Liked the draft I do believe that the Devils wanted Guhle ....when asked if Rangers moving up for Schneider hurt them Fitz said no they tried trading up but couldn't and at 18 they could of had Schneider they took Mercer following their board....I think not having a second made them push Shak up maybe but he clearly was a player they liked as he said while scouting Amirov they kept going back to Shak so I think I'll trust Fitz.
I'm not going to complain too much about Shakir Mukhamadullin. As far as 2020 LD go, he likely had the third most upside behind only Jake Sanderson (top 5 pick) and Jeremie Poirier (horror show defensively, might even be converted to wing -- Elite Prospects' Cam Robinson brought up this possibility). The biggest knock against Mukhamadullin was an underwhelming draft-eligible season, which we can blame his usage for as much as his actual play. If this kid puts it all together, he's going to look like a pretty good pick here. Devils fans will just need to be patient.
I will say that my biggest problem with the Mukhamadullin pick was not Shakir himself, but the
asset management in taking him at #20, especially when -- in hindsight -- Washington really wanted Hendrix Lapierre and gave up the #80 pick to move up from #24 to #22 in order to draft the young QMJHL center. I do not think there was a huge risk of Mukhamadullin being taken in the #20-#23 range, and I would have been much happier if the Devils got him at #24 and also picked up another 3rd round pick. There were some really nice players the Devils could have added at #80 -- just a few picks later the rival Flyers took RW/C Zayde Wisdom, who could be the best true power forward taken in the draft after only Dylan Holloway. But again, I'm not going to complain about Mukhamadullin, he's looked terrific so far in the young 2020-21 campaign and could turn out to be an excellent pick.
As far as the #18 pick goes, I think it would have been absurd to take anyone except Dawson Mercer. So, I don't buy the "if we wanted Schneider we would have taken him at #18" argument -- Mercer was simply the clear-cut best player available at #18 -- he has first-line upside, and if he can show any discernible improvements to his skating he's just going to be ridiculously good. A good friend asked me if it's possible that Mercer turns out better than Holtz, and my answer was yes -- and I've been a huge Holtz booster all year long. I mean, no one can touch Holtz's shot and Holtz is the superior skater, but Mercer is better at every other aspect of the game -- he's a superior two-way player, has a higher hockey IQ and compete level, he's a better passer and stickhandler, he's more physical. I truly think the Devils thought Calgary was taking Zary at #19 and they would get Schneider at #20, but again this is all speculation and I'm not too upset about it.
