Prospect Info: 2020 Devils-Centric Final Mock Draft, Rounds 1 & 2

[StevenToddIves]

I know, I know. Tampa Bay has not won yet. But I wanted to be the first dude to put out my final mock so that I could accuse the rest of the draft-writers on earth of plagiarizing me when they make the revolutionary decision of listing Lafreniere as their top overall pick.

The Devils lack a second round pick, but I went there anyway because it's fun. Maybe the Devils will get John Hynes to offer Nashville's second-rounder for Kevin Rooney and the Devils can grab my favorite player in the draft, Tristen Robins. I mean I doubt it, but without dreams what do we really have left?

Please, keep in mind that this is a mock draft and not a ranking. My Top 100 Rankings can be found on these threads, as well. For the mock, I take all 31 organizational needs and draft tendencies into consideration. Personally, there is no way on earth I would personally let talents like Miettinen and Vierling drop out of the top 2 rounds of the draft, just as there is no way on earth I would take Nybeck as high as the third round, much less the second. So, this is essentially my subjective rendering of my objective observations, if you catch my drift.

The Team	The Player	The Skinny
1) New York Rangers	LW Alex Lafreniere	Superstar market gets superstar player
2) Los Angeles	C Quinton Byfield	Stocked prospect pool overflows with the unfathomable upside of this 6’5, blazingly fast scoring machine
3) Ottawa	C/LW Tim Stutzle	Best combination of skating, hands and vision in the draft
4) Detroit	LD Jake Sanderson	Wings need D and Sanderson is a rare two-way talent who compares favorably to Heiskanen at the same age
5) Ottawa	RD Jamie Drysdale	Ottawa usually does not draft undersized D, but Drysdale is an electrifying offensive talent who can transform a blueline
6) Anaheim	RW Alexander Holtz	If they miss out on the D they covet, the Ducks also need goal-scoring at RW and Holtz possesses the best shot in the entire 2020 class
7) NEW JERSEY DEVILS	C Marco Rossi	Rossi is the best two-way center in the 2020 draft. His compete level and hockey IQ are as elite as it gets and his offensive skills are simply dazzling
8) Buffalo	LW/RW Lucas Raymond	Sabres need wingers to compliment Eichel and Raymond is like a Gaudreau/Marner hybrid with incredible mix of skates/vision/skills
9) Minnesota	C Anton Lundell	Wild have desperate need for top pivot and Lundell is a big body with NHL-ready two-way acumen and incredible intelligence
10) Winnipeg	LW/C Cole Perfetti	Lack of elite skating mixed with lack of size drops Perfetti, but an absurd combo of skills/shot/hockey IQ give him stratospheric offensive potential
11) Nashville	G Yaroslav Askarov	The Predators have nothing in net in the organization and Askarov has dominated the KHL as a teenager; called the best goalie prospect since Carey Price
12) Florida	RW Jack Quinn	Maybe the draft’s best sniper after Holtz and a superior all-around game; Panthers need D but can’t pass on Quinn if he falls out of the top 10
13) Carolina	RW/C Seth Jarvis	No winger in the 2020 draft offers a better mix of skill and compete level, Jarvis could even sneak into top 10; Carolina has drafted very well recently and would not miss on Jarvis
14) Edmonton	RW Jacob Perreault	GM Ken Holland has infused the Oilers with speed to surround legendary C duo McDavid and Draisaitl; Perreault offers the best combination of skating/shooting/vision of the entire 2020 draft but comes with a litany of questions which drop him out of the top dozen
15) Toronto	RD Helge Grans	Leafs under GM Kyle Dubas have different scouting agenda than most of NHL and will be willing to overlook Grans’ defensive liability for his enormous offensive upside
16) Montreal	LW Rodion Amirov	Habs seek scoring wingers and Amirov combines absurd skill, tremendous shot and terrific 200-foot effort
17) Chicago	RD Braden Schneider	Best shut-down RD in draft is big, skates very well, and is a physical force on the blueline. Hawks desperately need all of these things.
18) NEW JERSEY DEVILS	RW/C Dawson Mercer	The Devils continue to load up with skilled forwards with high hockey IQs and tremendous all-around games; Mercer is a dual-threat, fearless forechecker and also features some of the best hands in a gifted 2020 class
19) Calgary	LD Kaiden Guhle	The Flames need to inject some youth and talent into an aging D-core, Guhle is big, fast, physical and can bomb the puck from the point
20) NEW JERSEY DEVILS	RW Noel Gunler	NJ shoots for the moon with an incredible scoring talent in Gunler; compete questions dog him but this is a 40+ goal talent if he puts it all together
21) Columbus	LW Dylan Holloway	Best power forward in the 2020 class oozes qualities which Blue Jackets’ coach John Tortorella covets more than anyone
22) NY Rangers	C Hendrix Lapierre	After winning the lottery, Rangers can afford to roll the dice on Lapierre’s enormous abilities but injury-riddled past. Lafreniere is the best playmaker in the 2020 draft, but Lapierre is likely next in line.
23) Philadelphia	LW/C Ridly Greig	No team values compete level more than the Flyers, and no 2020 draftee offers more than the sneaky-skilled Greig
24) Colorado	C/LW Connor Zary	The rich get richer with this extremely skilled, two-way Swiss-army knife with nothing resembling a flaw in his polished and productive game
25) Washington	LW/RW Lukas Reichel	Another do-it-all forward with no weakness, Reichel also offers an absurd mix of hockey IQ/compete level to compliment his under appreciated scoring skills
26) St. Louis	LD Ryan O’Rourke	Whether or not the Blues lose best player Pietrangelo, they need new blood on D and O’Rourke is a high-floor, two-way stud who oozes character
27) Anaheim	RD Justin Barron	If Ducks miss out on Drysdale/Sanderson, expect them to focus on D for remainder of draft. Barron is coming off rough year but has the mix of speed/size and skill Anaheim loves to draft for the blueline
