Agreed, but if you look at the top teams in the league, they all have some physical, strong guys on the blueline. Tampa has Hedman, Coburn, Cernak and Sergachev -- all 6'3 or bigger. Winnipeg has Byfuglien, Myers, Chiarot and Trouba -- all 6'3 or bigger. Calgary has Hamonic, Hanifin and Giordano. Washington has Carlson and Orpik. Those are your four first-place teams.
The Devils most physical D is Steve Santini, who is at best a 5/6 D. Sami Vatanen is the team's best D and he's under 6'0. The biggest D on the team is Mirco Mueller and he is not remotely physical. Andy Greene and Will Butcher are both also under 6'0. The fact is simply that the Devils D is small, not physical, and gets pushed around regularly by teams with physical forwards.
I do not believe in building a blueline out of 6 Gudbransons. But I also don't believe in building a blueline out of 6 Gostisbeheres. Neither team would make the playoffs. A successful NHL franchise needs a blend of different types of players. Since the Devils lack an all purpose stud D like Doughty or Byfuglien, they need guys who can play a physical, shut-down role and guys who can play an offensive, puck-moving role. Ty Smith will soon emerge as the offensive guy, but who is shutting down the opposition? Who is the physical factor to neutralize opposing power forwards in the crease and along the boards?
With 7 picks in the top 100 of the 2019 draft, all I'm saying is that the Devils need to address this organizational weakness. It does not have to be with the #3 pick or the #34 pick, but there are several players who could fill that need available later on. Whether it's McCarthy, Korczak, Tuomisto or Lee -- the Devils need a physical, shut-down D in the pipeline.