The New Jersey Devils used their 4th-round pick to select a defensive prospect.
The New Jersey Devils draft went mostly really well through the first five picks. Their first two picks feel like absolute slam dunks in Alexander Holtz and Dawson Mercer. Shakir Mukhamadullin was a questionable pick, but a lot of people are coming around on the young defender. Nico Daws and Jaromir Pytlik were awesome values. With their second 4th-round pick, they took Ethan Edwards out of the AJHL (soon to be student-athlete at the University of Michigan).
Edwards also feels like a good value, but he also might be a repeated value as some of the Devils other young defensemen. He’s on the smaller side (5’10, but theoretically he could grow), he has a nose for the puck, and he likes to make plays. Elite Prospects touts his aggressiveness as to why he could excel on the next level.
Edwards is a player that likes to cut space on defense. He plays aggressive on both sides of the ice, and that will lead to a boom or bust type prospect. Edwards will either be able to do that on an elite level, helping him make the NHL, or he could flame out and end up being someone who has trouble translating those attributes to the NHL. This is a really good risk to take with the 120th overall pick.
The Devils are basically taking a swing for the fences on a player who still needs to prove what he is. How he translates to the NCAA game will show the Devils what they have in this prospect. Basically, this is an incomplete profile as we await his games in leagues that actually matter.
Edwards is someone who can make plays, but consistency will come into question until he proves otherwise. For now, there are too many variables to accurately decide what kind of prospect he is.
B- might sound like a bad grade, but it’s not. It just shows this pick was a little better than average. Edwards could absolutely get to the league, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if he completely flames out. There’s just too much we don’t know about the prospect right now. He can make plays, but he’s only proven that against lesser competition. He can close space, but will that translate when he’s playing against much faster players. This feels fair, but we could be looking at a completely different grade one year from now.