New Jersey Devils NHL Draft Options At Second Overall
When the New Jersey Devils won one of the two options in the NHL Draft Lottery, it gave them the right to move up to the second-overall pick. There are some very enticing options here, but it really comes down to four players we expect to be on the table after the Montreal Canadiens take Shane Wright.
Juraj Slafkovsky
The man with what has felt like a rocket strapped to his back in terms of his draft position will be the first player we look at. Juraj Slafkovsky took a big step from a likely top 10 guy to one of the best players available with some even saying he could and should go first such as Corey Pronman of The Athletic. This is not likely to happen.
Slafkovsky is a big body for his age standing at a whopping 6’4 with a solid 218 lb. frame, which is for lack of better words a big deal. Teams have been looking for that late 90’s or early 2000’s power forward for a decade. It is just not a role and style that many players execute anymore. This always intrigues teams and general managers because we can see how valuable it would be should one arrive. If they produced at a point-a-game pace, they could terrorize the league and most importantly play that hard-nosed playoff hockey with incredible skill.
In my own view, however, this is the riskiest pick at the top of the draft. While his ceiling looks like the 60-70 point guy, his floor is far lower than some of the other players at the top. The Devils could be trying to draft Mikko Rantanen and end up with Pavel Zacha.
Against his own age group, he has good numbers and his performance in the Hlinka-Gretzky was impressive where he had 3 goals and 6 assists in five games. In Finland’s junior league, he played 11 games scoring 6 goals while adding 12 assists which is also a strong showing and boosts his value.
The other thing people always talk about with him is that he played against men. It is a hard thing to do and no one can or should take anything away from a kid going up against players more mature and holding his own, but it is something people put too much stock into sometimes. Still, let’s look quickly at Slafkovsky versus other high-end players in the Finnish men’s league for their draft year.
Slafkovsky GP:31 G:5 A5 PTS: 10 PPG: 0.32
Puljujarvi GP:50 G:13 A:15 PTS: 28 (4th 2016) PPG: 0.56
Kotkaniemi GP:57 G:10 A:19 PTS:29 (3rd in 2018) PPG: 0.64
Kaako GP:45 G:22 A:16 PTS:38 (2nd in 2019) PPG: 0.84
Lundell GP:44 G:10 A:18 PTS:28(12th in 2020) PPG: 0.64
As Devils fans, we all remember the Hughes vs. Kaako debate and the number one thing brought up was always he already plays against men. Could that mean he was more ready for the NHL? Maybe. Does that mean he would have a better career? Probably not. Already Hughes has proven he is a much better player and the numbers show that despite the first season in which he was not NHL-ready.
Hughes GP:166 G:44 A:64 PTS:108
Kakko GP:157 G:26 A:32 Pts:58
While the debate is more Wright or Slafkovky online and with the experts, for the Devils it is more Slaf or Logan Cooley. The numbers above however are relevant because it is a similar situation.
In the Olympics, Slafkovsky shined. He scored seven times in seven games, was the youngest player to score since 1984, took home tournament MVP, and won the first medal his country has ever won. Of course, this needs to have some context since the tournament involved no NHL players and this obviously would have impacted his perfomance. He was also shut down by Canada, Germany, and Finland while points were scored on France, Italy, Kazakhstan, Switzerland, and Denmark.
Most recently, he played again against men, this time in the IIHF World Hockey Championships. He ended up tied for 11th in scoring overall with three goals and nine points in eight games. It is impressive but was mostly done against weak teams again. This was still a 17-year-old exceeding expectations at a big tournament.
So the question is which player will the team be getting and if the tournaments were a bit of a flash in the pan. Is he a man that shines when the light is brightest?