Prospect Info: Devil-Centric Mock 3.0 for May
- Thread starter StevenToddIves
- Start date
- Status
mtnet
LGD!
- Oct 31, 2014
- 5,665
- 4,200
I have to stop reading these things, gives me pokemon syndrome where I want to catch them all. Obvious #1 aside, the players you selected sound like an outstanding bunch.
Thanks, I'm glad a lot of you appreciate it. I'm going to drop a to 62 prospect ranking by mid-May, and maybe I will repeat what I did last year and two a top-10 ranking by position (except goalies, I suck at goalies). We'll see how much time I have because I've been in contact with a pretty good hockey website about contributing some draft articles for them through June.
Great, now I have this mental image of Shero dressed like Ash Ketchum throwing a Pokeball into the stands.
I agree. I think it's okay to weigh positional import later on in the draft, but with the #1 and #34 picks, the Devils need to get top talent, regardless of position. For instance, if it was the fourth round and the Devils were about to use their #96 pick and deciding between (for instance) Tuukko Tieksola and Henry Thrun? Well, even though Tieksola has more high-end upside than Thrun, I would still go with Thrun because he's a high-floor defenseman and the Devils need big-bodied/mobile rearguards who can play NHL minutes far more than they need undersized, offensive-minded left-shot wingers -- which the organization is already flush in with Bratt, Boqvist, Hoelscher, Pakkila and Gignac.
I am a big fan of Legare. If someone asked the question "who would you want the Devils to take at #34 if LA took Brink at #33 in your mock draft?" -- well, Legare would certainly be on my short list. He's big, he can score, he's a relentless forechecker and outstanding two-way force with an admirable compete level, he's a bull in a china shop out there. But if someone asked the question: "who is the more likely to become a 30+ goal scorer/60+ point producer in the NHL, Brink or Legare?" Well, I would very quickly answer: Bobby Brink.
The other winger I seriously considered here was Robert Mastrosimone, who has similar offensive upside to Brink. However, he plays the left wing, which the Devils organization is deeper on than the right, so I went with Brink. I also ruminated for awhile on one of my absolute 2019 draft favorites in Jamieson Rees, who also fits to a T the Shero/Castron philosophy of fast, attacking, smart forwards with high compete levels. Rees is, to me, the most underrated forward in this draft -- he's almost like Alex Turcotte-lite. But I'd find it difficult to believe that Shero would take another pass-first center at #34 after taking Hughes at #1.
MartyOwns
thank you shero
- Apr 1, 2007
- 24,234
- 18,098
congrats! post the links when they get published
mtnet
LGD!
- Oct 31, 2014
- 5,665
- 4,200
Sleeper Prospect of the Day:
RD Will Francis, Cedar Rapids, USHL
I think we can call this kid a "super sleeper", because he's a likely pick from the 4th to 6th rounds, but I have my eye on him.
As most of the people who follow my threads know, I am a big advocate of the old school, physically bruising defensive defenseman. I would not want six of them on my blueline, but I think a team needs one or two to mix in with the puck movers as a deterrent to opposing offenses. Additionally, your Will Butchers and Ty Smiths will be much more free to pinch deep in the offensive zone if they are confident that a very good defensive presence is watching their backs. The problem is, the Devils do not have any players fitting this description, either on the team or in the prospect pipeline. One of the biggest problems for the Devils this year was the defense getting killed on the cycle by teams with physical, grinding forward cores. Rebounds were plentiful in the crease, and several goals against were a result of lost battles along the boards.
Enter Will Francis. At 6'5-215, he's a monster. And this kid lives to throw his huge frame around, routinely delivering bone-crunching hits and intimidating the bejeezus out of opposing forwards. I'm going to come right out and say it -- though he has no "liability" per se, every one of his tools grades as "average", except for two. He's an okay skater with an okay shot and okay puck skills and his passing vision essentially amounts to getting the puck out of the defensive zone or keeping the puck in the offensive zone. But he has two skills which grade as exceptional -- his physicality/strength and his smarts/positioning in the defensive zone. He's a beast on the penalty kill and excellent at gap control and coverage down low.
Let's be straight, here. If your team is down by a goal in the late third period, you are not sending Will Francis onto the ice. But if your team is projecting a late lead, you'll be very glad you have him on your side. In my mind, guys like this are to hockey what a stud run-blocking right tackle are to football or a gold glove catcher who can't hit are to baseball. They may not be glamorous, but you win with them. Again, Will Francis is not a name you will see on draft day in the first few rounds. But he's a guy that, when the Devils pick in the 5th, 6th or 7th round, should warrant strong consideration if he's still on the board.
RD Will Francis, Cedar Rapids, USHL
I think we can call this kid a "super sleeper", because he's a likely pick from the 4th to 6th rounds, but I have my eye on him.
As most of the people who follow my threads know, I am a big advocate of the old school, physically bruising defensive defenseman. I would not want six of them on my blueline, but I think a team needs one or two to mix in with the puck movers as a deterrent to opposing offenses. Additionally, your Will Butchers and Ty Smiths will be much more free to pinch deep in the offensive zone if they are confident that a very good defensive presence is watching their backs. The problem is, the Devils do not have any players fitting this description, either on the team or in the prospect pipeline. One of the biggest problems for the Devils this year was the defense getting killed on the cycle by teams with physical, grinding forward cores. Rebounds were plentiful in the crease, and several goals against were a result of lost battles along the boards.
