Draft Day Thoughts

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We’ve made it. The 2020 NHL Entry Draft is finally here.

It won’t take the same form as we’re accustomed to, but it should still bring the same kind of drama and excitement; especially for the New Jersey Devils.

While they’re more than willing to part with one of their 1st rounders if the right deal comes along, that obviously hasn’t happened yet.

If they end up standing pat, which I still don’t think is a sure thing, it shouldn’t be looked at as a negative. There are other ways to get players. Cap space is more valuable than ever, after all.

Zooming out, a retooling team adding three high-end prospects to the system is anything but a problem.

Nico Hischier, Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt and co. are all still babies. Yes, you want to give them support; ideally sooner than later.

But it’s not like their best years will be behind them in a couple years when the 18th overall pick and 20th overall pick are ready to contribute meaningfully.

A few other thoughts:

• Marco Rossi is my 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th option if he is still available at 7th overall. He is my 4th ranked prospect in this draft class and, honestly, I can be convinced to make him 3rd. I think taking him at 7 is a no brainer. I don’t care that he is undersized (so is Brayden Point!). I don’t care that the Devils have quality players at center. I think Rossi has the potential to make more of an impact than almost everybody else and, thus, I want to add him to the team. Having three high-end young centers is not a bad thing. If he has to shift to wing once in a while, I’m confident he can do that too. Get the best players in your organization and figure out the rest later.

• I don’t think both defenders will be available at 7. Neither do the two front office members I spoke to yesterday; both had Jake Sanderson in their projected top-6. If, for one reason or another, Sanderson and Jamie Drysdale are both available at 7, Drysdale is my preferred choice. I believe he has more offensive upside and his defensive game is probably better than he is given credit for.

• Here are my ideal rankings for the 7th overall pick:

  1. Marco Rossi

  2. Lucas Raymond

  3. Cole Perfetti

  4. Jamie Drysdale

  5. Alexander Holtz

  I think Raymond and Perfetti are likely to be gone. So, for me, it will likely be Rossi-Drysdale-Holtz in that order.

  I certainly don’t want Yaroslav Askarov at 7 and, for me, Jake Sanderson would be a bit of a reach (based on my preferences, not consensus rankings). The Devils almost certainly couldn’t get him in the low 10s – he may not even be there at 7th overall – but that’s the range where I’d actually be pleased with the pick rather than just living with it.

• Bonus thought: I think Minnesota will pounce on the opportunity to get Rossi if he slides. If he doesn’t, I think it is down to Anton Lundell or Yaroslav Askarov. They *really* want to add a center and Lundell is projected to go in that range. The question is if they view his ceiling at center higher than Askarov’s in net. I think the edge might go to the latter so I could see the Wild, who have poor NHL goaltending and no high-end prospects between the pipes, being the team to take the plunge on Askarov.