who I think are more likely to get to 35-40 goals than him on our team. Jack already produced at that pace this last season.

I’m also not sure what makes him close to NHL ready. He’s done well in the AHL production wise but he didn’t look good and wasn’t able to keep up when he got a shot in the NHL and I’m pretty sure he was demoted to the 3rd line for Utica in playoffs.
He needs to get faster and stronger IMO which isn’t easy to do.

I’m not saying we should discard him but I’m having a hard time seeing him turning out in the NHL right now and I’d have no problem with him being traded in the right deal.

I should add that I do think production becomes more and more important as prospects age, move up levels and get closer to the NHL but the other stuff and evaluating there skillsets still matters a ton and probably more.

Jack also shot 16% and there is a possibility that as we add more talent, he takes less shots. He will likely score 35 but I wouldn't expect him to be a consistent 35-40 goal scorer.

I understand Holtz didn't look good at the NHL level but it was a very small sample and the reality was he needed more time to develop. He will have another offseason to train. The production he had in the AHL level is encouraging.

I would expect him to be given every opportunity to make the team.

 

[Forge]

Holtz will be worth having even if his overall play level never rises above middle 6 level, because having his shot from the circle on the 1PP will make him worth the pick alone.

The fact is, Holtz has an elite-level shot. That's why NJ drafted him. I'm not looking to ship him out, because we haven't seen what Holtz can do for the Devils' elite playmakers on the PP yet.

Agreed. The shot travels no matter what.

I do think he'd benefit from being on a cycle heavy offense as opposed to a rush heavy offense, but you can get value from that shot regardless

 

[Devils731]

Huh no it isn’t. It was mostly because he struggled in the SHL and in his AHL stint last season.

I don’t remember people going “Holtz looks amazing but he isn’t getting any points” last year in the AHL.

I do remember hearing “Holtz isn’t scoring and he doesn’t look like the dominant player I expect him to be. Too slow, knocked off the puck too much, step behind in processing play, and can’t score”

People are saying those same things this year despite all his production.

I could be misremembering but I’d be surprised if people talk worse about his AHL play this year than they were last year.

 

[Devs3cups]

I don’t remember people going “Holtz looks amazing but he isn’t getting any points” last year in the AHL.

I do remember hearing “Holtz isn’t scoring and he doesn’t look like the dominant player I expect him to be. Too slow, knocked off the puck too much, step behind in processing play, and can’t score”

People are saying those same things this year despite all his production.

I could be misremembering but I’d be surprised if people talk worse about his AHL play this year than they were last year.

There was bust talk in the Holtz thread after his 10 games in the AHL.