Prospect Info: 2021 Devils-Centric Mock Draft, Post Lottery Edition

[Shakir ONeal]

I am truly envious. I haven't lived that long, but in more than 30 years, I haven't attended a single concert of my favorite artists in their perfect line-ups. I hope that the RHCP will come to us after the reunion with Frusciante.

One of the best shows I’ve been to, he’s unreal live

 

[StevenToddIves]

I'll be happy if the devils take Clarke or Hughes at 4. Probably would be confused if they didn't take either if both are sitting there. And with he Isles pick I am somewhat rooting for taking Cossa assuming we grab a Dman at #4.

But whatever we end up doing we should be very happy. A painful year is over and we get to reap the one benefit of that year very soon. Throw these 2 prospects into our pool of young players and the future gets a little brighter!

PS Than you STI for this mock draft. Was definitely looking forward to it and appreciate the time you take to do all of this.

The draft rankings are much, much harder than the mock drafts. I'm currently working on my June rankings, and of course I'm already late!

 

[StevenToddIves]

Bah. At this point I want Clarke so bad that I'm willing to give Anaheim a draft pick to select Hughes to end the controversy

It's well known I want Clarke, I'm assuming. But I really like Hughes, too. And even though he plays a position where the Devils already have depth -- LD -- there is no player in the Devils organization who Luke is stylistically similar to -- he would certainly fill a void.

I think it's important not to marry yourself to the idea of one player, unless you're drafting first overall. I mean, if the Devils had taken Kakko over Jack Hughes, I might've jumped off a bridge. But anywhere else? You need to leave yourself open to contingencies.

Last year, at #7 I would've taken Marco Rossi over Alexander Holtz. Now, of course no one had any way of knowing that less than a year later, Rossi would become so ill he nearly died. So, right now Holtz looks like a better pick than Rossi, whose future remains a bit uncertain. However, I can also say that if I was Devils GM and taking a RW, I would've drafted Seth Jarvis over Holtz, as well. Right now, I'd have to say that Jarvis looks like the better prospect of the two, and this would have been a good pick. But ultimately, I'm also happy with Holtz -- he's a terrific goal-scoring prospect, and the Devils need this on the wing for both Hughes and Hischier.

Ultimately, I want Clarke. But as long as the Devils get a great player -- be it Hughes or Guenther or Eklund or whomever -- I'm perfectly happy. And I'm 99% certain the Devils will come away from the 2021 draft with a great talent from the #4 overall pick.

 

[Guttersniped]

Edmonton killed itself for years by having no vision in team-building. They drafted scoring forward after scoring forward in the top few overall picks, then when it was clear they needed defense, they traded for local hero Griffin Reinhart (Memorial Cup winner with Edmonton of the WHL) instead of actually scouting what they needed for the blueline. The picks the Oilers gave up for Reinhart -- who could barely skate at an ECHL level -- turned into Mathew Barzal and Anthony Beauvillier. To fill the goaltending hole, the Oilers made another ill-advised trade for Cam Talbot.

Fitzgerald is going to have to go the anti-Griffin Reinhart route and take the best player for the Devils blueline, regardless of what the popular opinion might be. If their scouts like Hughes the best? Then fine, draft Hughes. But if the Devils scouts prefer Clarke and the Devils drafted Hughes for a "feel good draft day story", it would be a monumental mistake.

Also, I like Adrian Belew. Hell of a guitar player. His work with David Bowie was unbelievably good.

You’re cheating a little with the Reinhart picks. Oilers gave up the 16th pick, which turned into Barzal, and the 33rd pick, which turned into Mitchell Stephens. Garth Snow, pick trade enthusiast, then flipped the 33rd with an extra 3rd (72nd) to Tampa for 28th to get Beauvillier. It worked out ok for Tampa who got Cirelli with the 72nd pick.

I’m not sure what “anti-Griffen Reinhart” route means here. Chia said that they insider info on Reinhart because they had special insights on the player and that they knew he developing better than people might have thought. It was not a popular move.

