Prospect Info: Way Too Early Devils-Centric Mock Draft For February

[longislanddevil]

This is how I remember it. I was full on in the Barzal camp. I thought he looked as skilled as Marner if not more. I wanted to trade back a few picks since this was such a deep draft. I don't hate the Zacha pick though. I still think he can be a 55 point player as early as next season. Plus I tend to judge drafts by the entire drafts and not just a first pick. The fact we got Blackwood who has potential do go down in future redrafts as a top 5 pick. Honestly I have no regrets. Of we took Barzal we probably don't end up with Hughes. We're also probably better this season but still not good enough for the playoffs. So we end up not getting some amazing talent in this year's draft. Zacha's slow start to his career gave us the ability to lock him up for a few years at a discounted price. He's on one of the better contracts because of that for the next 3 years.

You raise a good point. If the Devils drafted Barzal or Rantanen, they probably finish with a better record last year and miss out on Hughes. Things are oddly interconnected. I’m long past thinking who the Devils could have taken; I won’t hate on Zacha for not becoming the super stud Conte thought he was drafting. It isn’t Zacha’s fault the Devils took him over other players. I’ll be happy if he develops into a 20/50 type of player who is also an elite PK.

 

[None Shall Pass]

I don't even want to know what people are going to do on the parking garage if Zacha scores 55 points next season.

The bet, as I recall it, was that Zacha would have to score 40 points two seasons in a row for the poop thing to happen. Which means he needs at least 10 points in these last 17 games and then 40 next year.

 

[ninetyeight]

No, we were pretty evenly split between Zacha and Barzal.

Many were concerned about Barzal’s lack of goal scoring. Yes some liked Barzal in that 5-10 range and cautiously thought he could be an option. It’s easy act all I told you so with Barzal in hindsight, but if you go and read the threads there were definitely doubts and concerns with him and more people prefered Zacha. And almost everyone loved Marner, but it was pretty clear he wouldn’t fall. Provorov was a much liked option as well, in no way was it only a split between Zacha and Barzal.

But whatever, that doesn’t change my point. Had this subforum voted who the Devils should pick, Zacha would have most likely won.

 

[KinCornKarn]

There was a Devils draft poll in 2015. Barzal was the pick and it was not close. Not that it matters much any more.

My money is on Rossi this year but it depends on the ping pong balls.

 

[The Devil In I]

Many were concerned about Barzal’s lack of goal scoring. Yes some liked Barzal in that 5-10 range and cautiously thought he could be an option. It’s easy act all I told you so with Barzal in hindsight, but if you go and read the threads there were definitely doubts and concerns with him and more people prefered Zacha. And almost everyone loved Marner, but it was pretty clear he wouldn’t fall. Provorov was a much liked option as well, in no way was it only a split between Zacha and Barzal.

But whatever, that doesn’t change my point. Had this subforum voted who the Devils should pick, Zacha would have most likely won.

There was a vote on this. Don't have the time to search through my post history to find it now but I'm positive I've pointed it out in the past. Just off of memory some guy was going around board to board starting a vote based on draft pick rankings, to put together a mock draft based on board voting, and Barzal won our vote with like over 60%

 

[KinCornKarn]

There was a vote on this. Don't have the time to search through my post history to find it now but I'm positive I've pointed it out in the past. Just off of memory some guy was going around board to board starting a vote based on draft pick rankings, to put together a mock draft based on board voting, and Barzal won our vote with like over 60%

Your team is on the clock! PICK #6 (Fan Base Mock Entry Draft)

 

[ninetyeight]

There was a Devils draft poll in 2015.

Alright I stand corrected! Early on it was much more Zacha heavy, didn’t realize Barzal was that popular in the end.

One thing that happens a lot of times though is a snowball effect. The more people hype a prospect the more it makes other people believe in the hype. Also when you think who your team is going to draft you start to look into that player more, imagine that player in your team, start to be more invested and kinda get commited to your feelings and you start to fall in love with that pick more and more.

Right now Rossi and Drysdale are those names here (also Quinn for the 2nd pick), and other teams are naturally more invested in other players.

Anyway yeah it is what it is at this point, let’s not give up on Zacha just yet, and hopefully this year we get a superstar.

 

[NJDevils17]

Back to this year - I’m hoping we can snag Rossi or Stutzle at this point. Stutzle keeps climbing so it’s less likely but I’d love to get him.

 

[Guttersniped]

size is not a concern because of the production. size is a concern because of the make up of the team. hughes, bratt and adding rossi and you quickly get a really small top six.

I would still be fine with taking Rossi if he seemed like the best way to get elite top line production with that first pick but I totally agree with you on size.

Sometimes people seem to think that the mere existence of productive undersized players means that smaller players don’t have disadvantages. It’s not a nonsensical prejudice and smaller players who play big in juniors sometimes have their courage lessen when large grown men keep smashing into them.

