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

What should we do with #2?

  • Slafkovsky

    Votes: 220 61.5%

  • Jiricek

    Votes: 56 15.6%

  • Nemec

    Votes: 30 8.4%

  • Trade it

    Votes: 39 10.9%

  • Other

    Votes: 13 3.6%
  • Total voters
    358
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My3Sons said:
Jason Robertson suggests that there is still room for the smart skilled player who is fearless and has just enough skating power to get by in the flow of the game. On balance though, I tend to agree with you that the pace of the game has picked up even from three or four years ago.
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Yes that was my point. There will always be various ways to skin a cat and for particular players to overcome a lack of facility in some element of basic skills. But the bar has been steadily rising. As a group players are faster, more fit, better skaters, generally bigger and more well trained physically than they used to be. A Phil Esposito for example today would need to be in a lot better shape to compete than he reportedly was a good deal of his time in the 70’s.
 
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Hisch13r said:
Heiskanen was the #1 D and best player on a Cup final team at 21 years old. He led them in scoring with 26 pts in 27 games while averaging 26 minutes a game and being lights out defensively. I really couldn't care less about how "soft" he is

Pettersson was lights out the back half of the year and was back to himself. Pettersson also had 18 pts in 17 playoffs games in his appearance. I don't care how "weak" or "fragile" he is either. Nico needs to actually live up to the defensive reputation people have built up for him in order for him to be better than Pettersson. He's certainly improved. He's also still wildly overrated defensively since people think he's a stud.
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Fair enough. We disagree on what we want from players. Not that uncommon.

Camille the Eel said:
Yes that was my point. There will always be various ways to skin a cat and for particular players to overcome a lack of facility in some element of basic skills. But the bar has been steadily rising. As a group players are faster, more fit, better skaters, generally bigger and more well trained physically than they used to be. A Phil Esposito for example today would need to be in a lot better shape to compete than he reportedly was a good deal of his time in the 70’s.
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Your earlier post sort of made it sound like you were more absolute in the issue than you actually are.
 
StevenToddIves said:
Stillman's upside is likely a 3rd liner, and his downside is likely a 4th liner. But my point is the Devils drafted for the bottom six at #29, and the same people who were screaming bloody murder about it are now saying "what's wrong with drafting a great 3rd line center at #2 overall? What about Pittsburgh with Jordan Staal?" I mean, there's an obvious difference in that Staal was an interior force who specialized in defensive play and face-offs and physicality which made him perfect for a 3rd line role, but people bend the narratives to fit their purposes.

I think you and I both have watched the US-NTDP to know that Cooley was not better than Nazar on the same team this year, and Nazar probably has more upside and a game which translates more easily into the NHL. But Cooley is absolutely still a terrific prospect in his own right as a slightly-less-dynamic Mat Barzal-type for whichever team drafts him.

However, this team will not be the Devils, and I'm not sure I even comprehend the argument among Devils fans that Cooley should be the guy. It's the #2 overall pick! The Devils are desperate for a power F for the top 6 and Slafkovsky will be sitting right there. The Devils are desperate for a 1RD and Jiricek will be sitting right there, as will Nemec. But the ancillary fans who did not know these prospects' names until the Devils won the #2 overall pick are now screaming for Cooley because, why? Some computer printout told them to? Because Slafkovsky and Jiricek are physical and they think hitting is bad? I don't even begin to comprehend it.

I still haven't voted, because I'm still split between Slafkovsky and Jiricek, as you probably know. But if the Devils go for a forward, it absolutely has to be Slafkovsky at #2, and to be honest there's not even another option there. He's precisely what the Devils need in their forward group, and every argument I've seen against him is silly bordering on the abjectly inane.
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You haven’t voted yet? Coward. (Voters aren’t even identified in this poll and you can change your vote, geez.)

Edit: and I just noticed it’s your own f***ing poll lol. C’mon now.
 
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OmNomNom said:
It's really funny though how the fanbase outside of hfboards really digs Cooley over these 3. Or even Kemell!
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Pro-Kemell at 2OA talk gets you instantly banned here, we’ll have none of that nonsense. We run a tight ship on this board. (I mean, I personally don’t, but whoever runs it does and I self-identify with their vast dictatorial powers.)

Cooley has been a bit ahead of the pack as the sort of consensus #2 on a lot of lists for a while so that’s less surprising.

Slafkovsky has pretty much caught up while Cooley’s early momentum slowed (he was seen as charging up as a contender for 1OA and now not so much) but people tend to just look at lists.

There’s nothing wrong with wanting Cooley, he should have been in this poll.

Edit: just to be clear, the Kemell stuff is a joke (other than I don’t see him going 2nd). I get punchy (punchier?) after acupuncture.
 
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Captain3rdLine said:
I see a lot of people saying we should trade it.
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A lot of non-Devils fans are certainly saying that, Fitz positive response to the question of if he’s willing to trade the pick has made us become seen as the prime trade target for questionable deals.

And after Fiala had zero points & 8 penalties in the Wild’s playoff series he’s seen as a sure goner and we’re seen as the suckers who will give them a top pick for him. (I doubt that and certainly hope not.)
 
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Guttersniped said:
A lot of non-Devils fans are certainly saying that, Fitz positive response to the question of if he’s willing to trade the pick has made us become seen as the prime trade target for questionable deals.