It wasn’t secret that Reinhart looked meh at best in his rookie season in the AHL (and also didn’t produce in juniors post-draft). The Oil weren’t weirdly high on Reinhart because he was a “local hero” though, it was because Bob Green, the Oilers’ Director of Player Personnel, had been the GM of the Edmonton Oil Kings, Reinhart’s former team, until 2012-13. Green’s enthusiasm for his former player, who he didn’t really see after his D+1 year and who didn’t scout in the AHL, provided the “special insights”. Stuff like “he’s a winner”.

That trade looks worse when you realize they had Klefbom and Nurse (Martin Marincin and Jordan Oesterle, who were also in the Oil line-up) on the left side already so LHD wasn’t remotely their biggest need. That’s the most similar thing to the Luke situation but all four of those LHD had already played NHL, and several had arguably passed Reinhart as prospects, and Reinhart in contrast kind of sucked by then.

And the cherry on top was Calgary got Dougie Hamilton for the 15th, 45th and 52nd picks on the same day.

I’d argue Talbot trade was pretty good (or at least ok) though considering how dire the Oilers’ need for a goalie was even if his last season there was sketchy. The Edmonton’s recent history of goaltending is nightmarish and Talbot’s playoff season in 2016-17 is definitely a highlight. Talbot came in fourth in Vezina voting that season, with 17 votes, which monster season for the ages for a Oiler goalie these days. There hasn’t been much post-lockout in goal other then Talbot’s big season, Smith this year and then it’s Roloson’s and Dubnyk’s best seasons.

 

[Smitty426]

@StevenToddIves based on list here, give us an example of either a kid playing or just about to make a team's big club that you would trade our Isles 1st? And to sweeten the deal if it needed an add. For instance and just pulling names out of a hat here; Kiefer Bellows to NJ for their pick back. Stuff like that, anything come to mind?

 

[Forge]

@StevenToddIves based on list here, give us an example of either a kid playing or just about to make a team's big club that you would trade our Isles 1st? And to sweeten the deal if it needed an add. For instance and just pulling names out of a hat here; Kiefer Bellows to NJ for their pick back. Stuff like that, anything come to mind?

They wouldn't have interest in that pick unless it was part of a bigger deal, but a guy that I think would be a really good fit for us that is that range is Jett Woo. I'm not sure what it takes, but I'd kick tires to see how we could acquire him

 

[My3Sons]

It's well known I want Clarke, I'm assuming. But I really like Hughes, too. And even though he plays a position where the Devils already have depth -- LD -- there is no player in the Devils organization who Luke is stylistically similar to -- he would certainly fill a void.

I think it's important not to marry yourself to the idea of one player, unless you're drafting first overall. I mean, if the Devils had taken Kakko over Jack Hughes, I might've jumped off a bridge. But anywhere else? You need to leave yourself open to contingencies.

Last year, at #7 I would've taken Marco Rossi over Alexander Holtz. Now, of course no one had any way of knowing that less than a year later, Rossi would become so ill he nearly died. So, right now Holtz looks like a better pick than Rossi, whose future remains a bit uncertain. However, I can also say that if I was Devils GM and taking a RW, I would've drafted Seth Jarvis over Holtz, as well. Right now, I'd have to say that Jarvis looks like the better prospect of the two, and this would have been a good pick. But ultimately, I'm also happy with Holtz -- he's a terrific goal-scoring prospect, and the Devils need this on the wing for both Hughes and Hischier.

Ultimately, I want Clarke. But as long as the Devils get a great player -- be it Hughes or Guenther or Eklund or whomever -- I'm perfectly happy. And I'm 99% certain the Devils will come away from the 2021 draft with a great talent from the #4 overall pick.

If NJ picks Hughes I think the next step is to find some defense first right shot defenders similar to the guys they have stacking up on the left in Ok Vuk Muk and Bahl. Get some right handed versions of those players and it should all work out fine.

