New Jersey Devils: 2016 Draft Recap
The 2016 NHL draft was a busy one for the New Jersey Devils. General Manager Ray Shero selected nine new prospects and traded for right winger Beau Bennett. Here’s Puck’s and Pitchforks’ full recap.
The dust has settled on the 2016 draft. Let’s review. The Devils went into Buffalo on Friday with nine overall selections and left with the rights to ten new players when it was all over on Saturday. Ray Shero and company traded down one spot in the first round from #11 to #12 to select center Michael McLeod and also acquire a 3rd round pick from Ottawa. New Jersey then went on to trade one of their three third rounders to Pittsburgh for right winger Beau Bennett. In the end, the Devils went heavy on offense as expected, and ended up drafting six forwards out of their nine picks. After not making the playoffs the past 4 seasons and struggling to score, it’s nice to see Ray Shero buck the trend and focus on developing offensive prospects.
Now, we wait and hope to see some of these prospects in the NHL in a couple years. We have no way of knowing if any of these players selected will be any good at the NHL level yet. It’s not like the NFL or NBA where players get drafted and come in to make an immediate impact. These are kids who need time to develop both their game and their bodies at the professional level. And it will take years, so give them time. For now, we can evaluate who the Devils did select and hope for the best.
Michael McLeod – Mississauga Steelheads
In the first round, it looks like the Devils knew they wanted Mikey McLeod, so the trade down one position made sense, gaining the 3rd round pick and getting the guy they wanted:
“We felt like we were going to be able to get Mike at that pick anyways, so it was a good decision to acquire another asset,” Devils coach John Hynes said. “It is a very deep draft this year, get the third round pick in this year’s draft, so you get the two-for-one deal with the player you’re excited about and the draft pick.”
“He’s a good skater, he’s aggressive on the puck, he can play at a high pace,” Devils coach John Hynes said of McLeod. “Those are the things we want to build and put in our team as we continue to get better.”
Already at 6 foot 2, 185 pounds at 18 years old, McLeod will have time to develop his body and put on some weight to prepare for the NHL. The Canadian native was the 2014 OHL Cup MVP and has steadily improved in his time with the Steelheads. He put up 21 goals and 40 assists in 2015-16 in 57 games.
As per NHL Central Scouting:
McLeod is considered to be one of the fastest skaters in the 2016 draft class. He’s a two-way forward with good size (6-2, 185), intelligence and the capability to play in all situations. He had six power-play goals, four shorthanded goals and won 58.0 percent of his faceoffs. McLeod is strong along the wall in battles for pucks and knows how to get to the net in the offensive zone.
McLeod certainly looks like he can be a future professional player. He already has good size, and if he can put on 15-20 pounds, he’ll have an NHL body. He’s also something that the Devils haven’t been; he’s FAST. Scouts are saying he’s a good two-way player on both ends of the ice, with solid puck possession skills. If he can work on finishing with the puck, this may end up to be a smart pick by Ray Shero. It’s the second year in a row that the Devils went out and drafted a center with size in the first round, after taking Pavel Zacha last year. Like Zacha, give McLeod time to grow his game and mature as a player. Luckily, the Devils have the patience it takes while rebuilding and can give McLeod the time he needs.
Nathan Bastian – Mississauga Steelheads
As per Elite Prospects:
“Bastian is a forward with great size who performs well in all aspects of the game. He has a good shot and can dish the puck as well as any in the OHL. He could benefit from getting a little meaner, but has shown vast improvement throughout his OHL career. He is a good skater for such a large player. Some have compared him to a James Van Riemsdyk. He should be considered a legitimate NHL prospect.”
At 6’4”, 207 pounds, Bastian is even bigger than McLeod, so Ray Shero certainly has added some offensive size to the prospect pool with the Devils first two selections. The two are not only teammates, but also apparently “best friends.” It will be very interesting to see how these two develop through the Devils system. We haven’t seen the Devils go for two forwards in the first two rounds in awhile. In this rebuilding process, New Jersey needs all the offense they can get.
Third Round and Beau Bennett
The Devils went into the 3rd round with three draft picks, choosing right winger Joey Anderson of the U.S. National Development Team at #73 and center Brandon Gignac of the Shawinigan Cataractes at #80. As the rounds get deeper in the draft, the less likely that the prospects will make it to the NHL. So, not to slight these players, but we aren’t going to do any sort of deep analysis on them. The takeaway from these first four picks is that they were all forwards. The Devils have a glaring need for scoring, and Ray Shero went out and addressed that need as best he could with these picks.
The real story of the 3rd round was the Devils trading the #77 pick to Pittsburgh for the rights to right winger Beau Bennett. A former first round pick in 2010, Bennett has had an injury-plagued NHL career so far, playing in just 129 games in four seasons. He’s still only 24, so it’s not a bad gamble for the Devils to take, considering they only gave up one of their three 3rd rounders. Bennett will actually play at the NHL level next year, unlike any prospect selected in this draft. He’s no better than a bottom-6 forward at this point in his career, but he provides some depth that the Devils need at right wing. Shero and Hynes know what they are getting with Bennett coming from Pittsburgh, so the familiarity makes sense as well. They must like him, and he’ll get a chance to prove himself as long as he stays healthy.
You’ll notice that the Devils traded for Bennett’s rights, as he is a pending restricted free agent and will need to be resigned. I don’t see that being a problem, as the Devils have deep pockets right now and Bennett only made $800,000 last season. He’ll get a slight raise, and the Devils get a right winger with some NHL experience. Don’t expect him to be the Kyle Palmieri of 2016, his career high is 14 points in 49 games and he was brought in to be a depth player. But, hope that he can make some impact on a now-much younger and hungrier Devils team. Just pray that he can stay healthy.
The Rest
The Devils still had five picks remaining in rounds 4-7, and they went all over position-wise. Here’s who they chose:
4th Round – # 102 – Mikhail Maltsev – Left Wing – Russia U-18 Team
4th Round – # 105 – Evan Cormier – Goalie – Saginaw Spirit
5th Round – # 132 – Yegor Rykov – Defenseman – St. Petersburg Jrs (Russia)
6th Round – # 162 – Jesper Bratt – Left Wing – AIK (Swe-1)
7th Round – #192 – Jeremy Davies – Defenseman – Bloomington Thunder
Will any of these players in the late rounds evolve into NHL players? Probably not, but you never know. If they do, great. If not, Ray Shero tried. The only head-scratcher may be picking a goalie in the 4th round. If there is one position that the Devils are stacked, it’s between the pipes. But, management must have seen something they like, and depth never hurts. Again, we’ve never seen any of these prospects play. Criticizing any pick right now is a moot point. These aren’t NHL-ready players and will take time to mature. Beau Bennett will be the only player acquired in this draft that we will see anytime soon.
Next: Devils 2016-17 Schedule Released
Ray Shero did what what thought he’d do. He drafted forwards early hoping one or two of these guys can turn into a productive player at the NHL level. He made a trade for a former 1st rounder whose been down on his luck and will give him a chance to prove himself in New Jersey. And now, we wait. This is rebuilding, trust in the process. Next stop: free agency this Friday.