GDT: NHL Draft at Buffalo 6/24 and 6/25 - 7 PM tonight, 10 AM tomorrow

[NJDevs26]

Twitter beat reporter follows:
https://twitter.com/ChrisRyan_NJ (Star-Ledger)
https://twitter.com/andy_vasquez (bleh...but he's subbing at the Record for Gross)

TV Coverage
Tonight - 7-10:30 (or so) PM on NBCSN
Tomorrow - 10 AM-late afternoon on NHLN

If you don't want to hear the same talking heads don't forget about the Devils-run stream on Facebook and their website starting at 7 PM:



Tonight the 2016 offseason begins in earnest! Will Shero and new scouting director Paul Castron make a selection at 11 tonight? Perhaps a trade? Or both? What moves are in store for Saturday? And what will the other 29 teams do tonight and tomorrow? The answers will be known soon

Prospect draft thread if you want to continue discussions from there in the predraft:

http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=2088991&page=14

And mod note: Please don't post trades or any other moves that are unsourced or from unreliable sources...this is your warning. Everyone wants to break news but some people may only be able to read here for updates, so be sure to differentiate fact from opinion/rumor

Click to read more...

 

[Devils Dominion]

Keller or Nylander and stay away from Chychrun and Brown, and I'll be happy

 

[NJDevs26]

Keller or Nylander and stay away from Chychrun and Brown, and I'll be happy

Maybe before the draft you'll tell us why you're so anti-Chychrun?

 

[R8Devs]

all these front offices telling the tsn guys something or another to try and get some leverage hahha

 

[Sgt Brylin]

Maybe before the draft you'll tell us why you're so anti-Chychrun?

I've been waiting for that all day as well. "He's nothing special" just doesn't cut it as an explanation.

Then again, the Rangers simply refuse to loose

 

[Devils Dominion]

Maybe before the draft you'll tell us why you're so anti-Chychrun?

I already have a few times.

He is nothing special to be picked 11th.

I project him to be a #5 dman on a NHL team.
He will get outplayed by top 6 forwards too often.
I see nothing that he excels at.
There is a reason he is trending down.

Brown is physically weak and slow of foot.
A long term project far from making the NHL.

 

[Alex NJD]

If we grab one of Keller Nylander or Jost tonight I'll be estatic. They immediately become our #2 prospect behind Zacha

 

[Zajacs Bowl Cut]

I already have a few times.

He is nothing special to be picked 11th.

I project him to be a #5 dman on a NHL team.
He will get outplayed by top 6 forwards too often.
I see nothing that he excels at.
There is a reason he is trending down.

Brown is physically weak and slow of foot.
A long term project far from making the NHL.

there is no analysis whatsoever here on Chych

 

[StevenToddIves]

Maybe before the draft you'll tell us why you're so anti-Chychrun?

I think I explained this. Chychrun is solid but does not offer the offensive or physical dynamic the Devils blueline desperately needs.

Sergachev would fill this need. In the second round guys like Fox and Dineen and Johansen would fill this need. In later rounds there will be very intriguing sleepers like Peeke, Krys, Quenneville, Hronek.

Chychrun would not be a "bad" pick at 11. But if Keller/Nylander/Jost/Sergachev were available and the Devils went for the high-floor/low-ceiling "safe" pick in Chychrun it would not be a huge step forward for the organization.

 

[Devils Dominion]

there is no analysis whatsoever here on Chych

Go ahead and sell us on Chych.

There are a lot of landmines out there projected to go in the Top-25.
I hope Castron is armed with a GPR before he takes a seat at the table.

 

[Alex NJD]

Chychrun isn't all that better than Santini IMO. I like him as a prospect but not over the likes of the other "Top 12" prospects

 

[NorwegianDevil]

Will there be streams available for us who's not able to watch this on tv?

I wanna see us drafting Pulju, live... :-----)

 

[StevenToddIves]

If we grab one of Keller Nylander or Jost tonight I'll be estatic. They immediately become our #2 prospect behind Zacha

I'd rank Keller as a tie for 1. He is one of the youngest players in this draft, were he born a couple months later he'd be in the mix for #1 overall in 2017. His shot/skating/vision/passing combo is off-the-charts, he's just a special prospect. He's no slouch defensively, the only knock on him is the same knock on Patrick Kane or Johnny Gaudreau.

I have him ranked #4 in this draft. My final top 20 rankings:

1 Matthews
2 Laine
3 Puljujarvi
4 Keller
5 Tkachuk
6 Dubois
7 Jost
8 Nylander
9 Sergachev
10 Juolevi
11 Brown
12 Kunin
13 Bellows
14 Rubtsov
15 DeBrincat
16 Abramov
17 Chychrun
18 Bitten
19 Jones
20 (T) Bean
20 (T) Fox

 

[njdevils1982]

why have the draft in stain city?

 

[NJDevils17]

I understand Chychrun's fall and he did deserve some of the flack he gets but as Steven said, he wouldn't be a "bad" pick. He's done great analysis on the opposing view of Chychrun.

I'm personally a fan and I think his minutes were a lot tougher than a lot of other dmen but I understand the opposing views.

However, with that said, there's a reason he's still a top 15 guy and was projected to challenge Matthews this year. He had an okay year but his role was huge and he got exposed a lot playing all those minutes. He's not a "sexy pick" I get that but he's still a top 3 or 4 defenseman in the draft. I think he'll be a solid #2 and he has a lot of potential to be better than that. He's not my #1 guy at 11 but after Nylander, Keller, Jost and Serg, I would be happy with him.

 

[RSeen]

Please let Keller or Nylander fall to us. If not Jost is a nice piece as well.

 

[HBK27]

If we grab one of Keller Nylander or Jost tonight I'll be estatic. They immediately become our #2 prospect behind Zacha

Yeah, I think best case scenario we get one of these 3.

 

[AfroThunder396]

Already ran into 4 people in Devils gear. LOTS of Leaf fans.

 

[Peter Sidorkiewicz]

Nylander please.

Do not draft Keller.

 

[Brooklyndevil]

TSN just reported that Evander Kane has been hit with two criminal complaints from last night.

 

[RememberTheName]

Nylander please.

Do not draft Keller.

Really interested in the reasoning behind this decision

 

[Colin226]

Already ran into 4 people in Devils gear. LOTS of Leaf fans.

That's awesome! And yeah lots of Toronto fans go to Sabres games

 

[theoptimist]

I'd rather Jost over Nylander

 

[AfroThunder396]

I'd say it's 25% Leafs fans, 10% misc teams, and the rest are In Sabres gear.

Ran into two dudes in Devils jersey and a dude in a Rangers jersey. Devils guys came up to me and said "make fun of this d-bag as much as you want." Rangers fan turned to his buddies and said "thanks guys".

 

[Devils Dominion]

I know some Devils fans there.

Too far out of my road trip range.

Couch with a 6-pack tonight.
And a bottle in case we draft Chych. (Drown sorrows)