 

[Anaheim4ever]

Thanks for coming over to the Devils boards and giving some great opinions. I study all 31 (well, now 32) NHL teams pretty intently, and Anaheim is fascinating. Last year, they were one of the draft winners to me -- Drysdale is phenomenal, while Jacob Perreault's upside is wildly high -- in the 2021 draft, his combination of skating/shooting/vision was right there with players in the top 5 overall. I also felt Colangelo and Moore were very good picks for the Ducks.

At the moment, I would say that Anaheim has the #1 prospect in all hockey, as I still consider Zegras a prospect. Also, Anaheim as the #2 defense prospect in hockey, as I rank Drysdale second behind only Bowen Byram. So, your future is certainly bright.

Whats really cool is how close these young guys are, Zegras and Jack Hughes with the whole Team USA thing. I think we are seeing the rise of greatest gen of Americans in NHL.
Henrique played quite well with Zegras being he likes to shoot and Zegras prefers to pass.

That's "projecting". Though everything you say certainly makes sense, this has nothing to do with what Anaheim will actually do.

Anaheim GM Bob Murray has one of the most consistent draft records in the NHL. He likes to draft from the blueline on out. He likes to draft big players -- and Anaheim is one of the two or three biggest teams in the NHL year in and year out. He likes to draft out of North America and Sweden, rarely drafting out of Central Europe or Eastern Europe or Finland, especially in the first few rounds. He likes to draft physical players who play "on the edge".

So, while it's certainly possible that the Ducks use the #3 overall pick on a Dylan Guenther or Mason McTavish, I'm still leaning towards a Simon Edvinsson or Luke Hughes -- it's just more in tune with what I've come to expect out of Murray and the Anaheim scouting staff. This is a team with just two viable LD prospects in Jackson LaCombe and Henry Thrun, and at the moment it would be a bit over-confident to pencil either of them into your future top 4. Fowler is likely trade bait this off-season for forward help right now. This team has a desperate need to draft D this year -- top of the line-up LD for the future, and RD depth behind Drysdale for the future. And the 2021 draft will likely be remembered for the two positions it is strong in -- LD and LW. This draft is relatively weak literally at every other position.

I think that's the fun of the draft and part of why we enjoy it so much -- trying to guess and suppose and hypothesize is something I really get a kick out of. But I think what I'm trying to convey here is what a team needs and what they think they need are two different things sometimes.

Toronto loses in the playoffs to a more physical and gritty team literally every year. This year they finally kind of addressed it with 4th-line/3rd-pairing additions of Foligno and Simmonds and Bogosian, but their top-6 and top-4 were so soft once Muzzin got hurt that Montreal didn't need to play with their heads up at all -- no one was going to hit them, so why even worry? Carey Price could kick out rebounds anywhere -- Hyman was the only Leafs forward making any effort to get to the crease for a deflection or rebound. Will Dubas finally learn, or will he eschew the necessary power forwards and physical defensemen for more guys who appeal to his unproven hockey philosophies?

Anaheim is literally the anti-Toronto. They're annually one of the biggest and toughest teams in the league, they have an elite-level goaltender, but all the contenders in their conference literally skate circles around them every game and they wind up in the draft lottery. Hopefully high end talents like Zegras and Drysdale will change that, but they're still only teenagers. And while I agree a smart pick for the Ducks at #3 would be Guenther or Eklund -- the Ducks don't draft 5'10-170 Fs in the 1st round so we can rule out Eklund and I can't see them taking Guenther over a more physical, plays-on-the-edge player like McTavish.

There is a quote somewhere on our forum regarding where GM Bob Murray says something to the press about this years draft that you can always trade a Dman for a Top6 forward.
Leaves an impression they are going Dman this year.

When it comes to small forwards they tend to pick them late in the 1st round such as 2009 Kyle Palmieri and we all know how that guy turned out

 

[nugg]

If NJ picks Hughes I think the next step is to find some defense first right shot defenders similar to the guys they have stacking up on the left in Ok Vuk Muk and Bahl. Get some right handed versions of those players and it should all work out fine.

There are a handful of decent "Righty" prospects that might be available with the Islanders' 1st, and maybe beyond. IMO they need to try to get a couple of these guys if they pick Hughes, and should consider one of them even if they pick Clarke.

