Devils Dominion
Now we Plummet
Former Devils scouting director David Conte was around for 3 Cups and 5 Finals appearances with NJ.
He deserves a lot of credit, especially in the 90s.
But late in his tenure, his drafting was a complete disaster.
Specifically his choice of Pavel Zacha at 6th overall in 2015.
PZ was demoted to the Devils AHL team (Binghamton) last week after getting no points in the team's first 10 games.
His lack of production so far in the NHL has been perplexing, alarming and extremely disappointing.
PZ has good NHL size, skates well and seems to have the tools to be an effective NHL 2nd liner, at worst 3rd liner.
Now, at 6th overall, we were expecting (for good reason) a 1st line forward for many years.
The 2015 draft was very deep, the first round has produced many players who are having excellent NHL careers already.
Prior to that draft, the Devils board voted for Barzal for our 6th overall pick.
Many others preferred Provorov, some wanted Connor, Rantanan or Werenski, along with Zacha.
Over 3 years later, it's stunning to see how poorly Zacha has done so far compared to his peers in the 2015 draft.
2015 NHL Entry Draft Picks at hockeydb.com
Only Strome can possibly be considered a bigger disappointment at this point in time from that draft.
The Devils are suffering the consequences of whiffing on this pick right now, they desperately need a 2nd line center (or even wing) that can consistently produce goals/points.
Or a 1st pairing left-handed defenseman (Provorov/Werenski)
Even late first rounders such as Konecny and Boeser have been much better let alone 2nd rounder Aho.
Ray Shero and his hand-picked scouting director, Paul Castron, have done a solid job in rebuilding the organization's prospect pool in the last few years, although the McLeod pick remains to be seen.
But the Zacha Mistake is haunting the club right now and will for many years to come.
He deserves a lot of credit, especially in the 90s.
But late in his tenure, his drafting was a complete disaster.
Specifically his choice of Pavel Zacha at 6th overall in 2015.
PZ was demoted to the Devils AHL team (Binghamton) last week after getting no points in the team's first 10 games.
His lack of production so far in the NHL has been perplexing, alarming and extremely disappointing.
PZ has good NHL size, skates well and seems to have the tools to be an effective NHL 2nd liner, at worst 3rd liner.
Now, at 6th overall, we were expecting (for good reason) a 1st line forward for many years.
The 2015 draft was very deep, the first round has produced many players who are having excellent NHL careers already.
Prior to that draft, the Devils board voted for Barzal for our 6th overall pick.
Many others preferred Provorov, some wanted Connor, Rantanan or Werenski, along with Zacha.
Over 3 years later, it's stunning to see how poorly Zacha has done so far compared to his peers in the 2015 draft.
2015 NHL Entry Draft Picks at hockeydb.com
Only Strome can possibly be considered a bigger disappointment at this point in time from that draft.
The Devils are suffering the consequences of whiffing on this pick right now, they desperately need a 2nd line center (or even wing) that can consistently produce goals/points.
Or a 1st pairing left-handed defenseman (Provorov/Werenski)
Even late first rounders such as Konecny and Boeser have been much better let alone 2nd rounder Aho.
Ray Shero and his hand-picked scouting director, Paul Castron, have done a solid job in rebuilding the organization's prospect pool in the last few years, although the McLeod pick remains to be seen.
But the Zacha Mistake is haunting the club right now and will for many years to come.
