New Jersey Devils: Assessing Picks We Loves, Liked, And Hated In NHL Draft

What Was That?!?

Shakir Mukhamadullin

Okay, this was a bit of a head scratcher with the 20th overall selection in the draft. We could all *assume* that the Devils were honing in on defenseman Braden Schneider until the Ragers scooped him up by aggressively trading up to get him right before the Devils. Instead the Devils drafted defenseman Shakir Mukhadamullun. We will never know one way or another who Fitzgerald was targeting with the pick, and it really doesn’t even matter at this point. The issue I have, like many other people is that the Devils bypassed another forward (Jacob Perreault, , Connor Zary, Noel Gunler) to reach for a position of need. The Devils could get away with that approach at number 7 if it lands them a 30+ goal scorer in Holtz, but not at this juncture of the draft. It is alright to draft another forward and continue to improve an area of strength. If you develop enough quality forwards, you take that strength and flip it to improve other areas of the team. It is just proper asset management and I think they dropped the ball here. In a perfect world, the Devils would have traded down 10-12 picks, acquired more assets and still gotten Mukhamadullin. Hind-site is 20/20, and with the uniqueness of the draft set-up maybe it was more difficult to find a trade partner, and who knows if Mukhamadullin would have been there. All it would have taken was another general manager who liked him just as much as Fitzgerald.

Mukhamadullin has impressed thus far in the KHL, and he does have the skill-set to become a viable NHL defenseman. He has great size, skating ability and a cannon of a shot ala former Devils defenseman Sheldon Souray. He is a bit of a late bloomer, and maybe that is why it caught many people by surprise. If the Devils were ahead of the curve, that could benefit them in the long run. Mukhamadullin is a project, and until the project is complete this is a pick that is going to be second and triple guessed for a long time. This is a swing for the fences pick, and with three first rounders it’s a gamble they could afford to take. Hopefully this is a home run pick.

Artem Shlaine and Ben Baumgartner

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I wish that I had some savvy insight and some conventional wisdom on these two players. It is really hard to love or hate these picks because we really don’t know what we’re getting this late into the draft. You read into great detail on these players and you have to wonder if they’ll ever get the chance to scratch the surface with the skill sets that they possess. For every Jesper Bratt you find in the 6th round you have 20 guys who never pan out this late in the draft. Artem Shlaine (pick 130) and Ben Baumgartner (161) fit in the mold of speed and skill that the Devils value. It never hurts to have too much skill in the organization, so it’ll be interesting to see how these players develop.

I am also quite surprised that the 18th or 20th pick was not traded for immediate help. That was one asset I believed would be put in play to a cap strapped team for a controllable young asset with an impressive NHL resume to his name. That type of trade is still plausible, but in all likelihood it will involve a roster player, prospect or 2021 draft capital (the Devils would need to put a condition on the 2021 1st, as it will still likely be a top 10 pick). Tom Fitzgerald has a type of player that he covets, so I’m glad that he didn’t trade away a 1st round pick for the sake of doing it. But I really was of the belief that it would get moved for a player who could fit in with the young core that they do have.

Overall I believe that the draft was worth the long, tedious wait that the Devils fans had to endure. They filled some organizational needs at the skill positions and defense, particularly on the left side. Their center depth after Hischier and Hughes and right defense still leave a lot to be desired. They still lack that prominent, franchise changing defenseman. Thanfully, the 2021 draft appears loaded for defenseman. It is nearly impossible to acquire all of your needs in one draft, however the Devils’ future is much brighter than it was when they last played a game in March. The 2020 draft has a chance to be something special.