New Jersey Devils: 5 Defensive Prospects To Watch Before 2021 NHL Draft
The New Jersey Devils could be looking at another really good player in the 2021 NHL Draft.
The New Jersey Devils have made marked improvements this offseason. Things should go better, but the reality is the competition is going to be very hard again in the 2020-21 season. This could lead to another rough season for the Devils. There is a positive development with all this. This year’s NHL Draft is one of the deepest in terms of defensemen in a long time.
In the past 20 years, only three defensemen have been chosen first overall, but most 2021 mock drafts, including this one from ESPN, have Michigan’s Owen Power as the top pick. He would join Rasmus Dahlin, Aaron Ekblad, and Erik Johnson as the only defensemen this millennium to go before every other player.
Four defensive players are expected to go in the top ten. This will very much help the Devils as they have a ton of forward prospects, but their defensive prospects come down to Ty Smith, Reilly Walsh, Kevin Bahl, and Nikita Okhotyuk. There’s also Shakir Mukhamadullin, who the Devils took in the 1st round this season. Only Smith is really guaranteed to make a mark in the NHL, and it’s still a question about where he fits over the next few seasons. It’s hard to say the Devils have their top-line defenseman of the future in their ranks right now.
This next draft could give the Devils the final piece of their puzzle with one more major defensive piece. This is the draft to get that piece. There are 10 players who could one day become stars, and there are others that are waiting to take a step forward. Jake Sanderson was considered a tweener 1st-round pick before last season. He ended up going ahead of Jamie Drysdale, who was basically a guarantee to go as the first defenseman before the season.
Things can change. Seasons will make some defensemen look better than others, but the high-end skill at the position makes this a unique draft for the Devils. They need to hit on this pick if they want to build something special. These five players should be on Devils’ fans radar.
1. Owen Power – University of Michigan (NCAA)
The Devils would need to get a top-three pick to even have the dream of taking Owen Power. Even if Power suffered a season-ending injury today, he would still likely go in the top three because of his upside. This kid is that good.
Power just had his debut in the maize and blue this past weekend, and he was the first star. He’s likely going to destroy the NCAA this season, especially with so many questions surrounding the top programs. Michigan is expected to be one of those powerhouses, and they might be the favorite to win it all. They just beat Arizona State 8-1, and they are not a bad team.
Power stands at 6’5 and is already 215 lbs. He’s got NHL size despite being a teenager. If he was in the draft this season, he would be the first defenseman taken, and he might have challenged Alexis Lafrenière for first overall. He could play in the NHL tomorrow, but he has to wait until he gets drafted. Thems the rules. The NHL’s loss is Michigan’s and college hockey as a whole’s gain.
This is a franchise-changing defenseman. The Devils would have to go through another terrible season to even have a shot at Power. It’s unlikely they’ll be this bad, but it’s entirely possible. This would be the silver lining to so many losses. However, with Mackenzie Blackwood and Corey Crawford in net, that alone should be able to get enough wins to keep them out of the Owen Power conversation. With that said, there are still stars in this class.
2. Carson Lambos – Winnipeg Ice (WHL)
There is a consensus top two for defensemen in this draft. Since we went over the longshot that is Owen Power, skipping Brandt Clarke makes sense. He will be a good prospect, but Devils fans should be looking for players that might be playing for them one season. One player that has been ranked anywhere between the top 10 and as low as the 20s is Carson Lambos of the Winnipeg Ice.
He’s a very talented offensive defenseman that plays on the left side. He had 56 points in 57 games last season. The Devils have a lot of offensive defensemen on the roster already, but by the time Lambos is ready to make the Devils a contender, players like Will Butcher and Damon Severson will either be in different roles or on different teams. This could also be an interesting pairing with Ty Smith.
Lambos is someone who is going to move up or down the list based on what he does this season. He’s playing power play time (obviously) and penalty kill time (less obvious) with the Ice, who really lean on the young defender in all situations.
Lambos is extremely good at moving the puck. He gets the puck out of his own zone with ease, and he can set up a play in the offensive zone. The Devils have a lot of offensive weapons that can spring a play. They just need a player that can put it on their stick. Smith might be someone who can do that, but he’s more of a playmaker in the neutral zone. Walsh is more the passing prospect here, but Lambos would give them someone who can do it at the highest level. No matter where the Devils draft (unless it’s top three), Lambos should be an option for them.
