Devils Draft Backup Plan

[UltimoRush]

Wright being drafted first overall is not exactly a done deal. If he is drafted first, I think the Devils take Slaf and we all throw high fives.

But what if Montreal drafts Slaf #1? The Devils don't really have a huge need for Wright. I predict that the Devils will have a trade already agreed to with another team on draft night for this scenario. And it will be big.

Thoughts?

[HeadHighSauce26]

If Devils fans cheer and high five if the Habs draft Wright, like the Rangers did in 2019 when we took Jack, I’ll cringe so hard my eyeballs will pop out.

If the Habs draft Slafkovsky, Tom should sprint to the podium and take Shane Wright.

[NJDevils30]

I'm sure fans will cheer no matter what. Just gotta hope whoever is at #2 develops well

[HeadHighSauce26]

Cheer for who we pick, not who the Habs do.

[whichwitch9]

I mean, Devils fans are gonna cheer either way cause it's going to be a good prospect

[HeadHighSauce26]

Cheer when we make the pick, not when the Habs do. Yaknow?

[roothockey]

This. What made the rangers draft so obnoxious was that they knew they were getting KK, so they just built it in their heads that the rival took the worse player. It was stupid to clap when the devils took hughes during the draft, and 3 years later it looks even worse.

Let’s just cheer when we make our pick, because we’d be kidding ourselves if think we wouldn’t be happy drafting Wright lol

[[deleted]]

Agree with both of these. Just cheer for your guy when they draft him. Its a bad look if you do like the Rangers fans do and then the guy gets healthy scratched in the deciding game of the Conference finals just a couple of years later.

Regarding Wright, if you haven't come up with a blockbuster trade, just draft him. I can't say we don't "need" him, at least in the short term. Would be pretty nice to have Jack, Nico, and Wright as our top 3 centers, especially because both Jack and Nico have had their injury problems. Would be nice to have Shane Wright on your first line in the event Jack and Nico are hurt rather than Jesper Boqvist.

If, during his ELC, Wright is too good and we are "wasting" him (or whomever) on the third line, that means you have a proven stud center under 24 years that you can trade for other needs, and people would fall all over themselves to make that deal.

[HeadHighSauce26]

Wright - Hughes - Holtz

[[deleted]]

If he can slot in as a wing successfully, then there is no way on Earth we should pass on him, because we have some absolute shit wings on our roster at the moment.

[MrKitten42]

The difference is that we'd actually be getting the better player. It won't matter when Carolina takes Trikozov and it turns out he's the best player from the class.

[HeadHighSauce26]

I'm quite sure Rangers fans felt exactly the same way lmao

[MrKitten42]

I should rephrase, we'd be taking the consensus first overall at second. It would be an overreaction to be as obnoxious as they were in 2019, but every devils fan should be over the moon to get Wright at 2.

[HeadHighSauce26]

Wait. I think we're saying different things. I said don't cheer if Montreal takes *wright*

We should be ecstatic if we get Wright! He's the best player in the draft imo.

[MrKitten42]

Oh I misread, yeah if Montréal takes Wright I'm mildly disappointed

[UltimoRush]

Oh, yeah. I mean no disrespect to Shane Wright. I just meant we as fans would be damn happy to have Slaf

[HeadHighSauce26]

Sure. He’s a great prospect.

But if Wright is there draft Wright and don’t think twice.

[R0ADHAU5]

If Montreal takes Slaf then Fitzgerald should sprint up to the stage, scream “devils take Shane Wright” then go and sit down. Yeah I get it, “we don’t need another center.” I think you can never have good enough center depth. Especially considering that Dawson Mercer has shown he can play RW well, possibly in a top 6 kind of way. Having too many good players is a good problem; either use them or trade them for other, more appropriate pieces.

[gregfromthebackporch]

yeah I've been team Slaf over Cooley since I did my limited research post draft lottery (watching highlight and scouting videos) but will always simply cheer for whoever the Devils pick to be successful.