The Devils only had extra later round picks under Shero and have generally had to sacrifice size for offensive upside with forwards. I’d still take Rossi but the new GM has to address how small and soft this team is. (You can add Gusev to your list btw.). Playoff teams tend to have a physical edge that make them hard to play against and we lack that to a cartoonish degree. At least some of the forward prospects we got in trades are over 6’ tall.

 

[longislanddevil]

Assuming the Devils don’t win the first or second pick: The three prospects I want the most are Drysdale/Rossi/Stutzle- in that order but it’s razor thin close for me. Would be ecstatic if the Devils land any of them. Holtz would be my “consolation prize”; he could wind up being the best of the bunch for all we know. He profiles as a natural goal scorer that we currently lack. It would be Raymond and Perfetti for me after that. No disrespect to either (they could both become stars) but I would be moderately disappointed if the Devils didn’t land one of the first four aforementioned names with their pick. With that said, if we were somehow able to draft Raymond or Perfetti via the Arizona pick...yes, please!! It would be a coup to walk away with two of these players. The ultimate dream is two of Drysdale/Rossi/Stutzle/Holtz but I fail to see a realistic avenue for that happening. It’s fun to think about a team trading down 2-4 spots from 7 for the Devils to pluck one of these kids but it’s highly unlikely.

 

[Jason MacIsaac]

I like Tyler Kelley's picks.

Rossi
Lundell
Trade down with Van pick
Jarvis
Villeneuve

 

[StevenToddIves]

Regardless if Zacha was pre-ranked 6th or 15th, the majority of posters on this subboard wanted him (especially if Marner and Strome wasn't available anymore). When they picked him everyone was all excited, Zacha wanted devils to draft him (because of the history with Czechs) and people loved him even more.

So just because the Devils pick the guy most of us want, Rossi, Stutzle, Drysdale, Quinn whoever, doesn't mean it's the right pick and that the player doesn't get Zacha'd.

I do still love Zacha and honestly still believe he can become a good 60 point two-way forward, even if most of those points come in the final third
I think the fact that he has been bounced around in the lineup, forced to play with guys he has no chemistry with, has not helped his development. I think there's been two line combinations where he has looked like a true first rounder, first when he played with Nico and Bratt, and now with Bratt and Gusev. Bratt could obviously play with anyone, he'd make Hayden look great, but he really has some great chemistry with Zacha on and off ice. I really hope they keep this line together all the way to next season and don't just give up on it after the first couple of games they don't score.

I agree with you entirely -- in fact I could not agree more. Zacha and the Zacha pick have taken far too much heat on these threads, and I think it's time for all the haters to find something else to harp on.

Here are your final 2015 Zacha rankings from the 4 most respected organizations at the time (I include McKenzie because his rating is a compendium of interviewed scouts):

TSN (McKenzie) 6
ISS 10
Future Considerations 15
McKeens 6

Those rankings would make it seem perfectly logical in the Devils picking Zacha. I looked back at my own 2015 rankings and I had Zacha 9th. The player many on these boards wanted was Mathew Barzal, whom I had at #3 overall. What were his rankings?

TSN 9
ISS 8
FC 9
McKeens 11

While Zacha went higher than his mean ranking and Barzal went lower than his mean ranking, Zacha's mean ranking was higher than Barzal's, therefore we must stop talking about this as an off-the-board, idiotic pick. Another player who Devils fans would have loved at #6 (in retrospect) and is often mentioned is Kyle Connor, who also had an inexplicable draft day slide. I regret under ranking Connor in 2015, I foolishly had him all the way down at #13. But, what were his mean rankings?

TSN 13
ISS 13
FC 12
McKeens 12

Let's face it, folks -- if the Devils had taken Connor at #6 in 2015, people would be rioting through the streets of Newark. I looked high and low to find a scouting bureau who had Connor in their top 10, and all I found was the lightly-regarded Hockey Prospectus, who ranked him at #9 overall... and kudos to those guys for getting it right.

Now, let's contrast those rankings with the 2015 draft rankings for Lawson Crouse, who is a very solid third-line winger for Arizona, but the majority of the hockey community would agree is not worth as much as an excellent defensive third-line center who still retains some offensive upside like Zacha. Get ready for Crouse, folks:

TSN 7
ISS 4
FC 10
McKeens 10

So, there you have it, people. The Devils certainly made a crucial mistake in drafting Zacha -- one which we should still be discussing at length half a decade later. But where you're all wrong is this -- we should not have drafted Barzal or Connor or Provorov or Werenski; no, we should have drafted the highest regarded prospect left on the board when we picked... Lawson Crouse.

 

[StevenToddIves]

size is not a concern because of the production. size is a concern because of the make up of the team. hughes, bratt and adding rossi and you quickly get a really small top six.