The WHL hopes to open the season on January 8th. If that date sticks (two dates have come and gone already), then Lambos is going to be appointment viewing for Devils fans.
3. Simon Edvinsson – Frolunda (SHL)
Simon Edvinsson is huge, and that’s always going to get prospect watchers talking. However, some have him as high as fourth overall, while some have him going in the early teens. He is already 6’4, but he plays with the kind of skill that gets players drafted in the top five. He hasn’t put it all together, and he’s playing in the SHL’s J20 league instead of the big leagues. That could change eventually, but a lot of the top picks play in the big leagues of Sweden before they are drafted. Current Devils prospect Alexander Holtz did just that, but things are different for forwards.
Edvinsson just doesn’t have a lot of top-level experience with the level of competition he’s playing on a daily basis. He needs more time against the adults in the Nordic. Playing against fellow teens makes him a big fish in a little pond.
That actually could help the Devils get a player like Edvinsson. They proved they were willing to take a chance on a player who hasn’t shown everything. Mukhamadullin is an extremely unfinished product. The Devils are willing to take those. Edvinsson is much more polished, but he just hasn’t had the opportunity to prove himself.
There’s a good chance Edvinsson will fight for a spot at the World Juniors, since only the U20s will take place, but he could get left off just because of the sheer talent on defense for Sweden (this piece from The Athletic has Helge Grans on the third pairing, which is not good news for the youngsters trying to break the roster).
Edvinsson could go anywhere because he’s got the size, he has the skills, but he won’t have the experience going into next year’s NHL Draft.
4. Luke Hughes – USNDTP
This was coming. Everyone knew it. With Jack Hughes already on the roster, there’s a chance the Devils could be dialing in for his brother. Putting the two on the same team, as talented as they are, could be the key to keeping them throughout their career. The Sedin twins spent their whole career with the Vancouver Canucks because that’s who drafted them and they made it a point to keep them there. The Devils could do the same with the Hughes brothers.
It’s not like it’s a reach to take Luke Hughes. He has the makings of a top-ten prospect already. Hughes is expected to be a monster on the power play this season. He will be a force for the U.S. program that made his brothers stars.
Hughes might be a top-ten pick, or he could fall slightly if the U.S. program has a less-than-stellar season once again. He won’t fall far, but if the Devils have a surprising season like they did in 2017-18, they could be in the mid teens. It’s more likely they will fall somewhere around 10-12, which is right about where Hughes is expected to go.
Hughes does need some development before he makes the jump to the NHL. He’s already committed to the University of Michigan, the same program that had his brother Quinn before he went to the NHL. It’s a smart move, as Michigan is going to need to replace Power next season and they will still have a stacked roster ready to compete in the Frozen Four again.
5. Corson Ceulemans – Brooks Bandits (AJHL)
It’s imperative to be careful of comparisons at this point in draft development. For example, there have been multiple people who have compared Corson Ceulemans to Cale Makar. Yet, Ceulemans is almost exclusively being mocked somewhere in the mid teens to the 20s. There’s no way if this player truly was the second coming of Makar, that he would be even considered in that area at this point.
Still, Ceulemans has the chance to pull a Jake Sanderson, where he rises 20 spots in the draft to get taken in the top ten. He’s been good in the AJHL, and he could take that league by storm before going to the University of Wisconsin in the 2022-23 season. That feels really far away, and if he makes the strides he could make, there’s a chance he will be in the NHL before every hitting the ice for the Badgers.
He’s going to be one of the youngest prospects in this draft, but he’s already 6’2 and close to 200 lbs. He could grow beyond that this season, which would help his draft stock even more. Taking a player like Ceulemans gives a tea more time to develop him. This would make a lot of sense if the Devils are choosing a player between 15 and 20. Maybe if the Devils get another 1st-round pick like they did last season, or if they have a better-than-expected season, Ceulemans is a player to watch for Devils fans.
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He’s already making good decisions with the puck, and his decision making will only get better. This is a prospect who will either rise up draft boards, or could be someone worth stealing in the top 20.