Prospect Info: Devils Prospect Rankings By Position

[JimEIV]

They traded Anderson for Johnsson. So let's put Johnsson in there. Blake Coleman was not even close to ready when Shero got here and neither was Miles Wood - Wood would have a terrible rookie season in 2016-17, Coleman wouldn't get off the 4th line until 2018-19. Jon Merrill just signed UFA for less than a million dollars.

So yes, letting all of Shero/Castron's picks actually play their careers out might be helpful to this.

Wrong. He was very close to ready before he separated his shoulder and required surgery the day before Thanksgiving 2015.

And Wood actually played a game in the 2015-16 season - how isn't that close to ready?

Jon Merrill is still the league and we got nothing return for him...In fact, Shero decided to spend assets thinking Mueller was a better option...f***ing Terrible

 

[Triumph]

Wrong. He was very close to ready before he separated his shoulder and required surgery before Thanksgiving 2015.

And Wood actually played a game in 2015-16 season

Weird how he played 52 AHL games after that while the Devils called up lots of guys before him and then had a totally non-descript NHL audition where absolutely nobody on this board thought he was an NHL player. Must've set him back 18 months, that shoulder injury.

Sometimes you should just give up the fight and 'Wood actually played one game' is one of those places. He was horrendous the next year.

 

[JimEIV]

Weird how he played 52 AHL games after that while the Devils called up lots of guys before him and then had a totally non-descript NHL audition where absolutely nobody on this board thought he was an NHL player. Must've set him back 18 months, that shoulder injury.

Sometimes you should just give up the fight and 'Wood actually played one game' is one of those places. He was horrendous the next year.

Wrong again. Lot's of scouting reports and people on this board pegged him for a good 3rd liner...

He was coming off of Shoulder surgery where he missed an entire year...Of course he was going to start in the AHL the following year...Your fake narrative has too many holes.

Edit: And if Wood was "Horrendous" the next year with 8 goals and 17 points in 60 games from a #100 Overall pick, what was Hughes with 7 goals and 21 points in 61 games as a #1OA? Super Duper Horrendous?

 

[Poppy Whoa Sonnet]

Wood was bad but showed skills and there was hope he'd develop further (that speed! that grit! that willingness to go to the dirty parts of the ice!). With young players you tend to see their potential more so than their actual production. Part of the problem with youth movements is young guys are not guaranteed to develop / take a step further as you deal with their growing pains. Frankly if you can afford it, it makes more sense to me to bring guys along slowly and make them earn jobs. For all the praise the Canes get for having such a strong/deep prospect pool they don't force those guys into the lineup. They sign plenty of vets, and prospects have to earn their spot which is part of the reason why their prospect pool is now so deep.

 

[MartyOwns]

Edit: And if Wood was "Horrendous" the next year with 8 goals and 17 points in 60 games from a #100 Overall pick, what was Hughes with 7 goals and 21 points in 61 games as a #1OA? Super Duper Horrendous?

wasn’t wood 21 at that point? you’re comparing him to an 18 year old who is obviously physically immature?

i’m honestly curious- if you had to guess, which would you say will have the better nhl career?

 

[Blackjack]

Wrong. He was very close to ready before he separated his shoulder and required surgery the day before Thanksgiving 2015.

And Wood actually played a game in the 2015-16 season - how isn't that close to ready?

Jon Merrill is still the league and we got nothing return for him...In fact, Shero decided to spend assets thinking Mueller was a better option...f***ing Terrible

Glad to hear Brandon Gignac is close to NHL ready. Jon Merrill, JFC. Jon Merrill just signed a contract for under a million dollars.

 

[Billdo]

What's fun to me is "the prospect system is underwhelming" but actual professionals are writing about them saying it's very deep and solid. Real, legit professional writers.

 

[Triumph]

Wrong again. Lot's of scouting reports and people on this board pegged him for a good 3rd liner...

This was true after he was coming out of Miami, not after he had played 2 pro seasons, with a nice stint in the AHL but with a horrid stint in the NHL, and was going to turn 26 that fall.

He was coming off of Shoulder surgery where he missed an entire year...Of course he was going to start in the AHL the following year...Your fake narrative has too many holes.

He was totally unimpressive in his first NHL stint. Nobody thought he would make the team the next year and nobody thought he was in the Devils' long-term plans.

