what about him isnt a good skater?
does he have good edges?
i can live without speed for a third liner!
Lenny is awkward skater sometimes. It makes his puckhandling worser.
But now we are standing on the battlefield between effort, two way iq and skating. Heidt isn't good skater, but he is average at least, Lenny is bad skater. Heidt is lazy two way player and he is losing his defensive zones, he is very good playmaker and he is very good player with the puck. Lenny is awesome 200 foot player, and he knows where he should be in the moment, he is very good without the puck, and he isn't bad with the puck.
Its very hard to say clearly who is better now and which ceiling is higher. Heidt has potential to be offensive second line center. But his lack of effort and positional vision could be a key problem that will stop him. Lenny has potential to be great top 6 winger, but his skating is very bad and the problem is in mechanics/technics.
I would easily put all my money on Lenny, because from everything I knew from previous draft, its the most important to be smart kid with high iq, know the game, feel the zone, be in the pace, work hard and understand the game, be useful as 200 foot player. We have different examples of Jarvis, Mercer, Lundell, who could lack of some offensive tools but they are better on NHL level than some guys who were drafted over them or right behind. We have example of Holtz and Quinn, where Holtz had better offensive tools, but for now Quinn is looking more useful as NHLer and his overall effort helps him to make offensive impact. But all of them are better skaters, even if they aren't good. Lenny have a problem with minimum allowable level.
I think Lenny has potential to make better overall impact, because he is smarter and always know where he should be and should go with or without the puck. But he needs to work hard on his skating.
Sawchyn is very intriguing player with better skating than both, with better effort than Heidt. He isn’t great playmaker, but he is good passer. I like his 200 foot game. With the puck he is trying to do too much, putting a lot on his shoulders. He is trying to save the puck and using stick handling but I don’t think that he is good enough and most of it will not work in NHL. His physicals needs to work - puck protection and physical aspect of puck battling. Anyway he isn’t the player you will say ”easy to play against”. I like his game without the puck more and he isn’t bad with the puck overall, he is good.
But I think he has highest floor between this three. Because of skating, speed, effort and offensive tools. His ceiling is questionable, may be he is a very good third line center, may be good complimentary winger. Anyway if Devils would draft him, I believe we would not regret, he is very good two way player, who moves a lot and read the game well, can find free space and even can drive.
Devils made a bet on higher ceiling and think they have enough driving. I’m absolutely okay to draft Lenny over Heidt, for now I would easily drafted Sawchyn over Lenny. But Lenny is very intriguing player, his iq is so great and if he can develop his skating to average level, than he has potential to be great two way forward. The question is how he will develop his skating and mechanics. Sometimes his lower body works against his upper body.
Heidt isn’t looking like a player with good two way potential, his lack of positional vision will limit him. May be he is very productive nhl center, who will not play your tough minutes, and you prefer to find some good forechecking wingers to support him.
Sawchyn has potential to be very painful player for opponents on both sides of the rink, he needs to work on his vision and timings to use his partners better, it’s not a thing you can develop easily. But with a good playmaker he can be pretty productive.
Lenny is our player. And he isn’t looking like a bust or wrong pick for later second round. He looks like a player with high potential, he is working hard. And he absolutely deserves to root for him.