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

[TBF1972]

Youve made Mysak sound like the real deal. What about Quinn suggests he’s a preferable pick at that spot to Mysak?

Exactly my thoughts. First he sold me on Mysak and now he picks a less versatile Quinn over him.

 

[beekay414]

Exactly my thoughts. First he sold me on Mysak and now he picks a less versatile Quinn over him.

Quinn fits a much bigger need on the Devils though and they are both pretty even prospects so that could be the edge. Mysak is awesome and I want him badly but Quinn is a potential top line scoring RW and that's something we're drastically missing even with our RW depth rejuvenation.

I personally give the edge to Quinn by the slightest of margins so I'm with STI here.

 

[beekay414]

19 CAR Guhle
20 NJ Mukhamadullin

This makes me so sad lol. If we get that close to landing Guhle only for him to go one spot ahead of us, I'll be a little upset. That said, Mukhamadullin (I hate that I can spell that and say it without hesitation lol), is an excellent consolation prize.

 

[ninetyeight]

I’m still not sold on Mysak, I don’t think his production is high enough to justify a top10 pick. He’s done alright in the OHL, but still a lot less compared to the other guys.

That said I know production isn’t everything. His fellow Czech Pastrnak had pretty meh numbers predraft and has since become one of the best goal scorers. And someone like Cody Glass, who most of us Devils fans were pretty high on back in 2017, had amazing numbers in the juniors but hasn’t been able to translate that production to nhl (yet).

But I think production is still a good indicator that the knack for scoring and hockey iq is there. A lot more times than not people who have trouble scoring in juniors will carry that into the big league. Shooting technique, accuracy and general hockey iq and decision making is something that takes years to develop and if you don’t have it in the juniors you might never have it. Someone like Patrik Laine must have taken millions of shots in his life, multiple times more than most hockey players, to develop that accuracy and power.

 

[StevenToddIves]

I know he isn’t playing with Rossi. Who is playing alongside Quinn? Hoelscher?

how have you liked his season BTW?

Rossi is typically paired with Austen Keating on the top line, while Quinn is paired with Hoelscher on the second line. The third wingers on either line tend to change around a bit.

 

[StevenToddIves]

Quinn fits a much bigger need on the Devils though and they are both pretty even prospects so that could be the edge. Mysak is awesome and I want him badly but Quinn is a potential top line scoring RW and that's something we're drastically missing even with our RW depth rejuvenation.

I personally give the edge to Quinn by the slightest of margins so I'm with STI here.

They're both goal scorers, and the Devils need goal scorers. I'd be thrilled with either. Quinn has an eye-popping 47 goals in 56 games for Ottawa despite rarely playing alongside top center Marco Rossi. Jan Mysak has scored 13 goals in his first 18 games for Hamilton despite an extremely difficult transition of coming to the OHL from the Czech Elite league mid-season.

 

[StevenToddIves]

This makes me so sad lol. If we get that close to landing Guhle only for him to go one spot ahead of us, I'll be a little upset. That said, Mukhamadullin (I hate that I can spell that and say it without hesitation lol), is an excellent consolation prize.

I'd say Guhle has a higher floor but Mukhamadullin a higher ceiling. But I'd say that, along with Sanderson, they have separated themselves a little as the top 3 LD candidates in the class of 2020.

 

[Emperoreddy]

Rossi is typically paired with Austen Keating on the top line, while Quinn is paired with Hoelscher on the second line. The third wingers on either line tend to change around a bit.

Clarke lined up with them his first game back, right?

 

[StevenToddIves]

I’m still not sold on Mysak, I don’t think his production is high enough to justify a top10 pick. He’s done alright in the OHL, but still a lot less compared to the other guys.

That said I know production isn’t everything. His fellow Czech Pastrnak had pretty meh numbers predraft and has since become one of the best goal scorers. And someone like Cody Glass, who most of us Devils fans were pretty high on back in 2017, had amazing numbers in the juniors but hasn’t been able to translate that production to nhl (yet).

But I think production is still a good indicator that the knack for scoring and hockey iq is there. A lot more times than not people who have trouble scoring in juniors will carry that into the big league. Shooting technique, accuracy and general hockey iq and decision making is something that takes years to develop and if you don’t have it in the juniors you might never have it. Someone like Patrik Laine must have taken millions of shots in his life, multiple times more than most hockey players, to develop that accuracy and power.

