The New Jersey Devils are locked into the third spot in the NHL Draft, but could still fall all the way to 6th. If they get there, a prospect that’s worth at least a look is WHL’s Peyton Krebs.
Peyton Krebs is a player no analyst can seem to agree on. He’s listed as high as sixth on some mock drafts, and as low as 17th. He falls somewhere in between pretty much everywhere else. These are all hockey experts here, so there’s got to be something moving him up and down the draft boards. The question for the New Jersey Devils becomes, is he worth the risk?
There’s a disclaimer here, there’s no chance the Devils take him in the top five of this NHL Draft. This is purely for that 15.2% chance the Devils choose 6th. It would be upsetting, because there’s a clear tier one, tier two and tier three of the top prospects in this draft, and tier two ends at pick five.
Peyton Krebs was called one of the hardest forwards to assess in this draft. It’s true. A lot of his issues come from the team he plays for. The Kootenay Ice were one of the worst teams in the entire WHL this season. He led his team in scoring with 68 points, but he barely cracked the top 40 in the league. That’s something a GM can’t like to see. You’re going to choose a player with the 6th overall pick that couldn’t score more points than dozens of opponents?
Well, as we learned with this year’s Devils team, a bad record or lack of points doesn’t necessarily mean that player is lacking talent. The situation surrounding a player has as much to do with points as talent in most situations. This kid can skate, he can shoot, pass, gain possession, steal the puck. Krebs can do everything very, very well.
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Yet, this player that right now looks like the total package could fall into the late teens of this draft because of the team he’s played on for the past two and a half seasons. His goals and assists went up the past two seasons. He’s getting better while the team around him is getting worse. That’s a great sign.
At the end of the day, Krebs could be the most intriguing prospect in this entire draft. He could end up being some team’s Matthew Barzal. This isn’t a “compare every guy drafted in their teens to Barzal”. No, this kid could be that good, but we just don’t KNOW. He’s a major risk. However, the risk reward is ridiculous. This could be a franchise-changing player. He can play both wings and center. The sky is the limit for this kid.
If we were drafting this kid based on his sky, then he’d be three or four in this draft. The sky isn’t what we’re worried about. We’re worried that the floor can bottom out at any moment. The Devils can’t afford to draft another project at six. Ray Shero and company need to do their due diligence. If they feel like he’s more than his points, he could be the 6th pick. If there’s a chance they could end up with Pavel Zacha 2.0, it may be better to look elsewhere.