28) Ottawa	RW Tyson Foerster	Senators could jump to the top of NHL prospect rankings after 2020; Foerster’s shot ranks just below Holtz/Quinn/Perreault/Gunler but he needs to improve skating
29) Las Vegas	LD Tyler Kleven	6’4 shut-down monster skates extremely well and has more skill than often mentioned, a cannon-blast from the point
30) Dallas	LW/C Jan Mysak	The best Czech in the draft is a bit of a wild card, could sneak into the top 15 or fall into the 2nd round.
31) San Jose	LW JJ Peterka	No one drafts out of central Europe more than San Jose; Peterka is a pure scorer with some of the best hands you’ll see
32) Detroit	C Marat Khusnutdinov	An Yzerman pick if there ever was one, Khusnutdinov would be mentioned in top 12 were he not 5’9 — offering an insane mix of skill, two-way acuity, speed and compete level
33) Ottawa	LW Jake Neighbours	Power forwards this rugged and competitive don’t often come with Neighbours’ high-end vision
34) San Jose	RW/C Mavrik Bourque	Bourque features a litany of shots which can all beat you from anywhere, just needs to improve skating and 200-foot game
35) Los Angeles	RW Ozzy Wiesblatt	Perhaps the best forechecker in the draft, Wiesblatt’s motor never quits and he possesses the requisite scoring skills to compliment a top NHL scoring line
36) Anaheim	LD William Wallinder	Desperate for D, Ducks take a chance on Wallinder’s historic combo of size and blazing speed despite his lack of discernible hockey acumen
37) Nashville	RW Sam Colangelo	Longtime GM David Poile loves big, skilled power forwards like the raw but extremely talented Chicago Steel product
38) Buffalo	C Ty Smilanic	Production has yet to reach the skill-set for this blazing skater with size and terrific skill
39) Minnesota	LD Yan Kuznetsov	Wild need pretty much everything; Kuznetsov shined as a physical shut-down D for the University of Connecticut against much older competition
40) Winnipeg	C Tristen Robins	The Jets draft extremely well and love WHL kids; outside of Jarvis the best draft-eligible out of the league over the last few months of 2019-20 was the ridiculously skilled and competitive Robins. Maybe the most under-rated player in the entire draft, Robins lacks only for size
41) Carolina	LW/C Brendan Brisson	Perhaps the up and coming team in the entire Eastern Conference, the Hurricanes add the incredible offensive skill of this sublime Chicago Steel product
42) Nashville	LW Daniel Torgersson	6’3 forward with great skates who plays a competitive and responsible two-way game? Yes, please
43) Florida	LD Jeremie Poirier	Maybe the wild card of all 2020 D, the electrifying Poirier is the best offensive defenseman available aside from Drysdale but his play in his own zone has been duly lambasted by critics
44) Toronto	LW/RW Zion Nybeck	The young Swede’s skill is first-round caliber, but his skating needs a ton of work and his overall effort level and decision-making need even more work than that
45) Detroit	RW/C Luke Evangelista	Another player with Yzerman written all over him, Evangelista has one of the highest IQs in the entire 2020 class and combines that with underrated offensive skills and a huge compete level
46) Chicago	G Jan Bednar	The Hawks are needy between the pipes and the young Czech netminder is widely considered the best G available after Askarov
47) Montreal	RW/C Jean-Luc Foudy	Foudy might be the fastest straight-line skater in the 2020 class and combines that with high-end playmaking
48) Montreal	RD William Villeneuve	Villeneuve mixes all the size and tools NHL front offices covet in defensemen and has proven extremely productive in the QMJHL
49) Calgary	RW Martin Chromiak	The Flames shoot for the moon with the best Slovak in the draft; Chromiak has elite shooting ability but just needs to improve his game around it
50) Los Angeles	LD Shakir Mukhamadullin	With an absolutely loaded prospect pool, the Kings can afford to take a chance on the immense talents and huge shot of this huge but raw rearguard
51) Ottawa	LD Joni Jurmo	With an absolutely loaded prospect pool, the Senators can afford to take a chance on the immense talents and swift skating of this huge but raw rearguard
52) Carolina	C Vasily Ponomarev	A do-it-all center with outstanding playmaking ability and a high floor as a middle-6 stalwart
53) Philadelphia	RD Topi Niemela	Best Finnish D in draft can fly and rush the puck, can be a steal with some refining and filling out in the weight room
54) San Jose	RD Ian Moore	6’2 right-shot defensemen with this type of high-end skating and offensive instincts do not make it out of the 2nd round of the NHL draft
55) Detroit	RW Dmitry Rashevsky	The mystery of the 2020 class, Rashevsky is an overeager who was invisible in his first draft-eligible season of 2018-19 and exploded on the scene in his draft+1 campaign with an otherworldly mix of hands, playmaking and shooting which eclipses most top 10 overall picks; could be a guy we never hear of again or could be one of history’s great draft-day steals
56) Montreal	LD Donovan Sebrango	All-around excellence is the best way to describe this unheralded, future mid-pairing stud
57) Boston	RD Brock Faber	Boston did it before with a second-round steal of a disgustingly under-rated USA D with Carlo; Faber is perhaps the best shut-down D in the class behind only Sanderson and Schneider and could be 2020’s version of Jake Slavin
58) Ottawa	LW Will Cuylle	I feel like Ottawa picks every three picks or something. Whatever, Cuylle is a big, power forward with a whole lot of mean, which the Seanators’ front office loves to see
59) Los Angeles	C/LW Thomas Bordeleau	Bordeleau has a ridiculous shot and tremendous skill, but his smallish stature and questions concerning his 200-foot game drop him into major sleeper status
60) Ottawa	RW Brendan Coe	I feel like Ottawa picks every three picks or something. Whatever, Coe is a big, power forward with a whole lot of speed, which the Senators front office loves to see
61) Tampa Bay	C Jack Finley	6’5 centers with mobile skating and high IQ/compete levels do not last very long on Day 2 of the NHL Draft, even if some question their scoring upside