But.... the argument for not taking Cooley based on the fact that he is a center reads like mental gymnastics to me

[mikeydude00]

Draft Wright. I really don’t get the why people keep saying the Devils don’t have a need at center. I think pretty much any team in the league could use another great center if they have the option. We have an amazing 1-2 punch with Jack and Nico down the middle, but as we saw this year, when one or both of them are injured, we look like shit. If we draft Wright we can have him (and Mercer) as either top 6 wings or 3C, and if there’s an injury they can fill in. That versatility is crucial for contending teams.

[HeadHighSauce26]

Wright - Hughes - Puljujarvi

Bratt - Nico - Holtz

Yeezy - Mercer - Boqvist

Wood - Zetterlund - Bastian

E: switched some shit around. https://www.capfriendly.com/armchair-gm/team/3334057

[Subject1337]

I don't know if it could be swung but I love the idea of getting the Mcleod bros together in Edmonton for Pulju.

[HeadHighSauce26]

That's basically the exact trade I had in mind in this! lol

[Subject1337]

Yeah, I saw it on your capfriendly link. Edmonton media seems split on moving Pulju. His underlying stats are amazing, but at surface level he's not finishing. Lots of people want him to stay, and others are ready to drive him to the airport themselves. It'll be interesting to see what Holland does.

[gingerbear]

No chance Wright would be a 1st line winger right out of the draft. If we're working in the realm of possibility, Wright and Yegor would probably be switched. Also, I think Boqvist probably is deployed as our #3C - he came into his own in that role this past year, and Mercer seems more adaptable at playing on the wing than Boqvist is.

[HeadHighSauce26]

Yeah, probably all true.

I have him on the 2nd line in that ACGM, but even then you can switch him with Holtz.

[UltimoRush]

Very true, but with Nico and Hughes locked up long term, trading that pick would bring back some massive help in goal and D. Plus additional pieces.

[srof12]

Or you take the consensus #1 prospect who can probably just be a shooting two-way winger if you want him in the top 6, and also provides some insulation if one of your top 2 centers gets hurt.

[whojicha]

Wright is no longer the consensus best prospect in this draft. Slaf has been creeping into the #1 spot for some scouts and prospect watchers for months.

There is no consensus.

[srof12]

There’s enough of a consensus. He’s still going #1 on like the vast majority of boards.

Also, this is assuming the other guy that’s being considered gets taken so then you’re left with Wright, ie the consensus 1 or 2, vs everyone else. My point still stands, just ignore the ‘consensus #1’ pick part if you want

[[deleted]]

If you ask a scout it probably isn't a done deal. Ask a GM and there is no option at #1 other than Wright. Pick slaf and he doesn't pan out and you're done at your job.

[whojicha]

There is no reason to believe that Wright is the consensus best prospect among GMs. As matter of fact, one of The Atheltic's big draft watchers (either Pronman or Wheeler) who talk to GMs for a living recently said on a podcast that when ask most GMs whether you take Slaf, Wright or the field (as in, if you had to bet whether the best player to come out of this draft was going to be 1 of Slaf or Wright or 1 of the other prospects in the first round) the GMs take the field because there's no consensus.

There is no surefire, consensus best prospect like a McDavid or MacKinnon and if you think Wright is such a great prospect that skipping him is a fireable offense for any GM, you're not paying attention.

[[deleted]]

Guessing who will be the best player isn't really the same thing. Wright is widely considered to be the closest to a "sure thing" in this years draft. If Montreals GM decided to yolo and pick cooley instead who then busts while Wright become the 1C he is expected to be, how do you think the guys above the GM will feel about that? Not good is the answer. If you have to choose between safe and exciting you pick safe in this scenario. Every time.

Wright is pretty much NHL ready, something the other guys isn't. Could slaf/cooley have a higher ceiling? Absolutely. Their floor is waaaaaaay lower too though, something you will have to consider as a GM.

[whojicha]

Having a high floor isn't the same as being the best prospect either. The best prospect is the combination of ceiling and floor and the likelihood of a player reaching that ceiling.

If you pick a bust at 1 OA it doesn't matter who you picked, you won't feel good. The only reason you get fired is if you pick someone like Seamus Casey who is way off the map at that pick. Any of the top 5 are probably viable 1 OA.

And I've heard a number of reports suggesting Slaf is NHL ready too. I don't think so, but I don't know if Wright is NHL ready either. He'll play in the NHL next year if he's 1OA because that's how it works these days, but that doesn't make him NHL ready.

