With Draft Day coming as fast as Jack Hughes skating down the ice. it’s time to take a look at other possibilities the New Jersey Devils could snag with my 5 ideal picks.
Jack Hughes: He is a blazing fast, quick thinking, and super creative. He can attack very well with and without the puck, and he’s beginning to be more supportive off the puck. He can score, and create amazing plays on the power play, even strength, and even penalty kill time.
Mads Sogaard: He is an amazingly calm goaltender out of the Medicine Hat Tigers, he’s very fluid laterally for a Danish goalie who is similar to Ben Bishop. Maybe a year or two of development would help him with a few tweaks. He is the best goalie after Spencer Knight in this draft class.
Marshall Warren: The left-handed defenseman is very strong in the offensive zone adding pressure when he gets possession with the puck, and has a bit of a physical game for a guy who is 5’11.” He is headed to Boston College where there is a huge reputation for producing excellent hockey players. I can see Marshall adding more weight from 168 lb to possibly 180 by the time he gets out of BC. I do want him to become more of a physical body when he gets out off BC.
Yegor Afanasyev The Tver, Russia native is a left-handed shot for the Muskegon Lumberjacks USHL team. If “Tver” looks awfully familiar that is because he’s from the same town as Ilya Kovalchuk who he idolized. He had 62 points in 58 games with 35 assists. He is 6’4″ and 201 pounds. Devils fans will love this kid a ton because he is a shooter and he loves taking risks with traffic in front. His slap shot and his long range wrist shot are one of his top attributes that I feel Castron’s staff out in Russia will be pounding hard to draft.
Maxim Cajkovic: The Slovak winger who played for the St. John’s Sea Dogs of the QMJHL. He is a 5’11” forward who barely needs much time and space with the type of shot he has. He is a player who also performed well for team Slovakia on the U-18 stages scoring 33 points in 21 Games in 2017-18. This year he scored 18 points in 21 Games for Slovakia. His first year win the QMJHL boosted his ability to score 46 points in 60 games played. I’m sure with the Devils scouting department in The QMJHL, and for Central European Hockey ops that Maxim is on their radar.