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

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[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

not that I think this personally, but there are some posters who will lose their minds if we don't pick a DMan in the 1st round

 

[StevenToddIves]

not that I think this personally, but there are some posters who will lose their minds if we don't pick a DMan in the 1st round

I've already lost my mind and I went for three forwards. Wait, is that contradictory or did I just agree with you?

 

[longislanddevil]

If we land either Drysdale or Rossi with the 7th pick, I will be absolutely thrilled.

 

[StevenToddIves]

If we land either Drysdale or Rossi with the 7th pick, I will be absolutely thrilled.

Many of us would be thrilled by Drysdale or Rossi!

Unfortunately, I do not see Drysdale (or Sanderson) as remaining available at #7. My choice came down to Rossi or Raymond, two unbelievably outstanding forward prospects. I went with Rossi based on the Devils familiarity with him -- both with the Ottawa 67s organization and Rossi's friendship with Nico Hischier, whom in many ways he compares to as a player.

 

[MartyOwns]

i’d be relatively pleased to walk away from the draft with those 3 players, but can’t see the devils passing on holloway for gunler. in my opinion, when it comes to first round selections, there can’t be any question marks, especially on character/effort/compete level.

awesome list as always!

 

[Tao Jersey Jones]

You made another G pick. Way to get out of your comfort zone.

McKenzie has him the highest at 71 and FC has him lowest at 155.

Larry Fisher puts Bednar at the top of his third tier with Calle Clang, Dylan Garand, Samuel Hlavaj,
and Amir Miftakhov in the 125-129 range and with Joel Blomqvist (81), Drew Commesso (84), Nick Malik (91)
and Nico Daws (92) in a tier above them.

And has Askarov at 10 to Winnipeg.