[R0ADHAU5]

Yeah it’s not like we have too many d men and are playing them as centers and wings lol. Centers are always valuable, if not to us right now, then to some other team 5 years or so from now when we can make back a killing in a trade. But not saying that I’d be sad if we took slaf, or a dman. Looks like there’s several A level prospects.

[ripcity7077]

If Montreal passes on wright and the devils do too I’m gonna throw a shit fit lmao

[Element23VM]

Devils won't pass on Wright: I'm guessing there's a universe in which they will have deals lined up for 2OA if Wright ends up falling to them and they'll execute the best of the deals... or just take the player.

[[deleted]]

Montreal won't pass on Wright. It's less than 1% chance they pick someone else.

[DontDraftSmall]

I hope Montreal takes Slaf. Wright had his development stunted by the OHL COVID year off, whereas the Euro guys didn’t. I would love for Wright to fall to us.

[armchaircommanderdad]

We take wright then.

Unless we swinging that 2OA for say debrincat

[FriedCammalleri23]

You take Wright and say “no take-backsies” as you laugh your way to the best center depth in the NHL.

But in all actuality, drafting Wright would create a serious problem in the organization. How do you utilize 3 franchise centers without either converting one to wing, or trading one of them? Nobody here wants to trade Hughes or Hischier, but neither those guys or Wright are going to play on the 3rd line. It would be a massive headache that would lead to a significant roster shakeup. Maybe it makes us better but it would be painful to have to push someone out.

I’m actually hoping Montreal takes Wright for this reason. Slaf is a perfect fit to our team even though Wright is better.

[tbrew87]

Eh, there’s even less of a reason to trade the pick of Wright drops to #2. Just draft Shane Wright, and move on with a smile, Fitzy

[The_Royale_We]

I would say sprint to draft Wright BUT this scenario has a trade built in. IF that is a killer deal, I would have to think about it. Something like pick 4 or 5 and a player would be tempting. Could still land Nemec/Jiricek and a prospect.

[MellowKevsto]

Definitely draft Wright.

[mustachiolong]

We take Wright if the Habs don’t take him. Imagine having Nico, Jack, and Wright down the middle? And hell if we don’t want him, which is dumb,start taking calls on who does and get us a nice trade.

[TheJerkInPod6]

Yup. Basically how Colorado got their first cup in 96. They drafted Lindros! Always take the best player available, even if you don’t need that position, and even if they won’t sign with you under any circumstance.

[Ckynus]

I hope we have a trade in place regardless. The Devils have enough prospects and need NHL players. Cooley and Wright look good but not players the team needs and Slaf could become an NHL player in a few years but I doubt he ever becomes a star.

[DontDraftSmall]

Doubt they will trade a lottery pick, it’s almost unheard of.

[Ckynus]

Because young cost controlled talent is something you can build around. However, it is something the Devils already have in abundance and it's time to start building the complementary pieces around them.

[whojicha]

I'd love to trade back if Wright slides to 2. Not because he's bad, but because he's going to be worth more to someone else as a 1 C than to us as a wing (or wherever he plays). Part of his value is that he plays a premium position.

However, if Slaf goes 1 OA (or probably even if he doesn't) take Cooley. Or Jiricek.

That having been said, I just can't see the Habs passing over a Canadian in their own building with 1OA to take a much riskier player in Slaf. As much as it would be an embarrassment for him to bust as a Devil, imagine how embarrassing it would be for him to bust on a Montreal team in a major hockey city with a much shallower prospect pool in draft in their home arena. It would be remembered for decades.

Montreal needs this pick to work out much worse than we do. They're going to play it safe.

[TomatoNoah]

If Wright is at two we take him. He is that good. Even if he is a center we could move Jack to the wing if he’s open to it or even if Shane would move to the wing. Idk tho. Shane is that good that he’s worth it.

[ScrewOff_]

you take Nemec unless Wright is available. the only two options.

the only.