Ranking numbers are from Steve's May Top 64
20. Corson Ceulemans
21. Aleksi Heimosalmi (Ham & Salami)
29. Jack Bar
34. Logan Mailloux
38. Vincent Iorio
41. Scott Morrow (No relation to Ken)
49. Ty Gallagher (A two Ty pairing?)

 

[My3Sons]

There are a handful of decent "Righty" prospects that might be available with the Islanders' 1st, and maybe beyond. IMO they need to try to get a couple of these guys if they pick Hughes, and should consider one of them even if they pick Clarke.

Ranking numbers are from Steve's May Top 64
20. Corson Ceulemans
21. Aleksi Heimosalmi (Ham & Salami)
29. Jack Bar
34. Logan Mailloux
38. Vincent Iorio
41. Scott Morrow (No relation to Ken)
49. Ty Gallagher (A two Ty pairing?)

Are any of those guys big mobile and good at defending with some physical edge to their game? Isn’t Morrow soft? Ceulmans is an offensive guy which isn’t bad but if Ty and Luke are both lefties I’d want a stable and somewhat physical righty playing with both.

 

[beekay414]

Are any of those guys big mobile and good at defending with some physical edge to their game? Isn’t Morrow soft? Ceulmans is an offensive guy which isn’t bad but if Ty and Luke are both lefties I’d want a stable and somewhat physical righty playing with both.

I really like Iorio but I'm not taking him with the Isles 1st round pick nor do I expect him to be there at the Isles 2nd round pick.

 

[nugg]

Are any of those guys big mobile and good at defending with some physical edge to their game? Isn’t Morrow soft? Ceulmans is an offensive guy which isn’t bad but if Ty and Luke are both lefties I’d want a stable and somewhat physical righty playing with both.

Heimosalmi is a "cerebral defenseman is excellent defensively despite being slim and 5’11, automatic in his slick transition game and regularly dissects defenses in the offensive zone."

Jack Bar is 6'2, and a "super heady shut-down defender with size, strength and very good 4-way mobility also shows skill with the puck; a high-floor, all-situations guy for your NHL second pairing."

Logan Mailloux is "a 6’3-215 defender who skates extremely well and shows high offensive proclivity, Mailloux might have been on every first-round ranking had the pandemic not cancelled his season at London of the OHL and limited to 15 games all year in a minor European circuit." (Not sure how his defending is. Though Steve probably spoke upon it in an earlier post).

Vincent Iorio is "a very good skater at 6’3-200 who has improved exponentially in recent years, Iorio is already an impact player defensively and has offensive upside for an NHL 2PP.

Ty Gallagher, 6'0 190, is "a rock-steady presence in the defensive zone."

There could be some sleepers Steve hasn't mentioned yet. (The quotes are his comments)

 

[nugg]

I really like Iorio but I'm not taking him with the Isles 1st round pick nor do I expect him to be there at the Isles 2nd round pick.

Yeah, it's too bad we don't have our own 2nd, thanks to the Gusev mistake.

 

[My3Sons]

Heimosalmi is a "cerebral defenseman is excellent defensively despite being slim and 5’11, automatic in his slick transition game and regularly dissects defenses in the offensive zone."

Jack Bar is 6'2, and a "super heady shut-down defender with size, strength and very good 4-way mobility also shows skill with the puck; a high-floor, all-situations guy for your NHL second pairing."

Logan Mailloux is "a 6’3-215 defender who skates extremely well and shows high offensive proclivity, Mailloux might have been on every first-round ranking had the pandemic not cancelled his season at London of the OHL and limited to 15 games all year in a minor European circuit." (Not sure how his defending is. Though Steve probably spoke upon it in an earlier post).

Vincent Iorio is "a very good skater at 6’3-200 who has improved exponentially in recent years, Iorio is already an impact player defensively and has offensive upside for an NHL 2PP.

Ty Gallagher, 6'0 190, is "a rock-steady presence in the defensive zone."