I hate to disagree, but the logic here is just so off base. Cody Glass is not old enough to drink yet and there should be disappointment that he has 12 career points in his first 39 career games? Mysak has 18 career games in the OHL and has scored 13 goals and that's not high enough production? Realize that's a 52 goal pace over a full OHL season.

I mean, of course production is an indicator. But these kids are coming from hundreds of different situations in dozens of leagues on countless teams. Lucas Raymond has 9 points this year, but he will (deservedly) be drafted in the #3-#7 overall range.

 

[StevenToddIves]

Clarke lined up with them his first game back, right?

No, but we should probably post on his thread that he had a goal and three points in his first period back after missing several months with injury.

 

[Alex NJD]

Started watching 67's games ~2 weeks back. Absolutely love Quinn. Very noticeable every time he takes the ice

 

[beekay414]

They're both goal scorers, and the Devils need goal scorers. I'd be thrilled with either. Quinn has an eye-popping 47 goals in 56 games for Ottawa despite rarely playing alongside top center Marco Rossi. Jan Mysak has scored 13 goals in his first 18 games for Hamilton despite an extremely difficult transition of coming to the OHL from the Czech Elite league mid-season.

Oh, I know. I must've missed clarifying RW goal scoring. My bad. I love em both so I'd be more than content with either.

 

[ninetyeight]

I hate to disagree, but the logic here is just so off base. Cody Glass is not old enough to drink yet and there should be disappointment that he has 12 career points in his first 39 career games? Mysak has 18 career games in the OHL and has scored 13 goals and that's not high enough production? Realize that's a 52 goal pace over a full OHL season.

I mean, of course production is an indicator. But these kids are coming from hundreds of different situations in dozens of leagues on countless teams. Lucas Raymond has 9 points this year, but he will (deservedly) be drafted in the #3-#7 overall range.

Don't worry about disagreeing, we're all just guessing here in the end, you never know how things end up no matter how they look at this stage. I mean didn't you have Elias Petterson ranked somewhere around #15 and thought we should in no way take the inferior Nico Hischier instead of Nolan Patrick

Anyway, I said Cody Glass has yet to figure it out, it's very likely he'll be just fine in a season or two. And I really used it as a counter argument against myself. Cody Glass had possibly the best point totals of that draft glass, and in his D+3 year still hasn't quite figured it out, even though many others from his class have.

Mysak, I said has done good in the OHL, although it's a small sample size. 1.2ppg pace. But for comparisons Rossi is 2.1, Byfield is 1.9, Perfetti is 1.8, Quinn is 1.4. That's just the OHL guys, all the high ranked WHL and QMJHL also have higher than 1.2ppg pace. Also similar to Stützle in Del, it's pretty hard to draw any conclusion about his Czech league numbers. But for me they are underwhelming considering what for instance Lundell is doing in a much tougher league in Liiga for instance (who not many seem to be very high on here for some reason).

He's definitely a super exciting prospect, but right now I just couldn't see myself putting him ahead of Quinn, Zary, Jarvis, (maybe even Holloway, Bourque) not to mention he also has to fight against all the Dmen in Poirier, Sanderson, Schneider, Guhle, O'Rourke.. etc

But that's just right now, things can definitely still change, there's still U18 and bunch of games left to be played.

 

[StevenToddIves]

Don't worry about disagreeing, we're all just guessing here in the end, you never know how things end up no matter how they look at this stage. I mean didn't you have Elias Petterson ranked somewhere around #15 and thought we should in no way take the inferior Nico Hischier instead of Nolan Patrick

Anyway, I said Cody Glass has yet to figure it out, it's very likely he'll be just fine in a season or two. And I really used it as a counter argument against myself. Cody Glass had possibly the best point totals of that draft glass, and in his D+3 year still hasn't quite figured it out, even though many others from his class have.