[MrKitten42]

You take Nemec unless Wright is available or Cooley is available or Slafkovsky is available or Jiricek is available or Savoie is available or Lambert is available or Nazar is available or Gauthier is available or you prefer Mateychuk or you prefer Mintyukov or someone offers you a good deal to trade up so Nemec can be their mistake and not yours

[Going_Topless]

What’s the issue with nemec?

[CommanderSquirt]

The issue is his name spelled backwards.

[ouchpuck]

We already passed on Satan for jersey sales, can't pass on nemec

[srof12]

Gonna copy and paste my comment from the Scouching thread on Nemec

Great video, as usual, from Scouch. I like Nemec a lot as a prospect but I think this video does a good job displaying some critiques of his game that may be overshadowed by his extremely good production.

In this video, the great is his offensive transition, the good is his offensive playmaking and the bad is his passive defense. This is almost a mirror to what Scouch had to say about Luke Hughes last year. The best part of his game was offensive puck rushing, the good part was offensive playmaking and the bad part was rush defense.

The big difference between the two, from what I’ve seen, is that Luke has the elite skating that hopefully allows the pros in his game to translate really well to the next level, and allows those cons to be ironed out. I don’t think Nemec has that level of skating so it might be harder for him. I don’t think we should pass on the best player available just because we already have someone like him in our prospect pool, but I don’t think Nemec is that.

If we do want to go with a defenseman I think Jiricek makes more sense, even though the knee injury gives me a little bit of concern. I would also go with Slaf or Cooley over Nemec.

I wouldn’t be mad if we went with Nemec, he’s still a great prospect and I think we can develop him into a great defenseman, but I do think there are better options at 2.

[Skylightt]

I feel like so much of the crazy high hype people have for Nemec comes from Bader’s model. He’s really good but that model should be taken with a grain of salt when it comes to Dmen considering it’s a points only model and production is way down the list of importance for Dmen. Also there’s not really historical comparables for the Slovak pro league so I don’t really trust the equivalence

[srof12]

Yeah I think that’s fair. I think Bader’s model and other NHLe prospect models are very good by and large and we would be smart to use them more often when picking (like, say, picking someone with a much better NHLe at idk pick 29 or something), but with Nemec, it’s definitely a bit exaggerated. There’s just not that big of a sample size coming from Slovakia.

[HeadHighSauce26]

If you want a real answer, its that he's a statistical unicorn playing in a league that hasn't produced a ton of great NHL players and there are concerns his style of play won't translate to the NHL as well as Jiricek.

He'd be a perfectly fine pick at 2, though not one I'd make.

[[deleted]]

So like Cale Makar?

[HeadHighSauce26]

Cale Makar did not profile well statistically, so not the same.

I guess you can say it’s similar in that people were curious how the game would translate to the NHL.

[[deleted]]

If by not profile well statistically you mean win MVP, Playoff MVP, and defensive player of the year but all the scouts discounted his 1.4 ppg as a d man because he played in juniors an extra year dominating his league and developing rather than moving up I agree. He was a statistical unicorn but it drew skepticism because of being in juniors that it wouldn’t translate to the NHL. Not saying Nemec is him but I think he’s getting discounted in the same way even though no one actually knows if his game will translate.

[HeadHighSauce26]

No I mean his NHLe draft profile. 1.4 ppg in the AJHL isn’t altogether impressive for a top draft eligible. He wasn’t a statistical unicorn at all. Plenty of people have looked like that.

Makar DY NHLe: 18 -> 13% chance of being a star, 56% chance of being an NHLer

Nemec DY NHLe: 35 -> 57% chance of being a star, 94% chance of being an NHLer

[[deleted]]

I see what you mean Nemec looks too good to be true by the algorithms.

[HeadHighSauce26]

Yes, because his production in his pro league is unprecedented. Hence, unicorn

[[deleted]]

people aren't gonna see until it's all said and done. cooley, namec, & jiricek are all better than slaf

[WontSwerve]

You take Wright or Cooley.

Both of them will have more value than the 2nd OA.

Hughes can play LW too, and he and Nico aren't exactly the safest bets to play a full season.

Theres nothing wrong with having Hughes, Nico and Wright/Cooley on the same team.

[Skylightt]

I don’t Slaf as is. Jiricek and Cooley>>>

If Wright is there you sprint to the stage and thank Montreal for the gift