IIRC, Sandin was named the top defensemen at the WJC-20. He's a high IQ Dmen, very good at moving the puck and takes good position. Offensive very solid, but I would say defensively, he should be paired with more of a defensive dmen. I would almost say he's like Ty Smith, not as strong a skater, but higher IQ. I would say he will be a top 4 Dmen, with the ceiling being a #2D, but more likely ending up as a #3D.
Got it, he's probably not a great fit as Smith is a LD, Mukhamadullin is a LD, and they have a bunch more LD in minors, but badly need RD. NJ would probably prefer RD or wings.
Hmm... I don't know Miles Wood that well, but people on the Leafs board has popped up a few times. Given that he's not good defensively is a bit concerning. Can you comment on McLeod, Kuokkanen, Maltsev, and Sharangovich in terms how you'd ranked them to each other and Wood in terms of value and if they are good defensively? Maybe one of them can be swapped with Wood.
Wood is a guy that comes up in trade proposals a lot because he plays a high energy game and tends to make an impression on opposing team's fans. As recently as last year he was underperforming his (rather modest) contract and some Devils fans even wanted to buy him out. His game matured significantly this year, but his defensive impacts are still poor. I have hope that that part of his game will mature too. If it does, he will become a very valuable physical two-way forward.
All of the young forwards you listed are significantly better defensively than Wood. It's a little tricky to rank them against Wood because they're so new while Wood has been in the league for four and a half years. I would personally rank them like this.
1. Maltsev
2. Kuokkanen
3. Sharangovich
4. McLeod
Maltsev has been arguably the Devils best forward when he's played this year. It's a little shocking, he was supposed to be a depth piece, but he's tilted the ice whichever line he's been put on, he's very solid defensively, and he even seems to drive play. His 4 goals in 13 games don't look that impressive, but keep in mind that for the most part his linemates are all playing like turds. Look at his +/- of +3. That's on a team that's been brutally bad since he was called up. I know what a dubious stat that is, but his Corsi, xG, and all the fancy stats are, again, almost shockingly good, like top-six type numbers. The obvious caveat is that we're talking about a miniscule sample size. 13 NHL games. Search his name on Twitter and you will see some of the rave reviews he's gotten, and Lindy Ruff has called him out over and over again in post game press conferences. It would be tough to pry Maltsev out of NJ.
Kuokkanen has been almost as good as Maltsev at times. Just not quite as consistent and the peaks aren't quite as high. He has also flown under the radar for most of the season, but he's had a small contingent of fans that supported him and have grown more vocal, and at this point most of the Devils board agrees that he's been quite good, among the Devils's best forwards this year. Similar to Maltsev, we're talking about a small sample size. NJ might be willing to move Kuokkonen for the right price.
Sharangovich is an interesting one. Unlike Maltsev and Kuokkonen, he's just shown flashes this season. If you're not familiar with his story, he was relatively obscure before this season, but then broke out in the KHL scoring 17 goals in 34 games (based in part on an unsustainable shooting percentage, but even if you adjust his totals down to assume a more reasonable %, it was still a good season). He came over and looked fantastic in camp, NJ fans thought he would prove a steal and maybe even challenge for the Calder, but it just didn't work out that way. After a strong start he stopped generating much offense, although it comes back in flashes. There's no denying the tools, a 6'2 guy with great speed and a tremendous wrist shot, but he still needs some polish. I personally don't think most teams really want to trade for a guy like Sharangovich, I think most teams have their own guys that have good upside but also could fail to stick in the league.
McLeod is probably the most familiar to other teams fans because of his draft position (#12 in 2016). He's not really anywhere near as good as you would expect a #12 to be. He could still improve, guys his age (23) do that sometimes, but he probably is what he is at this point, a 4th line energy guy that plays decent defense and kills penalties. He is pretty consistent with the effort, and I could see a playoff team wanting him to improve the 4th line or as depth, but he can't play up the lineup or anything like that. There may still be some Devils fans that think McLeod is valuable, but I think they're wrong.
As far as Wood is concerned, I probably put him beneath Sharangovich and above McLeod. Shara doesn't have the defensive issues that Wood does, but Wood offsets the defensive issues with enough scoring to put him ahead of McLeod.