And after Fiala had zero points & 8 penalties in the Wild’s playoff series he’s seen as a sure goner and we’re seen as the suckers who will give them a top pick for him. (I doubt that and certainly hope not.)
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Just give us Wallstedt as well and they can have themselves a deal. I'll even throw in a Pavel Zacha.
 
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Guttersniped said:
A lot of non-Devils fans are certainly saying that, Fitz positive response to the question of if he’s willing to trade the pick has made us become seen as the prime trade target for questionable deals.

And after Fiala had zero points & 8 penalties in the Wild’s playoff series he’s seen as a sure goner and we’re seen as the suckers who will give them a top pick for him. (I doubt that and certainly hope not.)
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Ya but there’s a decent amount of devils fans on that train too. But yes there’s lots of other fans talking about it too even though Fitz talked about moving it before we won the lottery. He wasn’t nearly as positive about it once we won the lottery. Just gave the typical its my job to do what’s best if I’m not mistaken.
 
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Guttersniped said:
Pro-Kemell at 2OA talk gets you instantly banned here, we’ll have none of that nonsense. We run a tight ship on this board. (I mean, I personally don’t, but whoever runs it does and I self-identify with their vast dictatorial powers.)

Cooley has been a bit ahead of the pack as the sort of consensus #2 on a lot of lists for a while so that’s less surprising.

Slafkovsky has pretty much caught up while Cooley’s early momentum slowed (he was seen as charging up as a contender for 1OA and now not so much) but people tend to just look at lists.

There’s nothing wrong with wanting Cooley, he should have been in this poll.

Edit: just to be clear, the Kemell stuff is a joke (other than I don’t see him going 2nd). I get punchy (punchier?) after acupuncture.
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Is that the longest post you’ve made without the use of florid profanity?
 
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Hisch13r said:
I think it could end up as a Nico scenario where you're still getting a good player but there will be a handful of guys who turn out better.
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I wouldn’t say it would set the franchise back if that happened but the devils really can’t afford to miss on this pick. If that ends up being the case a nico 2.0 then yes they missed on the pick. It’s one thing to not get the best player in the draft with Nico but for it to happen again? (Minus wright) would absolutely sting.
 
FooteBahl said:
I’m no draft expert, but with a floor of Nichuskin and a ceiling of Jagr, I want to be president of the Team Slapshotsky fan club
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I think I've officially changed my vote from Jiricek to Slafkovsky at #2 unless Jiricek really blows up at the WCs. Someone brought up trading #2 to Colombus for #6 and #11 which would also be pretty awesome. Could go 6- Jiricek 11- Gauthier
 
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I’m fine with Cooley if he is the best prospect I don’t care if he plays center. Trade nico and his cap hit for all I care for need if Cooley shows up to be good
 
FooteBahl said:
I’m no draft expert, but with a floor of Nichuskin and a ceiling of Jagr, I want to be president of the Team Slapshotsky fan club
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Expectations are WAY too high if this is actually what people think. His floor is not one of the best two way play drivers in the league who just put up a 33 goal 69 pt pace. His ceiling is not a top 10 player of all time who has FIVE Art Ross trophies.

This guy is not a floor for anyone. This is FAR closer to a ceiling than a floor.

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Just took a look at the top-100 scorers this year and interestingly enough there were only four players 6'4" or taller; Mikko Rantanen, Tage Thompson, Blake Wheeler, and Brock Nelson. Other notable names outside that are Valeri Nichuskin, Tom Wilson, and Patrik Laine.

That would be quite the unique player for us and the fit is just unimaginably perfect. Im sure Nico is excited at the prospect of this and it sounded like such from his comments
 
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LeedsMonster said:
I think I've officially changed my vote from Jiricek to Slafkovsky at #2 unless Jiricek really blows up at the WCs. Someone brought up trading #2 to Colombus for #6 and #11 which would also be pretty awesome. Could go 6- Jiricek 11- Gauthier
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They wouldn’t do that if the prospect was higher rated maybe. 6/11 is asking a lot.
 
ChopRite said:
Just took a look at the top-100 scorers this year and interestingly enough there were only four players 6'4" or taller; Mikko Rantanen, Tage Thompson, Blake Wheeler, and Brock Nelson. Other notable names outside that are Valeri Nichuskin, Tom Wilson, and Patrik Laine.

That would be quite the unique player for us and the fit is just unimaginably perfect. Im sure Nico is excited at the prospect of this and it sounded like such from his comments
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No way any of those players are 6’4 - watch them on the ice next to other players they are 5’11 absolute tops
 
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I must attest though to the idea of a top-pair RD coming up as Hamilton ages and playing possibly with Luke Hughes on what could be a top pair in the league...

Its very, very convincing and the depth at RD would certainly help us considering the lack of prospects in that department. Though technically Luke could play the right and maybe one of our LD blossoms into a top-4 role?

Still though, a top pair RD is probably the more valuable asset and much harder to find than a winger. Then again we may already have a solid enough foundation with Luke/Siegenthaler and Hamilton/Severson. And with rumors of Severson wanting to re-sign I wouldnt blame Fitzgerald for getting antsy and leaning toward a more 'needed' player in Slafkovsky, then take some shots over rest of this and the next few drafts at RD.

Defense twice in back to back drafts top-4 would be bold and Id respect the attention to detail for the future core. Because in theory having two 1st overall centers should lower the amount of or level of draft capital you have to dedicate to their wings.
 
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