There could be some sleepers Steve hasn't mentioned yet. (The quotes are his comments)

So maybe you trade down from the NYI pick and try to grab two of those guys in the second round? Definitely some good sounding prospects

 

[aboriginal]

I’d rather find a team who needs prospects yesterday and try and offer up a prospect for a 2nd they could use right away that might not fit into our plans. I’m only willing to move that isles 1st in a package for a good player. But I mean that’s just me.

 

[Unknown Caller]

I’d rather find a team who needs prospects yesterday and try and offer up a prospect for a 2nd they could use right away that might not fit into our plans. I’m only willing to move that isles 1st in a package for a good player. But I mean that’s just me.

Agreed. I'm either moving the Isles 1st in a package for a player who is on the NHL roster this season or I sit and make the pick. I have no interest in moving down for a few 2nd rounders who have less than a 25% chance of being full time NHLers, and wouldn't show up for 4-5 years in the event they even panned out.

All of these guys have a few sentences that look enticing, but the reality is that we've been waiting around forever at this point and most of these prospects after the first round don't pan out anyway.

 

[StevenToddIves]

You’re cheating a little with the Reinhart picks. Oilers gave up the 16th pick, which turned into Barzal, and the 33rd pick, which turned into Mitchell Stephens. Garth Snow, pick trade enthusiast, then flipped the 33rd with an extra 3rd (72nd) to Tampa for 28th to get Beauvillier. It worked out ok for Tampa who got Cirelli with the 72nd pick.

I’m not sure what “anti-Griffen Reinhart” route means here. Chia said that they insider info on Reinhart because they had special insights on the player and that they knew he developing better than people might have thought. It was not a popular move.

It wasn’t secret that Reinhart looked meh at best in his rookie season in the AHL (and also didn’t produce in juniors post-draft). The Oil weren’t weirdly high on Reinhart because he was a “local hero” though, it was because Bob Green, the Oilers’ Director of Player Personnel, had been the GM of the Edmonton Oil Kings, Reinhart’s former team, until 2012-13. Green’s enthusiasm for his former player, who he didn’t really see after his D+1 year and who didn’t scout in the AHL, provided the “special insights”. Stuff like “he’s a winner”.

That trade looks worse when you realize they had Klefbom and Nurse (Martin Marincin and Jordan Oesterle, who were also in the Oil line-up) on the left side already so LHD wasn’t remotely their biggest need. That’s the most similar thing to the Luke situation but all four of those LHD had already played NHL, and several had arguably passed Reinhart as prospects, and Reinhart in contrast kind of sucked by then.

And the cherry on top was Calgary got Dougie Hamilton for the 15th, 45th and 52nd picks on the same day.

I’d argue Talbot trade was pretty good (or at least ok) though considering how dire the Oilers’ need for a goalie was even if his last season there was sketchy. The Edmonton’s recent history of goaltending is nightmarish and Talbot’s playoff season in 2016-17 is definitely a highlight. Talbot came in fourth in Vezina voting that season, with 17 votes, which monster season for the ages for a Oiler goalie these days. There hasn’t been much post-lockout in goal other then Talbot’s big season, Smith this year and then it’s Roloson’s and Dubnyk’s best seasons.

That's a fantastic assessment. Man, you are aces at all things research-related.

P.S.
"Anti-Griffin Reinhart" means that, instead of acquiring someone who is bad at hockey, you acquire someone who is good at hockey, haha.

 

[StevenToddIves]

@StevenToddIves based on list here, give us an example of either a kid playing or just about to make a team's big club that you would trade our Isles 1st? And to sweeten the deal if it needed an add. For instance and just pulling names out of a hat here; Kiefer Bellows to NJ for their pick back. Stuff like that, anything come to mind?

I do not make the Bellows deal. I also think teams will be less apt to trade young talent they control in an expansion year when they are all losing NHL talent for nothing. There are young players I would be willing to take a chance on for lower cost -- like I would certainly try to pick the corpse of the Buffalo Sabres and offer a 4th round pick for Casey Mittelstadt.

