Prospect Info: 2020 NHL Draft

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longislanddevil

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With Winnipeg defeating Ottawa this afternoon, a victory by either Nashville or Calgary tonight knocks Arizona out of a playoff spot. The possibility is becoming very real that the Devils could have two top 12 picks in the 2020 draft.

It would take a supreme collapse but there is an outside possibility Arizona could finish with the 9th worst record (they have been trending in the wrong direction for quite some time now). While it is more likely they (we) wind up with the 12th pick or so, it certainly is not impossible. Can you just imagine if we do have 1.9 and somehow a guy like Holtz or Raymond does slide a bit? Every year there’s a guy who does inexplicably fall. Considering there is a clear tier dropoff right now after the top 8 prospects (and Askarov), it would be tremendous if we found ourselves with two picks in the top 9. Alas, we can dream...
 

Blackjack

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It would take a supreme collapse but there is an outside possibility Arizona could finish with the 9th worst record (they have been trending in the wrong direction for quite some time now). While it is more likely they (we) wind up with the 12th pick or so, it certainly is not impossible. Can you just imagine if we do have 1.9 and somehow a guy like Holtz or Raymond does slide a bit? Every year there’s a guy who does inexplicably fall. Considering there is a clear tier dropoff right now after the top 8 prospects (and Askarov), it would be tremendous if we found ourselves with two picks in the top 9. Alas, we can dream...

They already have the 10 worst record in the league by point percentage (which is the real way to measure anyway). Followed by, guess who? The Rangers.

That's right, we're at the point where we have to start rooting for The Rangers to improve the draft pick. But in any case it's definitely possible the pick could end up being 9th overall. Insane.
 

MichaelJ

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It won’t happen, but the Arizona pick could be as high as 7th. Realistically, given the point totals and games the other teams have in-hand, the Coyotes could finish as the 4th worst team out West. The entire Central could finish with a higher point total and the only teams the Coyotes are a lock to beat are San Jose, Anaheim, and the Kings. The only teams in the East I see them a lock to finish ahead of are Ottawa, Detroit, and us. That puts them seventh.

The Sabres are in striking distance but probably won’t make it and the Rangers have the opportunity but have to go on a winning streak. Ninth is probably the most realistic best scenario but 7th is out there as possible.
 
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Blackjack

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It won’t happen, but the Arizona pick could be as high as 7th. Realistically, given the point totals and games the other teams have in-hand, the Coyotes could finish as the 4th worst team out West. The entire Central could finish with a higher point total and the only teams the Coyotes are a lock to beat are San Jose, Anaheim, and the Kings. The only teams in the East I see them a lock to finish ahead of are Ottawa, Detroit, and us. That puts them seventh.

The Sabres are in striking distance but probably won’t make it and the Rangers have the opportunity but have to go on a winning streak. Ninth is probably the most realistic best scenario but 7th is out there as possible.

I ranked the teams by point percentage and then multiplied by 55 (The average number of games played so far). Then I reversed the ranking so the worst team in the league is ranked "1" signifying the top pick in the draft before the lottery. I started the list at Vancouver, who is the top team in the Pacific right now.

Here's what the list looks like. Arizona 10th, the Rangers and Montreal are just 1 point behind, they could easily pass them. Buffalo is only 3 points behind, San Jose at 7 points is a bit of a stretch. I agree that 7th is the best that pick could realistically be. But even 8 or 9 would be absolutely amazing.

Draft PositionTeamPoints at 55 games
19Vancouver65
18Toronto65
17Edmonton63
16Vegas62
15Nashville61
14Calgary60
13Winnipeg60
12Minnesota59
11Chicago59
10Arizona59
9NY Rangers58
8Montréal58
7Buffalo56
6San Jose52
5Anaheim51
4New Jersey51
3Ottawa47
2Los Angeles42
1Detroit29
[TBODY] [/TBODY]
 

MichaelJ

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It wouldn’t shock me if NJ passes a number of teams ahead of them. If MBW gives NJ solid goaltending and the team keeps working hard after the deadline I would expect them to finish stronger than teams only throwing in the towel down the stretch.

Prospect Info: - 2020 NHL Draft
 
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longislanddevil

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They already have the 10 worst record in the league by point percentage (which is the real way to measure anyway). Followed by, guess who? The Rangers.

That's right, we're at the point where we have to start rooting for The Rangers to improve the draft pick. But in any case it's definitely possible the pick could end up being 9th overall. Insane.

The Hall trade takes on a much different complexion if this Arizona pick is top 12 or top 10. If we can nail this pick and Bahl’s trajectory keeps ascending to the point he develops into a damn good second pairing NHL d-man (which I don’t think is pie in the sky dreamland thinking), this trade could wind up being a blessing. Anything we get out of Merkley or Schnarr is a bonus but the former does have potential to be a solid third line contributor.