Enter Will Francis. At 6'5-215, he's a monster. And this kid lives to throw his huge frame around, routinely delivering bone-crunching hits and intimidating the bejeezus out of opposing forwards. I'm going to come right out and say it -- though he has no "liability" per se, every one of his tools grades as "average", except for two. He's an okay skater with an okay shot and okay puck skills and his passing vision essentially amounts to getting the puck out of the defensive zone or keeping the puck in the offensive zone. But he has two skills which grade as exceptional -- his physicality/strength and his smarts/positioning in the defensive zone. He's a beast on the penalty kill and excellent at gap control and coverage down low.
Let's be straight, here. If your team is down by a goal in the late third period, you are not sending Will Francis onto the ice. But if your team is projecting a late lead, you'll be very glad you have him on your side. In my mind, guys like this are to hockey what a stud run-blocking right tackle are to football or a gold glove catcher who can't hit are to baseball. They may not be glamorous, but you win with them. Again, Will Francis is not a name you will see on draft day in the first few rounds. But he's a guy that, when the Devils pick in the 5th, 6th or 7th round, should warrant strong consideration if he's still on the board.
DerekDevils30
Registered User
I like that you're highlighting physical, shut-down RHD's. Our left side could feature Smith, Butcher, Davies in a couple of seasons and we will need one or two physical guys on the right, ideally on the bigger side. I hope Shero sees this as well
I agree with you wholeheartedly. I have been talking up Case McCarthy and Kaeden Korczak for some time for this very reason, but there is a strong possibility that both of these players are gone by 50 picks. The reason I went out of my way to write up a player like Will Francis is that you can probably get him in the 5th round or even later, and he certainly fills a gaping organizational need. He's also even nastier than McCarthy or Korczak, perhaps because he's not quite as talented. Braydon McNabb is a very strong comparable, and Francis will fill out to be even bigger and stronger.
I feel like Castron will continue the trend of trying to find hidden gems with skilled players in the 6th/7th round.
The 6th round is where the Devils draft top-6 Fs. In the 5th and 7th rounds we can take virtually anyone.
Sleeper Prospect of the day:
RW Jack Malone, Youngstown, USHL
What would a New Jersey Devils prospect thread do without a few New Jersey native prospects? He's a bit of a deep sleeper, but Madison, NJ-product Malone offers ideal size (6'1-190) and an intriguing skill set, and he can probably be had in the 5th/6th/7th rounds. Malone posted better than a PPG line in the notoriously defensive USHL (57 games: 19-40-59) and was the most impressive player on the Phantoms, in my estimation.
Malone was not really on my radar entering the 2018-19 campaign, mostly because I highly value skating and his feet were average at best. But over the course of the year, Malone has really improved his mobility to the point where we can define him as a pretty good skater. His finest attributes are his hands, vision and passing -- he's very good with the puck and is the type of player to make his line mates better. He plays a heady two-way game and has a good compete level. Malone could still stand to work on his shot, but with his size and strength, there is cause to believe that this can develop into an NHL-caliber skill as well.
Again, Jack Malone is a project, not the type of player a team seriously considers in the first few rounds. But with his outstanding USHL production and ideal NHL frame, he is certainly a player worth drafting in the later rounds.
RW Jack Malone, Youngstown, USHL
What would a New Jersey Devils prospect thread do without a few New Jersey native prospects? He's a bit of a deep sleeper, but Madison, NJ-product Malone offers ideal size (6'1-190) and an intriguing skill set, and he can probably be had in the 5th/6th/7th rounds. Malone posted better than a PPG line in the notoriously defensive USHL (57 games: 19-40-59) and was the most impressive player on the Phantoms, in my estimation.
Malone was not really on my radar entering the 2018-19 campaign, mostly because I highly value skating and his feet were average at best. But over the course of the year, Malone has really improved his mobility to the point where we can define him as a pretty good skater. His finest attributes are his hands, vision and passing -- he's very good with the puck and is the type of player to make his line mates better. He plays a heady two-way game and has a good compete level. Malone could still stand to work on his shot, but with his size and strength, there is cause to believe that this can develop into an NHL-caliber skill as well.
Again, Jack Malone is a project, not the type of player a team seriously considers in the first few rounds. But with his outstanding USHL production and ideal NHL frame, he is certainly a player worth drafting in the later rounds.
- Apr 20, 2005
- 2,616
- 1,486
Honestly, I think I'd rather hope he doesn't get drafted, then comes to us on a tryout.
It's possible. The last three rounds of the draft are extremely unpredictable. But I would have to say that, given Malone's size and USHL production, he will likely be gone in the 5th/6th range.
What’s predictable is NJ will find a prospect or two that outperforms their draft slot in those low rounds
What's REALLY predictable is that we'll all complain about how much they suck before they surprise us and become late pick bargains.
BenedictGomez
Corsi is GROSSLY overrated
There's no way Brink goes as late as #34.
His U18 tournament was way too strong for that; and not to mention, he doesnt even play on that team so in many ways he was one of the most impressive players I thought.
OmNomNom
Taco is Love, Taco is Life
Your probably right given he's ranked in the teens by most rankings. But I wonder if a USA player could fall given how stacked that team was.
Even with his strong performance he was 7th on the team in ppg. Plus you have to factor in the D-men, and Knight.
- Status