Edit: And if Wood was "Horrendous" the next year with 8 goals and 17 points in 60 games from a #100 Overall pick, what was Hughes with 7 goals and 21 points in 61 games as a #1OA? Super Duper Horrendous?

Wood was horrendous - absolutely no awareness of where to be on the ice, where his teammates were, or what to do in any situation when he wasn't rushing the puck straight up the ice. Got absolutely caved in. Scored some nice goals, though.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

We probably had the worst prospect pool in the league with an old and terrible team. Now we have one of the better prospect pools with a young and terrible team.

 

[JimEIV]

Glad to hear Brandon Gignac is close to NHL ready. Jon Merrill, JFC. Jon Merrill just signed a contract for under a million dollars.

I don't understand what you are trying to say about Gignac? He going to be 23 years old in a couple of weeks and has averaged .424PPG in the AHL over parts of 4 seasons....This excites you? This is your version of NHL ready?

 

[Triumph]

What's fun to me is "the prospect system is underwhelming" but actual professionals are writing about them saying it's very deep and solid. Real, legit professional writers.

If you have a totally blinkered perspective, it is pretty easy to think the Devils don't have that many prospects. It's in part because of 2018 - they didn't draft anyone between the 1st round and 4th round and already walked away from two of the players they did draft.

 

[Eggtimer]

Nobody tell him

I dont get what I am missing . I said Smith is a very good prospect?
Did I under or over value him or ???

 

[JimEIV]

We probably had the worst prospect pool in the league with an old and terrible team. Now we have one of the better prospect pools with a young and terrible team.

This I just don't get...Based on what? Seriously. It seems like a "Cause I say so" kind of deal.
Where is the evidence? Do our prospects as a group produce more in their perspective leagues than anybody else?

How can we have "one of the better" prospect pools and literally NO-ONE knocking at the door? This doesn't make sense to me....I am open to opinions here - But just saying "One of the best" and naming names just simply doesn't make it so...With no one knocking at the door, at the very least you have to say it is an immature prospect group that may pay dividends 3 years from now(Or some future date)....Which 8 years into the rebuild by the way....Which doesn't sound good at all to me.

If no one is knocking at the door after 5 years of rebuilding and there has been almost no flow/influx of talent other than #1OA's how is this one of the "better" prospect pools?

 

[MartyOwns]

This I just don't get...Based on what? Seriously. It seems like a "Cause I say so" kind of deal.
Where is the evidence? Do our prospects as a group produce more in their perspective leagues than anybody else?

How can we have "one of the better" prospect pools and literally NO-ONE knocking at the door? This doesn't make sense to me....I am open to opinions here - But just saying "One of the best" and naming names just simply doesn't make it so...With no one knocking at the door, at the very least you have to say it is an immature prospect group that may pay dividends 3 years from now(Or some future date)....Which 8 years into the rebuild by the way....Which doesn't sound good at all to me.

If no one is knocking at the door after 5 years of rebuilding and there has been almost no flow/influx of talent other than #1OA's how is this one of the "better" prospect pools?

can you define “knocking at the door”?

 

[JimEIV]

can you define “knocking at the door”?

Ready to make an NHL jump...with the potential to be a regular contributor.

So not like Mcleod which was an absolute garbage pick and one of worst picks of the last 20 years...People talk about bad picks of the past from the 3rd and 4th rounds like Connor Chatham ad-naseum but turn a blind-eye to what we did with the #11 overall in 2016...It's weird.

 

[SteveCangialosi123]

This I just don't get...Based on what? Seriously. It seems like a "Cause I say so" kind of deal.
Where is the evidence? Do our prospects as a group produce more in their perspective leagues than anybody else?

How can we have "one of the better" prospect pools and literally NO-ONE knocking at the door? This doesn't make sense to me....I am open to opinions here - But just saying "One of the best" and naming names just simply doesn't make it so...With no one knocking at the door, at the very least you have to say it is an immature prospect group that may pay dividends 3 years from now(Or some future date)....Which 8 years into the rebuild by the way....Which doesn't sound good at all to me.

If no one is knocking at the door after 5 years of rebuilding and there has been almost no flow/influx of talent other than #1OA's how is this one of the "better" prospect pools?

I won’t be engaging further. Maybe someone else will nibble.

 

[Oneiro]

I hear the fly fishing is good on Long Island. Plenty of space to wax on about replacement level defenders and bottom six forwards drafted in the top 10.

