In the 3rd round of the NHL Draft, the New Jersey Devils decided to pick a goalie as the roster is rather lacking in good prospects between the crease. The Devils can’t just rely on Mackenzie Blackwood in the future. Each year, starters are playing less and less, so a split is good. Getting a decent prospect every year in the draft is a good idea.
His first two seasons in the OHL with the Guelph storm were not good. In 2017-18 he had a 4.06 Goals against average and a .880 save percentage . This was followed up by another underwhelming set of numbers with a 3.25 Goals against average and a .893 save percentage in 2018-19.
Being a goalie may be the hardest especially for young players and this, like all, is a project but the progress made this last season makes it a good pick. His numbers improved to a very strong 2.48 goals against average with a .924 save percentage.
This is all the more impressive because his save percentage was the highest in the entire OHL and only eight goalies in the entire league even managed a .900 save percentage. On top of that, only two goalies let in less goals per game. Their is not a lot more that could be asked of a young goalie than that.
His team in Guelph finished in the bottom half of the league so his numbers were not inflated by this which is another good sign. His improvement was his, not his teams so this was a fantastic bet by GM Fitzgerald in the third round. This season if Daws can take even a small step forward this pick will look incredible and getting the second best goalie this late in the draft was a great bet.