Some pundits thought Ray should have waited until closer to the trade deadline to deal Hall as to increase the market and the return. The irony here is there is little to no chance Arizona would be trading for Hall now- they clearly thought they’d be positioned much stronger in the standings than they are now. There is no way the Devils would garner a top 15 pick, let alone a top 10 pick, if Ray held onto Hall. What an amazing turn of events. Long way to go yet...and Arizona could turn it around...but at the moment the stars are aligning nicely...
 

ChicksDigTheTrap

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The Hall trade takes on a much different complexion if this Arizona pick is top 12 or top 10. If we can nail this pick and Bahl’s trajectory keeps ascending to the point he develops into a damn good second pairing NHL d-man (which I don’t think is pie in the sky dreamland thinking), this trade could wind up being a blessing. Anything we get out of Merkley or Schnarr is a bonus but the former does have potential to be a solid third line contributor.

Some pundits thought Ray should have waited until closer to the trade deadline to deal Hall as to increase the market and the return. The irony here is there is little to no chance Arizona would be trading for Hall now- they clearly thought they’d be positioned much stronger in the standings than they are now. There is no way the Devils would garner a top 15 pick, let alone a top 10 pick, if Ray held onto Hall. What an amazing turn of events. Long way to go yet...and Arizona could turn it around...but at the moment the stars are aligning nicely...
IMO this trade was a blessing the second we made it because it meant the Devils would not be giving Hall a long term deal that IMO Hall will be underperforming sooner rather than later. The last thing the Devils need is Hall underperforming his contract when Nico and Hughes are in their prime producing years. If the pick is higher than expected that is just gravy for me.
 

Traitor Zach

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Much like the Kovalchuk end, I think two or three years from now people will look back and while the Hall MVP run was incredible, the divorce and reboot ends up being the right track.

Devils will win some games but I don’t see them taking on a meteoric rise to kill draft standing too much. More guys are to get sold off here in next two weeks and there’s going to be some tinkering with guys up front for next year and seeing where the defense needs to get overhauled.
 

StevenToddIves

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It would take a supreme collapse but there is an outside possibility Arizona could finish with the 9th worst record (they have been trending in the wrong direction for quite some time now). While it is more likely they (we) wind up with the 12th pick or so, it certainly is not impossible. Can you just imagine if we do have 1.9 and somehow a guy like Holtz or Raymond does slide a bit? Every year there’s a guy who does inexplicably fall. Considering there is a clear tier dropoff right now after the top 8 prospects (and Askarov), it would be tremendous if we found ourselves with two picks in the top 9. Alas, we can dream...

Holtz or Raymond won't fall. If there's a top-tier player who could fall, I'd say it's Perfetti.

Perfetti is an offensive magician, but he's also the same combination of not big/not fast which drops players every year (see: Cole Caufield, Nick Robertson, etc etc).

To me, this is a very interesting draft. We can say with great confidence that Lafreniere is going #1 overall. At #2, Byfield has to be considered an overwhelming favorite -- the only player I can see with any chance of overtaking him there is Stutzle. And this is where it gets intriguing -- because Stutzle could also conceivably drop to the #4-#6 area, if a team prioritizes defense (Drysdale) or pure goalscoring ability (Holtz), or simply has not scouted Germany enough and fell in love with a Raymond or Rossi who they've seen more. It sounds absurd, but this is precisely what happened with Anze Kopitar dropping out of the top 10. Also, we cannot ignore the Askarov factor -- this is a kid who can go anywhere between #4-#25 overall.

Pretty much, picks #3 through #8 are a crapshoot in terms of what order they're going to go. Then, picks #9 through #20 are another crapshoot. Mock drafts and prognostications are going to be all over the place. My #2 overall defenseman in this draft is Shakir Mukhamadullin, but I've seen him ranked as low as the third round. I've seen Czech scoring sensation Jan Mysak ranked in top 10s and barely in the top 50. It's certainly a weird one. Here's how I'd mock it today (though it changes daily):

1 DET LW Lafreniere
2 LA C Byfield
3 OTT W Raymond
4 NJ C Stutzle
5 ANH W Holtz
6 OTT D Drysdale
7 BUF C Rossi
8 NYR C Lundell
9 CHI LW Perfetti
10 MIN LW Holloway
11 NSH G Askarov
12 MTL W Amirov
13 NJ RW Quinn
14 WPG C Zary
15 CGY D Mukhamadullin

What's my reasoning for having a potential franchise talent like Stutzle falling into the Devils' laps at #4? It's not homerism so much as Ottawa has not drafted a player who was not from North America or Scandinavia since Filip Chlapik in 2015 -- and that pick is not looking very good right now. Before that, you'd have to go back to Jakub Culek in 2010, and that pick was also an absolute bust. I just don't see them as trusting their scouts in Central Europe enough to draft the organization's first German since 2001 (the immortal Christoph Schubert), the year before Stutzle was born, when there is a comparable Swedish talent available in Raymond. Maybe the Senators will prove me wrong, time will tell, but right now I have the Devils coming away with a coup at #4 in Stutzle.