 

[JimEIV]

I won’t be engaging further. Maybe someone else will nibble.

I thought so.

I knew that was going to be the response and debated writing so much...cause the truth is there is absolutely nothing tangible to make the claim of "one of the best prospect pools" other than "I say so" or "in my expert opinion"....Which is pure bullshit.

 

[GameSeven]

I dont get what I am missing . I said Smith is a very good prospect?
Did I under or over value him or ???

I don't believe Blackjack is referring to you

 

[MartyOwns]

Ready to make an NHL jump...with the potential to be a regular contributor.

So not like Mcleod which was an absolute garbage pick and one of worst picks of the last 20 years...People talk about bad picks of the past from the 3rd and 4th rounds like Connor Chatham ad-naseum but turn a blind-eye to what we did with the #11 overall in 2016...It's weird.

ah. so i don’t agree that we have no players knocking at the door; this is hard to do with covid-19, but i would say smith, bahl, foote, boqvist, holtz and bastian would be ready to make the jump in less than 12 months, and some are probably ready now. that’s excluding nico, hughes, and bratt.

 

[Nicomo Cosca]

How is Ty Smith not “knocking on the door?”

 

[MartyOwns]

How is Ty Smith not “knocking on the door?”

ty smith’s knockin’ on the dooooor
bastian’s ringin the bell

 

[JimEIV]

ah. so i don’t agree that we have no players knocking at the door; this is hard to do with covid-19, but i would say smith, bahl, foote, boqvist, holtz and bastian would be ready to make the jump in less than 12 months, and some are probably ready now. that’s excluding nico, hughes, and bratt.

Smith and Boqvist perhaps...But both of them in their previous showing have been extremely questionable.

Boqvist didn't belong in the NHL and it was a horror show...I understand the reasons, like being new to Noth America, young and learning but the results weren't encouraging - excluding the little stretch of success in the AHL before the shutdown there wasn't much evidence of a future contributor...More time is need there. That is understandable.

Similarly, Smith is a strong prospect with lots of very good accomplishments but his showing in last years camp was truly atrocious...So it is hard to say with any certainty that he is even ready to be an NHLer at this point...He came into camp last year dominating the WHL and he is going to do the same this year...It was a sideways year for him. Can't be overly excited based on last year and my perception of his average to below average skating but we'll see what happens.

I honestly don't know enough about Foote to comment...But when I see skating issues in the scouting report I worry.

Bastian I rooted for and still hope he can one day be a contributor...But he just doesn't have the consistency in his game at this point...Maybe it will come? But he is going to be 23 this December and his game is still very hot and cold....When you go invisible for large stretches in the AHL, which I have seen with own eyes that is not good. Time is slipping quickly here and he needs to bring his game up a level in the AHL and at a consistent level. At 23 and 3 full seasons of AHL hockey under his belt, you start to wonder. In Bastian defense I will say he has had 3 straight years of Point production improvement...So that is good. But 80 points in 188 AHL games is pedestrian to say the least.

I don't think Bahl is anywhere close to "knocking at the door" to be honest...We'll see.

 

[Billdo]

Ready to make an NHL jump...with the potential to be a regular contributor.

So not like Mcleod which was an absolute garbage pick and one of worst picks of the last 20 years...People talk about bad picks of the past from the 3rd and 4th rounds like Connor Chatham ad-naseum but turn a blind-eye to what we did with the #11 overall in 2016...It's weird.

Lots of people dump on Mikey. Way more than Chatham.

 

[GameSeven]

I thought it would be interesting to chart the past 20 or so years of draft classes, ranked within the draft year by total Point Shares (also would like to rank by total GP in a separate exercise) as reported by HockeyDB.

I used 1997-2017, since 2017's class is now accumulating a number of guys with 100+ GP and anything newer is going to skew towards just a few guys.

The Devils placed just a tick a above AZ over the interval, but if you narrow the results to the dreadful period between 2001-2014, the Devils fall into last place by a full standard deviation.

Things are starting to become buoyed a bit by our recent higher draft picks, but the results from these recent years will take a while as many new young guys in the league start their careers.

But there's no sugarcoating the fact that poor drafting (as well as ceding picks for players at times over that period) has hurt the team's ability to keep pace with others' prospects over the same stretch.

Since we're relitigating our draft history... again, I figured I'd copy my contribution from an early discussion.