Mysak, I said has done good in the OHL, although it's a small sample size. 1.2ppg pace. But for comparisons Rossi is 2.1, Byfield is 1.9, Perfetti is 1.8, Quinn is 1.4. That's just the OHL guys, all the high ranked WHL and QMJHL also have higher than 1.2ppg pace. Also similar to Stützle in Del, it's pretty hard to draw any conclusion about his Czech league numbers. But for me they are underwhelming considering what for instance Lundell is doing in a much tougher league in Liiga for instance (who not many seem to be very high on here for some reason).

He's definitely a super exciting prospect, but right now I just couldn't see myself putting him ahead of Quinn, Zary, Jarvis, (maybe even Holloway, Bourque) not to mention he also has to fight against all the Dmen in Poirier, Sanderson, Schneider, Guhle, O'Rourke.. etc

But that's just right now, things can definitely still change, there's still U18 and bunch of games left to be played.

Wow, was I wrong on Nico vs. Nolan. Thanks for bringing that one up, I need a healthy feeding of crow every now and again.

I am high on Lundell, I just think he projects to a 2C at the NHL level, and as such have a tough time including him in the top 10. That being said, I see him as a terrific 2C.

Nothing wrong with your ranking Mysak behind Quinn, Zary, Jarvis, Holloway or Bourque. Those are all terrific prospects you mentioned. I will say that Mysak is the youngest of that group and I just really like his upside. We're going to see the prospects behind the ostensible top grouping (Lafreniere, Byfield, Stutzle, Drysdale, Rossi, Holtz, Raymond, Perfetti) ranked in all sorts of orders, it's just that wide open in the #9-#25 range this year.

I also like your D-men listing but I'm probably not as high on Poirier. One of the things you'll notice since you obviously scrolled through some of my past rankings is that I'm notoriously not high on defensemen who are below-average in their own zone. I'm fine with puck-rushing, offensive-minded defensemen who are not shut-down stalwarts defensively, but Poirier's d-zone play is just extremely troublesome to me.

 

[ninetyeight]

Wow, was I wrong on Nico vs. Nolan. Thanks for bringing that one up, I need a healthy feeding of crow every now and again.

I'll give you few better from my own blunders; I thought Jonathan Drouin was going to be the best player of his class and I that Michael Dal Colle would be an elite level talent in the NHL

On paper this draft looks like there's at least 20 gems in the first round, which just possibly can't be true, so it'll be very interesting to see how things turn out. Who fails to live up to the expectations, who rises to the occasion, maybe someone who none of us is even mentioning will end up being a star in the league.

 

[OmNomNom]

I'll give you few better from my own blunders; I thought Jonathan Drouin was going to be the best player of his class and I that Michael Dal Colle would be an elite level talent in the NHL

On paper this draft looks like there's at least 20 gems in the first round, which just possibly can't be true, so it'll be very interesting to see how things turn out. Who fails to live up to the expectations, who rises to the occasion, maybe someone who none of us is even mentioning will end up being a star in the league.

mysak sounds like a bust's name

we'll see if i'm right lolol

 

[StevenToddIves]

I'll give you few better from my own blunders; I thought Jonathan Drouin was going to be the best player of his class and I that Michael Dal Colle would be an elite level talent in the NHL

On paper this draft looks like there's at least 20 gems in the first round, which just possibly can't be true, so it'll be very interesting to see how things turn out. Who fails to live up to the expectations, who rises to the occasion, maybe someone who none of us is even mentioning will end up being a star in the league.

Man, that Halifax team with Drouin and MacKinnon was something else, right?

 

[StevenToddIves]

mysak sounds like a bust's name

we'll see if i'm right lolol

Mysak directly translates from the Czech as "Little Mouse". I'm actually not kidding.

 

[PKs Broken Stick]

I also like your D-men listing but I'm probably not as high on Poirier. One of the things you'll notice since you obviously scrolled through some of my past rankings is that I'm notoriously not high on defensemen who are below-average in their own zone. I'm fine with puck-rushing, offensive-minded defensemen who are not shut-down stalwarts defensively, but Poirier's d-zone play is just extremely troublesome to me.

Ah I must've missed this. So you aren't a fan of Poirier. I think I remember seeing on one of your million different ranks, you had Poirier higher than Cormier. I personally prefer Cormier over Poirier, but ofc the other d-men over both.

 

[beekay414]

Honest question...