The teams most likely to trade a young talent for a first round pick are sensibly the teams with no first round pick. These teams this year are the Islanders, the Maple Leafs, Arizona, Tampa, Washington and Pittsburgh.

I don't see anyone in the Islanders organization I would want as much as that pick. With Toronto -- they're not trading Amirov or Robertson, and I think Sandin is a bit overvalued. But I would consider something for, say, Niemela + a 2nd rounder for that Isles pick. Arizona -- I would do the deal for Soderstrom, but Arizona might want a bit more thrown in which would make me balk. Pittsburgh doesn't really have anyone worth the pick. Tampa -- I would be more interested in their NHL talent, especially with their tight cap situation. I'd love to get Cirelli in as the Devils 3C, for instance.

Washington might be an interesting fit, since Hendrix Lapierre is a long-time teammate of the Devils current top prospect Dawson Mercer. Lapierre for that #20 pick would be a very interesting possibility.

 

[StevenToddIves]

They wouldn't have interest in that pick unless it was part of a bigger deal, but a guy that I think would be a really good fit for us that is that range is Jett Woo. I'm not sure what it takes, but I'd kick tires to see how we could acquire him

I'm a huge fan of Woo -- I have been since his draft year. Very underrated kid, RD, physical, great defensively, good with the puck. I don't know if I'd trade a first for him, but I'd gladly make an offer of, say, Reilly Walsh or Jesper Boqvist for Woo, straight up.

 

[StevenToddIves]

If NJ picks Hughes I think the next step is to find some defense first right shot defenders similar to the guys they have stacking up on the left in Ok Vuk Muk and Bahl. Get some right handed versions of those players and it should all work out fine.

I think if the Devils draft Hughes, they know they need RDs and will spend at least 3 picks in the #20 thru 5th round range on the position. I would not be shocked if the Devils first three picks wound up being something like LD Hughes/RD Ceulemans/RD Mailloux or LD Hughes/RD Heimosalmi/ RD Bar or something to that effect.

 

[beekay414]

I think if the Devils draft Hughes, they know they need RDs and will spend at least 3 picks in the #20 thru 5th round range on the position. I would not be shocked if the Devils first three picks wound up being something like LD Hughes/RD Ceulemans/RD Mailloux or LD Hughes/RD Heimosalmi/ RD Bar or something to that effect.

LD Hughes/RD Ceulemans/RD Iorio would be a massive home run IMO.

 

[StevenToddIves]

There are a handful of decent "Righty" prospects that might be available with the Islanders' 1st, and maybe beyond. IMO they need to try to get a couple of these guys if they pick Hughes, and should consider one of them even if they pick Clarke.

Ranking numbers are from Steve's May Top 64
20. Corson Ceulemans
21. Aleksi Heimosalmi (Ham & Salami)
29. Jack Bar
34. Logan Mailloux
38. Vincent Iorio
41. Scott Morrow (No relation to Ken)
49. Ty Gallagher (A two Ty pairing?)

Ceulemans is "the upside guy" here. He's just possessing huge potential with his mix of size/speed/puck skills, but he needs a lot of refinement still in his game. Heimosalmi really impressed me -- and pretty much everyone else on the planet -- with an outstanding U-18 tourney. He's just so smart and good with the puck, but he lacks the high end skating/size combo which gives NHL scouts a magnetic pull towards defensemen. Morrow is a very likely first-round pick for the same reasons that Ceulemans is, but he's even more raw and there's a lot of projection and finger-crossing involved.

I feel at least one of Bar/Mailloux/Iorio will be available with the Devils second round pick, and I'd love to get one of them regardless of whom the Devils draft in the first round. Gallagher is a guy who can fall to the 3rd or even 4th round, where he would be a big-time steal.

 

[StevenToddIves]

Are any of those guys big mobile and good at defending with some physical edge to their game? Isn’t Morrow soft? Ceulmans is an offensive guy which isn’t bad but if Ty and Luke are both lefties I’d want a stable and somewhat physical righty playing with both.

