New Jersey Devils Should Consider Cole Perfetti In NHL Draft
The 2020 NHL Entry Draft is just days away, and it is a crucial one for the New Jersey Devils. The Devils have three picks in the 1st round for the first time in franchise history. This draft is crucial because it will be one of the major factors in projecting their rebuild.
This is the perfect opportunity to add depth to positions that have a lot of holes to fill. With the seventh pick, the Devils are at a very interesting spot. The Devils have a lot of options at number seven. Many mock drafts have the Devils selecting Alexander Holtz, a Swedish right winger who has one of the best shots in the draft. Other recent mock drafts have the Devils selecting Marco Rossi, an Austrian Center who led the entire OHL with 120 points in 56 games. Also, rumors have spread recently that the Devils have an interest in drafting the highly-touted Russian goalie prospect Yaroslav Askarov.
Despite all of this talent on the board, there is one player the Devils should consider with the seventh pick; Cole Perfetti.
Perfetti lit the OHL up during his draft year season with the Spirit, scoring 37 goals and 74 assists in 61 games. He was not that far behind Marco Rossi for the leading scorer in the OHL. To add to that, Perfetti is four months younger than Rossi which makes his numbers more impressive. Comparing to his 2018-19 season, he scored the same amount goals and twice as many assists in two fewer games. This shows that his passing and hockey IQ significantly got better this previous season.
Despite him scoring the same amount of goals in both seasons, he wanted to move away from being a shoot-first player and wanted to become an all-around threat. He proved to be a goal scorer by scoring an outstanding eight goals and four assists in five games at the 2019-2020 U18 Hlinka Gretzky Cup.
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His hockey IQ is incredible and his shot is great as well. In a couple of highlights, he demonstrates extremely accurate shots. He does a superb job at elevating the puck and which helps him greatly in shootouts. His backhanded shot is really good. His all-around and two-way ability is something that the Devils should be attracted to as well. Perfetti knows how to score and how to create plays extremely well. The highlights also display him contributing extremely well in the defensive zone. With him being a high-scoring threat, having one of the best if not the best hockey IQ in the draft, and being responsible in the defensive zone, Cole Perfetti can arguably be the best option for the Devils with the seventh pick.
Despite all of his upside, he has some weaknesses. One of them is his height. Cole Perfetti is measured at 5’10” and 185lbs. He is a shorter player and it might be a concern when he transitions to the NHL. However, his weight seems great for his height, so he can keep his balance and stand up to taller and bigger players. Also, other players have similar heights and weights as Perfetti. For example, Marco Rossi is slightly shorter than Cole by measuring at a height of 5’9″ and weighs 185lbs. Also, Lucas Raymond is 5’10” and 183lbs. This means that height and/or size is also a concern for other top-five and top-ten players in this draft.
Another notable weakness of Perfetti’s is his skating. He lacks speed and explosiveness in his skating. This lack of speed might affect is the transition to a higher paced NHL. A recent update though from Dobber Prospects mentioned that Cole Perfetti has been working a lot on his strength and speed during the pandemic break. This is very promising to hear and this will surely help his draft stock and development.
Overall, the Devils should highly consider taking Cole Perfetti with their seventh pick. His all-around skills make him a huge threat on the ice including. He has the potential of being a 25-35 goal scorer and producing a lot of assists. He can work extremely well with Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier, who both have incredible hockey IQs as well. This can make him and his linemates play at a much higher level. I certainly hope that he makes it down to seven because he has the potential of becoming a superstar player that can strengthen the Devils’ core.
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What do you think? Would you like to see the Devils take Cole Perfetti with the seventh pick? Do you think Holtz or another player is a better option at seven? Please leave a comment below and let’s get a discussion started.