OT: NHL Draft

[RU Cheese]

Matthews had plenty of hype pre draft, I'd say clearly more then Lafraniere. I'd say Hughes did as well, especially with his USDP records and his showing in the U-18's, but if you google, you do see alot of "best prospect since Matthews" results for Lafer.

I also remember more hype for Jones then MacKinnon, it was close though.

Agree to disagree. Hughes did have quite a bit, but not to same extent as other 3 (post Crosby). Matthews was number 1 so his name would come up, but again, not even close PFE draft.

 

[RU Cheese]

This kid Holtz really does have sniper instincts, this is a goal he scored today in Sweden's top league, watch how he waits for traffic to get in front of the goalie and then pinpoints through the crowd:

He's the best pure goal scorer in this draft class.

 

[Ronnie_B]

He's the best pure goal scorer in this draft class.

You're not really supposed to draft for need, but damn if we didn't need a scorer.

 

[Proud NJ Sports Fan]

You're not really supposed to draft for need, but damn if we didn't need a scorer.

Are there any goal scorers in the Devils minor leagues?

 

[Ronnie_B]

Are there any goal scorers in the Devils minor leagues?

Nolan Foote, Graeme Clark and Tyce Thompson are players to keep an eye on, especially Foote, his dad was Adam Foote and he's a big forward with a cannon shot and like Holtz has all-around skills.

 

[RU Cheese]

How good is this Shane Wright for 2022? I was already hearing about him a year or so ago.

Hard to say because he's so young. He was granted exceptional status which is basically when Canadian Juniors let's you play as 15 yo (underage). That's basically anointing you as special up there, and rightfully so because you really need to tear up the midget league to get that.

That said, these are young kids. Guys like Tavares and McDavid were exceptions and clearly turned out well. Aaron Ekblad too. At same time, Sean Day (NYR pick) wasn't great in juniors and after being a third round pick never made it to the NHL. Joe Valeno was picked at end of R1 a couple years ago and jury is still out on him. I think that's literally the entire list of exceptional status guys.