Mailloux/Bar/Iorio are all big, mobile defense-first guys who also have intriguing puck skills and could be very good mid-pairing RD.

Iorio has markedly improved for the Brandon Wheat Kings in the past two years, and was really hurt in terms of exposure by losing most of the 2020-21 WHL season. In a full schedule, he was on pace for a 15 goal/40+ point season, while being the shut-down guy on the back end for his team. He's 6'3-195 and has improved his skating to the point where it can be considered an asset. He's really smart with the puck and solid defensively, but what I really like about him is his high development curve over the past two years. When he first joined Brandon in 2018-19 I thought of him as a intriguing guy, who could maybe be a late round pick one day if he put it all together and improved his skating. Two years later, his skating has exponentially improved, his game and confidence have followed suit, and I think he's a very good pick for the second round.

Mailloux is extremely intriguing -- he is both bigger (6'3-215) and faster than Iorio, with a better shot and I would say higher offensive upside. He's got a nastier streak than Iorio and he's capable of flashy moves and plays with the puck. However, Mailloux is prone to mistakes which Iorio does not make and turnovers which Iorio does not make. I'd say with coaching and development, Mailloux's upside is pretty high -- maybe even first-round caliber. But you're taking that with the knowledge that right now, he is not as good as Iorio or Bar.

Speaking of Jack Bar, I just love the kid. He's good at everything, and plays in any situation. You just stick him out there and don't worry for a thing. He skates well, passes well, shoots well, defends well, competes well, thinks the game well, you name it. PP or PK, protecting a lead or coming back, you put him out there and he performs. He's 6'3-190 and the classic jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none. I see him ideally as the perfect second pairing RD compliment to whatever type of guy you have on LD.

Scott Morrow is a very, very difficult player to project. He's going to go early -- 6'2-200 RD with near-elite skating and high-end puck skills are just very rare and very coveted by NHL front offices. But without tearing apart the nuances, let's just say he's a frustrating kid to watch because his compete level and defensive play are just so inconsistent he almost seems apathetic sometimes. When he has the puck? Damn, he's good. When he does not? Damn, he's not good. Maybe this is simply because he's playing below-level in the USHS, but you like to see a kid in his draft-eligible season improve the aspects of his game which keep him from being an automatic first-round pick, and it's tough to argue Morrow has done so. I would not say Morrow is soft, per se, but I do want to see more consistent compete out of him.

 

[Smitty426]

I do not make the Bellows deal. I also think teams will be less apt to trade young talent they control in an expansion year when they are all losing NHL talent for nothing. There are young players I would be willing to take a chance on for lower cost -- like I would certainly try to pick the corpse of the Buffalo Sabres and offer a 4th round pick for Casey Mittelstadt.

The teams most likely to trade a young talent for a first round pick are sensibly the teams with no first round pick. These teams this year are the Islanders, the Maple Leafs, Arizona, Tampa, Washington and Pittsburgh.

I don't see anyone in the Islanders organization I would want as much as that pick. With Toronto -- they're not trading Amirov or Robertson, and I think Sandin is a bit overvalued. But I would consider something for, say, Niemela + a 2nd rounder for that Isles pick. Arizona -- I would do the deal for Soderstrom, but Arizona might want a bit more thrown in which would make me balk. Pittsburgh doesn't really have anyone worth the pick. Tampa -- I would be more interested in their NHL talent, especially with their tight cap situation. I'd love to get Cirelli in as the Devils 3C, for instance.

Washington might be an interesting fit, since Hendrix Lapierre is a long-time teammate of the Devils current top prospect Dawson Mercer. Lapierre for that #20 pick would be a very interesting possibility.

Thx for your insight

 

[Smitty426]

I'm a huge fan of Woo -- I have been since his draft year. Very underrated kid, RD, physical, great defensively, good with the puck. I don't know if I'd trade a first for him, but I'd gladly make an offer of, say, Reilly Walsh or Jesper Boqvist for Woo, straight up.

Would you take a Loui Ericsson or similar contract for Woo?