New Jersey Devils Full Seven-Round Mock Draft
The New Jersey Devils have a very important NHL Draft coming on Thursday and Friday. This is supposed to be the last draft where the team is still in “rebuilding” mode. That should mean it’s the last draft where they are still trying to find the best possible pieces at the top of each round.
It all starts with the second-overall pick. We’ve done deep dives on the forwards likely available, the right-handed defensemen they could pick, and of course, the slim possibility that they can take Shane Wright. These are five incredibly intriguing options that the Devils much choose between. Do they go for the forward with upside? Do they hope the guy ranked first the entire time falls to them? Is getting a future right-handed defenseman more important than anything else? How much does being NHL ready mean to the Devils?
There are so many questions to answer, so let’s get right into it with the second-overall pick. We will choose all nine picks for the Devils in a way to have a very successful draft. For this exercise, we will use FC Hockey’s Draft Simulator to know who is still available with our picks.
1st Round, 2nd Overall
Juraj Slafkovsky, TPS Liiga
This pick has been everywhere for all Devils fans. Some are all in on Logan Cooley. Others are falling in love with Simon Nemec or David Jiricek. Shane Wright seems like a dream scenario, but in this version of the draft the Canadiens took him. There are a lot of signs saying he will be available to the Devils at two, but in this simulation he was taken by the Montreal Canadiens. So, the Devils go for the supreme winger in Juraj Slafkovsky.
We are going to pine over this pick over and over and over again. This feels similar to the 2017 NHL Draft where there were five supreme athletes in the top five, and four of them became superstars. The Devils are looking at a very high likelihood they have a winner on their hands, but if they pick wrong, it could be devastating.
Think about how much better the situation would be in Philadelphia if they got Elias Pettersson instead of Nolan Patrick. Even Miro Heiskanen would be a huge upgrade. However, this is a much different situation. Cooley, Slafkovsky, and Wright are just completely different players. This isn’t Patrick vs. Hischier, where you’re picking the best two-way center. This is picking a player who you can project to be the best. Slafkovsky has performed when the lights are brightest. He has a size and scoring ability that is just missing on the Devils. The team hoped that Alex Holtz would bring that right away, but it’s taken him a little longer than expected.
Slafkovsky has a slim chance to make the NHL right away, but at worst he’s one year away. The Devils will wait the one year if they have to if he has a chance to jump into the top six right away. Imagine if they get someone on Hischier or Jack Hughes’ wing for the foreseeable future? That’s priceless.
2nd Round, 37th overall
Jani Nyman, Ilves, Liiga
Going right back to the same league in the second round, Jani Nyman is a player that has all the makings of a star in the making. He can shoot about as well as anyone in this draft, and he seems to have a natural inclination of where to go on the ice. He knows the best spot to get the best shot. We talk about how Alexander Ovechkin has his “office”. Nyman isn’t the player Ovechkin is, obviously, but he has that same natural instinct to get to a spot with a high shooting percentage.
The issue with Nyman is total production. His lack of speed has been an issue in the past, and it might be why his production and talent aren’t 1-to-1. That’s something the Devils can work on with Nyman, as his lack in speed doesn’t need to be a hinderance to his performance.
Nyman had a great start in the Hlinka-Gretzky Cup, and it looked like he could grow into a first-round pick. However, that production didn’t last, like we’ve said. There is some risk in this pick, because most have him going a little later, but the upside with this pick is hard to ignore. Tom Fitzgerald said they have a lot of assets that might cancel each other out, but Nyman is not one of them. A pure shooter with a lethal shot sounds like Nolan Foote, but that’s really it when it comes to pure prospects. The Devils could use a development prospect who can shoot like this.
Another reason to believe in Nyman is how last season went. After two seasons derailed by COVID-19, Nyman was bounced around leagues last season. Including different international teams, Nyman recorded points for NINE different teams according to Elite Prospects. If the Devils can provide him with some stability, it could lead Nyman to turning into a good player and possibly a really good one.
3rd Round, 70th Overall
Christian Kyrou, Erie Otters
Every year, there are players that have wildly different ratings depend on who you go to. Christian Kyrou is right up there with anyone this season. Elite Prospects ranks him 39th on their draft board, but McKeen’s Hockey has him ranked in the 80s. We liked him as an outside-the-box second-round pick, but this draft had him falling to the third round, which makes us even happier.