 

[BxDevilsFan]

Great job Steve as always. I would take Holloway instead of Gunler but that's me. What do you guys think about these reports that have the Devils possibly taking Askarov at 7. I believe this is a smoke screen on the Devils part to potentially trade down. I would not take him at 7 (although I'm not opposed to drafting him w/ 18 or 20 if he some how slides)

 

[Monsieur Verdoux]

Rossi, Mercer and Gunler would be a great result.

 

[Hischier and Hughes]

I would personally take Perfetti over Rossi - a natural winger who slows the game down and has a nice shot on top of it would fit better IMO

Edit: also Rossi’s skating isn’t high-level and, while neither is Perfetti’s, you lose some of Marco’s natural ability and style transferring him to win whereas you dont get that with Cole

Nico and Jack are the 1-2 punch for at least the next seven years. A guy like Perfetti who processes the game more closely to Jack’s playstyle could rack up points more easily IMO. A marner-like player but with worse skating and a better shot.

 

[Forge]

not that I think this personally, but there are some posters who will lose their minds if we don't pick a DMan in the 1st round

If we don't get Sanderson or Drysdale at 7, I'd prefer to punt defense in the first round, look to the middle rounds

 

[beekay414]

If we don't get Sanderson or Drysdale at 7, I'd prefer to punt defense in the first round, look to the middle rounds

This. Don't reach for a dman and take advantage of the absolutely amazing scoring winger depth. I can live with Rossi, Mercer and Gunler but I just cannot live with Greig in a Flyers sweater. That would make my heart hurt.

 

[Guttersniped]

not that I think this personally, but there are some posters who will lose their minds if we don't pick a DMan in the 1st round

Sure, you shouldn’t force it if better players are available and I would only trade down for multiple picks if a desperate team gave us a favorable swap. In fact I don’t necessarily want a “we need to grab to dutifully draft a defensemen like good little boys” move even if we get a forward at 7OA but who knows who’s available later and what rankings the team scouts have.

That said I will have to struggle quite a bit to bury my unhappiness if we don’t scrounge up a 2nd somewhere and, after having been real bad, we somehow end up only having drafted two defensemen, Smith (#17) and Okhotyuk (#61), in the first two rounds in six years. I don’t even know how that’s possible. (And 61 is the second to last pick in the 2nd round btw.)

 

[Blackjack]

Sure, you shouldn’t force it if better players are available and I would only trade down for multiple picks if a desperate team gave us a favorable swap. In fact I don’t necessarily want a “we need to grab to dutifully draft a defensemen like good little boys” move even if we get a forward at 7OA but who knows who’s available later and what rankings the team scouts have.

That said I will have to struggle quite a bit to bury my unhappiness if we don’t scrounge up a 2nd somewhere and, after having been real bad, we somehow end up only having drafted two defensemen, Smith (#17) and Okhotyuk (#61), in the first two rounds in six years. I don’t even know how that’s possible. (And 61 is the second to last pick in the 2nd round btw.)

I don't even consider Okhotyuk to be a 2nd round prospect as not only was he drafted at the end of the round, he was also considered a reach in that spot. Unfortunately, you can't draw blood from a stone and using our late 1sts on defensemen that don't have great upside would be a mistake to me. Another thing to consider is that even if we get back into the 2nd round somehow, the dearth of defensemen in this draft likely means teams will be reaching for them, and the value of picking defensemen even in the second round might not be great. Next year is supposed to have a really good group of defensemen. Let's be patient.

 

[beekay414]

@Forge I'm warming up to Seth Jarvis at #7

 

[R8Devs]

Fitz's thoughts on the top players:
“They all intrigue me,” Fitzgerald said. "They’re all different. Raymond and Holtz, different. Rossi, different. Perfetti, different. Drysdale and Sanderson, different. They’re all just different players.

"Rossi’s 5-10, but 185 pounds. He’s all bottom. That’s a strong bottom. That’s unique in players. Sanderson … is he going to drive numbers? I don’t think so, but he’s going to play 25-plus minutes a night when he’s at his peak. Drysdale moves pucks extremely well. He’s an undersized defenseman, but he’s a right shot.

"Raymond, look at what he’s doing now in the (Sweden’s top) league. When he gets stronger, what’s he going to look like? He’s more of an East to West magician type of winger than Holtz.

“Cole Perfetti, he’s probably the smartest player in the draft. He’s not the fastest or biggest guy, but he’s smart and skilled. That’s the hard thing about scouting. But we’re getting a really good player at seven.”