Rossi is not small. He's short. And thick -- he has Crosby-thighs, if you will. He's strong as hell. He plays a bit of power game and is a two-way force with a tremendous amount of courage and compete. We should stop talking about him as a small player entirely.

Raymond is small, though not afraid. Perfetti is small, though ice pumps in his veins instead of blood. Though those two are tremendous prospects -- yes, they are small players. Rossi is not a small player.

 

[StevenToddIves]

I remember people wanting Barzal and a small Rantanen crew (me and a few others.)

Zacha was disappointing for most at the time.

I wanted Barzal big time. My second choice was Provorov or Werenski, I had them ranked evenly. I had Rantanen and Meier further down the RW board than most, behind Gurianov and Konecny (both of whom made my final top 10).

 

[ninetyeight]

Holtz would be my “consolation prize”; he could wind up being the best of the bunch for all we know. He profiles as a natural goal scorer that we currently lack. It would be Raymond and Perfetti for me after that. No disrespect to either (they could both become stars) but I would be moderately disappointed if the Devils didn’t land one of the first four aforementioned names with their pick. With that said, if we were somehow able to draft Raymond or Perfetti via the Arizona pick...yes, please!!

Anything can happen, but it’s very likely that Raymond goes before Holtz. Most european (if not all) scouts consider him as the better prospect and he’s even said to be the next swedish star player. I know the stats don’t quite show that and Holtz is killing it in the same league, but apperantly there’s more potential in him. Totally understand everyone’s concerns about him though.

My guess is Raymond goes around #5.

 

[GameSeven]

Anything can happen, but it’s very likely that Raymond goes before Holtz. Most european (if not all) scouts consider him as the better prospect and he’s even said to be the next swedish star player. I know the stats don’t quite show that and Holtz is killing it in the same league, but apperantly there’s more potential in him. Totally understand everyone’s concerns about him though.

My guess is Raymond goes around #5.

Every time I see Raymond and Holtz mentioned together in my mind I'm picturing:

 

[dzubrus8]

My hope was that Hanifin would fall or we’d take Provorov because I had heard such raving. If Zacha hits 20-50 it’s not a failed pick despite good players picked around him. There are a handful of other players from that draft also toiling in the “contributor, not a difference maker” category (incl. Hanifin and Strome, both of whom were called can’t miss)

 

[StevenToddIves]

Anything can happen, but it’s very likely that Raymond goes before Holtz. Most european (if not all) scouts consider him as the better prospect and he’s even said to be the next swedish star player. I know the stats don’t quite show that and Holtz is killing it in the same league, but apperantly there’s more potential in him. Totally understand everyone’s concerns about him though.

My guess is Raymond goes around #5.

I have few concerns about either of them, but to me it's not a matter of which of Holtz or Raymond are "better" so much as what type of player you want to get. You want a player who can dominate possession and wow you with puck wizardry? Take Raymond. You want a guy with a very good all around game who can challenge for a Rocket Richard Trophy? Take Holtz.

 

[MakoSlade]

Your team is on the clock! PICK #6 (Fan Base Mock Entry Draft)

Barzal the winner, Rantanen second then Zacha. So Zacha was definitely in the mix.

 

[kidkosher]

peep my work in the mock draft board for Tribal's Mock. Curious how I'm doing per your perspective...

 

[OmNomNom]

peep my work in the mock draft board for Tribal's Mock. Curious how I'm doing per your perspective...

quinn good

 

[Scooooooooooooot]

peep my work in the mock draft board for Tribal's Mock. Curious how I'm doing per your perspective...

I like it very much, I think a right shot stud winger prospect like Raymond is a big add and I personally am very high on Sanderson. Plus this board is all over Jack Quinn and I think him at 21 would be incredible value and is another player type that this team needs in the pipeline. Brock Faber in the 3rd round also intrigues me, like that as well.

 

[Puckclektr]

I want no part of Drysdale. He is not exactly huge and lacks speed and has an average shot. Just another Ty Smith.

IMO and the opinion of many scouts, he wasn’t even the best defenseman on his minor midget team.

 

[Puckclektr]

@StevenToddIves slightly random, wondering if you have seen much of Donovan Sebrango from Kitchener.

I asked you last year about Vukojevic and he ended up going to Jersey earlier in the draft then you thought he would go. Sebrango to me is a better prospect of the two, just because of his shot and skating being better. Obviously Vukojevic had the size.

Anyways, any thoughts on Sebrango or even other Kitchener Rangers Declan McDonnell or Reid Valade (smaller feisty forwards)

Thanks for all the postings you do and analysis is always fantastic.

I have yet to see Valade in the OHL but at the time I thought there was a possibility he could go 2nd in the OHL behind Byfield.

 

[Blackjack]

IMO and the opinion of many scouts, he wasn’t even the best defenseman on his minor midget team.

Is this a joke? Sorry, I really can't tell sometimes.