Would we be better off taking forwards the first two picks and then gambling on Mukhamadullin with Vancouver's pick rather than going Drysdale and two forwards?

Feel like the top 10-12 is incredibly strong at forward and then falls off quite a bit. Feel like the Vancouver range is where the dmen fit better than the forward group. Whether that be Guhle, Mukhamadullin, Schneider, etc.

 

[PKs Broken Stick]

Honest question...

Would we be better off taking forwards the first two picks and then gambling on Mukhamadullin with Vancouver's pick rather than going Drysdale and two forwards?

Feel like the top 10-12 is incredibly strong at forward and then falls off quite a bit. Feel like the Vancouver range is where the dmen fit better than the forward group. Whether that be Guhle, Mukhamadullin, Schneider, etc.

Really depends on how the draft ends up and where we end up...there's no way to definitively say we should go d or f.

Chances are quite high though that bpa at our spot will be F. I mean...the only d-man up there is Drysdale lol.

Also...sort of relevant...next year's draft is looking a lot stronger for d-men and I'm pretty sure the team is taking that into consideration too. Like Steve said before, we don't need to reach for a d-man just cuz the team has a need for them.

 

[beekay414]

Really depends on how the draft ends up and where we end up...there's no way to definitively say we should go d or f.

Chances are quite high though that bpa at our spot will be F. I mean...the only d-man up there is Drysdale lol

Of course. Just speaking more towards the drop off at forward than anything.

Drysdale is legit and the clear cut best Dman but I think taking a shot on the dmen at Vancouver's pick could prove worthwhile. More risk but Mukhamadullin has immense upside and makes more sense than someone like Mavrik Bourque or Justin Sourdif.

 

[PKs Broken Stick]

Of course. Just speaking more towards the drop off at forward than anything.

Drysdale is legit and the clear cut best Dman but I think taking a shot on the dmen at Vancouver's pick could prove worthwhile. More risk but Mukhamadullin has immense upside and makes more sense than someone like Mavrik Bourque or Justin Sourdif.

Yup I agree

 

[StevenToddIves]

Ah I must've missed this. So you aren't a fan of Poirier. I think I remember seeing on one of your million different ranks, you had Poirier higher than Cormier. I personally prefer Cormier over Poirier, but ofc the other d-men over both.

Both Cormier and Poirier have big talent, but I would not take a chance on either of them in the first round. My rankings are still far from ready, but while I am willing to take a chance on a forward with big talent and a poor 200-foot game (see: my extremely high ranking of Kaliyev last year), I am not willing to do the same with a defenseman who cannot take care of his own zone. So, while still unsure where exactly I will rank Poirier and Cormier, there's not much of a chance of them cracking my top 40.

Here's my rough top 10 D ranking now:
1 Drysdale
2 Sanderson
3 Schneider
4 Mukhamadullin
5 Guhle
6 O'Rourke
7 Barron
8 Andrae
9 Jurmo
10 Kleven

 

[StevenToddIves]

Honest question...

Would we be better off taking forwards the first two picks and then gambling on Mukhamadullin with Vancouver's pick rather than going Drysdale and two forwards?

Feel like the top 10-12 is incredibly strong at forward and then falls off quite a bit. Feel like the Vancouver range is where the dmen fit better than the forward group. Whether that be Guhle, Mukhamadullin, Schneider, etc.

Perhaps. Let's say the Devils are picking sixth and Rossi and Drysdale are both available (meaning Lafreniere/Byfield/Stutzle/Holtz/Raymond top 5). I mean, of course I'd really want Drysdale, but I'd have an incredibly difficult time passing on Marco Rossi. The kid is just amazing -- best two way center in the draft with a compete level matched only by Lafreniere among anyone in the class.

What you're suggesting -- which is extremely intelligent -- is that the Devils come out of the top 5 with a trio like Rossi/Quinn/Mukhamadullin or maybe like Holtz/Amirov/Schneider or even Raymond/Mysak/Guhle. Those trios would be absolutely incredible, to say the least.

There's also the idea of tagging a D with the Arizona pick. I think most knowledgable folks on this thread would be pretty ecstatic about Rossi/Sanderson/Mercer, don't you?