I will add that I do not think the Devils will wind up drafting as high as #4. I think the Devils have been, overall, a better team since dumping Hynes and I think they pass, at the very least, San Jose and Anaheim and wind up picking in the #6-#9 range.

The good news is that, as I stated on the day of the trade, Arizona was not even close to as good as their record and are a solid bet to potentially fall even further in the standings. They are as weak as any team in the NHL up the middle, they are a generally soft and easy to play team, and Darcy Kuemper is solid, but not the Vezina-quality netminder we saw during the opening months of this season. To me, it's conceivable that the Devils end up with two picks in the #6-#10 range, which would be terrific for the future of the organization.
 

StevenToddIves

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The Hall trade takes on a much different complexion if this Arizona pick is top 12 or top 10. If we can nail this pick and Bahl’s trajectory keeps ascending to the point he develops into a damn good second pairing NHL d-man (which I don’t think is pie in the sky dreamland thinking), this trade could wind up being a blessing. Anything we get out of Merkley or Schnarr is a bonus but the former does have potential to be a solid third line contributor.

Some pundits thought Ray should have waited until closer to the trade deadline to deal Hall as to increase the market and the return. The irony here is there is little to no chance Arizona would be trading for Hall now- they clearly thought they’d be positioned much stronger in the standings than they are now. There is no way the Devils would garner a top 15 pick, let alone a top 10 pick, if Ray held onto Hall. What an amazing turn of events. Long way to go yet...and Arizona could turn it around...but at the moment the stars are aligning nicely...

Yes, that was my favorite thing about the trade and I said it on the day the Devils made it. I did not see Arizona as a playoff team. Conversely, my biggest criticisms about the trade were the conditions attached to the draft picks -- the Coyotes' lottery protection could seriously come back to bite NJ, and when we combine that with the conditions on the 2021 pick? Well, it was just too much concession on Shero's part. But that being said, if the Arizona pick winds up in the #7-#10 range, Shero will look brilliant for what he was criticized for only months earlier.
 
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longislanddevil

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Holtz or Raymond won't fall. If there's a top-tier player who could fall, I'd say it's Perfetti.

Perfetti is an offensive magician, but he's also the same combination of not big/not fast which drops players every year (see: Cole Caufield, Nick Robertson, etc etc).

To me, this is a very interesting draft. We can say with great confidence that Lafreniere is going #1 overall. At #2, Byfield has to be considered an overwhelming favorite -- the only player I can see with any chance of overtaking him there is Stutzle. And this is where it gets intriguing -- because Stutzle could also conceivably drop to the #4-#6 area, if a team prioritizes defense (Drysdale) or pure goalscoring ability (Holtz), or simply has not scouted Germany enough and fell in love with a Raymond or Rossi who they've seen more. It sounds absurd, but this is precisely what happened with Anze Kopitar dropping out of the top 10. Also, we cannot ignore the Askarov factor -- this is a kid who can go anywhere between #4-#25 overall.

Pretty much, picks #3 through #8 are a crapshoot in terms of what order they're going to go. Then, picks #9 through #20 are another crapshoot. Mock drafts and prognostications are going to be all over the place. My #2 overall defenseman in this draft is Shakir Mukhamadullin, but I've seen him ranked as low as the third round. I've seen Czech scoring sensation Jan Mysak ranked in top 10s and barely in the top 50. It's certainly a weird one. Here's how I'd mock it today (though it changes daily):

1 DET LW Lafreniere
2 LA C Byfield
3 OTT W Raymond
4 NJ C Stutzle
5 ANH W Holtz
6 OTT D Drysdale
7 BUF C Rossi
8 NYR C Lundell
9 CHI LW Perfetti
10 MIN LW Holloway
11 NSH G Askarov
12 MTL W Amirov
13 NJ RW Quinn
14 WPG C Zary
15 CGY D Mukhamadullin

What's my reasoning for having a potential franchise talent like Stutzle falling into the Devils' laps at #4? It's not homerism so much as Ottawa has not drafted a player who was not from North America or Scandinavia since Filip Chlapik in 2015 -- and that pick is not looking very good right now. Before that, you'd have to go back to Jakub Culek in 2010, and that pick was also an absolute bust. I just don't see them as trusting their scouts in Central Europe enough to draft the organization's first German since 2001 (the immortal Christoph Schubert), the year before Stutzle was born, when there is a comparable Swedish talent available in Raymond. Maybe the Senators will prove me wrong, time will tell, but right now I have the Devils coming away with a coup at #4 in Stutzle.