NHL Draft 2020: Devils zero in on 12 prospects for 3 1st-rounders, but talking trade

Not saying much but it's something lol

 

[Forge]

@Forge I'm warming up to Seth Jarvis at #7

 

[beekay414]

Fitz's thoughts on the top players:
“They all intrigue me,” Fitzgerald said. "They’re all different. Raymond and Holtz, different. Rossi, different. Perfetti, different. Drysdale and Sanderson, different. They’re all just different players.

"Rossi’s 5-10, but 185 pounds. He’s all bottom. That’s a strong bottom. That’s unique in players. Sanderson … is he going to drive numbers? I don’t think so, but he’s going to play 25-plus minutes a night when he’s at his peak. Drysdale moves pucks extremely well. He’s an undersized defenseman, but he’s a right shot.

"Raymond, look at what he’s doing now in the (Sweden’s top) league. When he gets stronger, what’s he going to look like? He’s more of an East to West magician type of winger than Holtz.

“Cole Perfetti, he’s probably the smartest player in the draft. He’s not the fastest or biggest guy, but he’s smart and skilled. That’s the hard thing about scouting. But we’re getting a really good player at seven.”


NHL Draft 2020: Devils zero in on 12 prospects for 3 1st-rounders, but talking trade

Not saying much but it's something lol

Do they name the 12 prospects?

 

[Devils731]

Fitz's thoughts on the top players:
“They all intrigue me,” Fitzgerald said. "They’re all different. Raymond and Holtz, different. Rossi, different. Perfetti, different. Drysdale and Sanderson, different. They’re all just different players.

"Rossi’s 5-10, but 185 pounds. He’s all bottom. That’s a strong bottom. That’s unique in players. Sanderson … is he going to drive numbers? I don’t think so, but he’s going to play 25-plus minutes a night when he’s at his peak. Drysdale moves pucks extremely well. He’s an undersized defenseman, but he’s a right shot.

"Raymond, look at what he’s doing now in the (Sweden’s top) league. When he gets stronger, what’s he going to look like? He’s more of an East to West magician type of winger than Holtz.

“Cole Perfetti, he’s probably the smartest player in the draft. He’s not the fastest or biggest guy, but he’s smart and skilled. That’s the hard thing about scouting. But we’re getting a really good player at seven.”


NHL Draft 2020: Devils zero in on 12 prospects for 3 1st-rounders, but talking trade

Not saying much but it's something lol

“He’s all bottom. That’s a strong bottom.”

Devils haven’t had a strong enough bottom since Jagr.

 

[R8Devs]

Do they name the 12 prospects?

nah, I think he made the title from this quote:
“It’s probably a dozen players,” Fitzgerald said. “We’ll continue to watch video on certain guys that may jockey positions. I’ve got some questions on a couple guys.”

 

[Ripshot 43]

Sam Cosentino says that he thinks we should go for an organizational need with pick 18. A puck moving offensive defenseman. I could not disagree more and think making a reach, let alone a big reach at risk 18 for this type of a player would be a horrible way to destroy what should be a Home run of a draft.

 

[beekay414]

Sam Cosentino says that he thinks we should go for an organizational need with pick 18. A puck moving offensive defenseman. I could not disagree more and think making a reach, let alone a big reach at risk 18 for this type of a player would be a horrible way to destroy what should be a Home run of a draft.

He mentioned Poirier IIRC and I almost vomited lol

 

[Ripshot 43]

He mentioned Poirier IIRC and I almost vomited lol

That would be such a moronic move even if we traded down to do so. Just take the higher end forwards and load up the pipeline.

 

[StevenToddIves]

i’d be relatively pleased to walk away from the draft with those 3 players, but can’t see the devils passing on holloway for gunler. in my opinion, when it comes to first round selections, there can’t be any question marks, especially on character/effort/compete level.

awesome list as always!

My choice was Holloway or Gunler at #20, no one else was really considered. So, I would clearly not argue Holloway there, I love the guy and he would fill a clear Devils' need for a power forward with speed and skill to skate with Hughes for the next decade.

 

[StevenToddIves]

You made another G pick. Way to get out of your comfort zone.

McKenzie has him the highest at 71 and FC has him lowest at 155.

Larry Fisher puts Bednar at the top of his third tier with Calle Clang, Dylan Garand, Samuel Hlavaj,
and Amir Miftakhov in the 125-129 range and with Joel Blomqvist (81), Drew Commesso (84), Nick Malik (91)
and Nico Daws (92) in a tier above them.

And has Askarov at 10 to Winnipeg.

Larry Fisher would rank Bednar higher if he were Swedish. And Askarov to Winnipeg is just plain silly. That team is in great need of everything except goaltending.