Kyrou would give the Devils something very valuable for the blueline; someone who is right handed. The Devils have Dougie Hamilton and Damon Severson in the NHL. If they re-sign Severson, they won’t need another right hander for a while. Their top two spots are full for a little while at least.
Outside of them, they have Reilly Walsh on the right side, and that’s really it. Ty Smith played on the right side some in juniors, but he’s clearly a left-handed defenseman in the NHL. The Devils had seven other defensemen in Scott Wheeler’s top prospect list, and all of them were left handed.
Kyrou is an older prospect, with his birthday coming days after the cutoff. That might be why some have him falling. They attribute his big season with the Erie Otters to his rising age. However, no matter the reason, it’s impossible to ignore he just had 60 points in 68 games in the OHL. He’s considered a dynamic option on the blueline, and the Devils would be silly to let him fall past them at this point in the draft.
4th Round,102nd Overall
David Moravec, BK Mladá Boleslav, Czechia
With the first of three fourth-round picks, the Devils take a defensemen with an insane amount of upside, but one that’s incredibly far from a finished product. This happens a lot with middle-round defensemen. Moravec is someone who excels in his own role. Nobody is asking him to play offense. The Devils have seen how important that can be with Jonas Siegenthaler this past season. Moravec can be built in that same vein.
4th Round, 110 overall
Cole Knuble, Fargo Force, USHL
There are always these players that seems to dominate in lesser known leagues, and they fall through the cracks of the draft. Cole Knuble is phenomenal at pushing the play forward with supremely timed passes. He can’t do a ton by himself, but he always finds the open man. He does a lot well, including his impact on the penalty kill. There’s a lot to work on. His skating is pretty bad for a player his age. However, he has a year left before he even gets to college. This is the Devils taking a long road with a prospect. He might be five years from even seeing if he’s NHL ready. However, the skillset he put together so far would make it worth the wait.
4th Round, 126th Overall
Alex Bump, Omaha Lancers, USHL
Alex Bump is a player that we expressly passed on with the first two fourth-round picks, but seeing him fall make it a much better bet. It’s taking a chance on a player who’s tape mostly consists of high school. He played 27 games in the USHL, so that’s something. It’s hard to see what he’s going to be. However, if he falls this far, he has some size and enough talent to make the pick here. It wouldn’t be our favorite pick, but there’s value in what Bump could become.
5th Round, 141st Overall
Brandon Lisowsky, Saskatoon Blades, WHL
Brandon Lisowsky is a player many scouts are falling out of love with, as he went from a possible third rounder to falling here into the fifth round. He has a supreme shot, and he has been known to crush one timers. But, he’s 5’8 and he’s not fast. That is going to drop players in the draft significantly. There are some questions about positioning, and he clearly needs great coaching to get the best out of him. It can be hard to teach compete level, but that might not be the issue here. Lisowsky is so good at certain plays once the puck gets on his stick, it seems sometimes he tries to hard to get in that position. It impacts the entire play sometimes, and it can be a real detriment defensively. Still, there’s a mold here that can be a good player in the right development path.
6th Round, 166th Overall
Niklas Kokko, Karpat, Liiga
If the Devils don’t draft a goalie, did they even draft? There’s a chance that the Devils draft a goalie earlier, but at the time of the Lisowsky pick there were other good goalies on the board. Dylan Silverstein was our original target, but he went to the Flames. Then Topias Leinonen went to the Edmonton Oilers. That leaves us with Niklas Kokko. He’s a large goalie that needs to put on some weight to his 6’3 frame. Kokko has shown in his junior league that he has game-stealing ability. To get that in the sixth round is insane, especially since he’s not our first choice. This is another year where a late-round goalie could become a starter in this league.
Next. 5 Players To Avoid In Free Agency. dark
7th Round, 198th Overall
Stefan Milosevic, Frolunda HC, SHL
With the last pick of the draft, the Devils take Stefan Milosevic out of Sweden. He’s a big defenseman that hasn’t even been ranked by a lot of the best prospect writers in the world. We’re taking a huge chance here, but it’s the seventh round. The likelihood any of these players even make the AHL is slim. Still, the Devils aren’t wasting this pick. Milosevic has size, and he was good enough to earn a spot in the men’s league last season. It’s impressive for any teenager to do that, especially on defense. He’s made a major jump this season, and he is flying under the radar. The Devils could get a steal here, or he could be just another player who falls by the wayside. You don’t know until you try.