I will add that I do not think the Devils will wind up drafting as high as #4. I think the Devils have been, overall, a better team since dumping Hynes and I think they pass, at the very least, San Jose and Anaheim and wind up picking in the #6-#9 range.

The good news is that, as I stated on the day of the trade, Arizona was not even close to as good as their record and are a solid bet to potentially fall even further in the standings. They are as weak as any team in the NHL up the middle, they are a generally soft and easy to play team, and Darcy Kuemper is solid, but not the Vezina-quality netminder we saw during the opening months of this season. To me, it's conceivable that the Devils end up with two picks in the #6-#10 range, which would be terrific for the future of the organization.

If the Arizona pick is 9-12 and the Devils come away with a combo of Drysdale or Stutzle or Rossi AND Perfetti (if he falls a bit and into another tier), I would be beyond stoked!!
 

Blackjack

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Haha, keep dreaming. But I will say that in this mini-mock draft, the Devils getting both Stutzle and Quinn would be an absolute coup for the future.

With his recent scoring burst, Jack Quinn is getting a ton of love on the prospects board with some posters wondering if he'll break into the top 10. It would be really cool for the Devils to draft him and Rossi and have almost the entire 67's roster in the system!
 

StevenToddIves

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With his recent scoring burst, Jack Quinn is getting a ton of love on the prospects board with some posters wondering if he'll break into the top 10. It would be really cool for the Devils to draft him and Rossi and have almost the entire 67's roster in the system!

That would indeed be hilarious.

I'm going to write a lot about Jack Quinn, simply because I find it a near-certainty that he is on the Devils draft radar. The Devils have tremendous depth at RW in the system, but most of their prospects project to middle-6 or bottom-6 roles (the wild cards are Thompson, who took an incredible leap in development this year, and Graeme Clarke -- who is an incredible scorer but needs a ton of development before we have more certainty).

There is a lot to like about Jack Quinn, and really no red flags. But while all of his tools (vision, compete, size, two-way play, hockey IQ) check off as "good but not great" -- his one amazing tool jumps off the page. Simply put, he is an incredible shooter, a deadly sniper who knows how and where and when to find space and can laser a puck through the smallest of openings with a quick release. You simply can't teach that, and right now I would say the only superior shooters in this draft class are surefire top 7 picks Lafreniere, Byfield and Holtz.

I'm still a long way from posting a prospect ranking (I don't like to be held accountable until I've done my homework), but I'd say Quinn is certainly top 15. Right now, I'd say:

1 Lafreniere
2 Byfield
3 Stutzle
4 Drysdale
5 Rossi
6 Raymond
7 Askarov
8 Holtz
9 Perfetti
10 Zary
11 Mukhamadullin
12 Lundell
13 Schneider
14 Quinn
15 Bourque or Mysak, I can't decide
 

Nubmer6

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With his recent scoring burst, Jack Quinn is getting a ton of love on the prospects board with some posters wondering if he'll break into the top 10. It would be really cool for the Devils to draft him and Rossi and have almost the entire 67's roster in the system!

The more I read about Quinn, the more I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY want him on our team.

Seems he's already grew to 6'1", so the old 5'11" stat is outdated. He's pretty much exactly what this team needs, and there's a damned good chance he's available with Zona's pick.
 
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StevenToddIves

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I really like Rossi and Jack Quinn's scoring touch would be amazing as well.

Plus the 67's connection would be awesome.

The chances of the Devils getting both would have to be considered remote, but the chance exists, so we can have fun with it. You'll be glad to know that Rossi seems to spend as much time in interviews talking up Quinn as he does talking about his own self, I've seen/heard like four interviews resembling this:

ottawa-67s-jack-quinn-gives-eye-popping-performance-in-win-over-wolves
 

StevenToddIves

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The more I read about Quinn, the more I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY want him on our team.

Seems he's already grew to 6'1", so the old 5'11" stat is outdated. He's pretty much exactly what this team needs, and there's a damned good chance he's available with Zona's pick.

Very good chance. I cannot see Quinn sneaking into the top 8 under any circumstance. I would say it's a good bet he goes in the #10-#20 range, and the best odds have Arizona's pick precisely in that range.
 
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Devils731

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Property, sure, but not under contract or scheduled to be a future part of their franchise.

Hall will definitely be under contract at the time of draft lottery. That’s why players rights can be traded right until free agency begins.
 

TBF1972

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The one thing missing in the Conte discussion is the impact or lack of development. Picking the right players doesn't help at all, if those players weren't properly developed. While Conte definitely made a few questionable picks, it also looks like the player didn't improve a whole lot in the Minor leagues.
Having draft picks cracking the NHL and getting useful players has a lot more to do with proper development, than identifying the most talented players.
 
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