New Jersey Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald has held a Masterclass in using his late-round picks to take players falling down the board. Other teams might ignore these players, but the Devils come from the top rope to give them a nice place to call home. Whether it’s goalies like Nico Daws or Tyler Brennan, high-risk, high-reward forwards like Tyce Thompson or Samu Salminen, or defensemen like this year’s Seamus Casey, Fitzgerald has always taken the falling “star” in the NHL Draft. He did that again near the end of the 2022 NHL Draft with Josh Filmon.
Most draft experts thought Filmon was a major wild card going into the draft. Many analysts saw that he could be an NHL forward, but most couldn’t see if his scoring skills would translate to the next level. He had the impact of a bottom-six forward, but did he show more than that?
NHL GMs would rather take a shot on a guy who could become a steal the likes of Jesper Bratt in the late rounds rather than take a shot on an unfinished product. They want a player with a “guaranteed” skill they can build around. Whether that’s an insane shot or incredible foot speed. Unfortunately for Filmon, his size was basically ignored in the draft (in the 90s, he might be a second-round pick at 6’2), and the Devils were able to take him with the 166th-overall pick.
Well, now it looks like Filmon might be one of the better prospects in the draft. Yes, the whole draft. Maybe that’s overstating it, but it’s hard to deny after what he did on Friday night. Against the lowly Mississauga Steelheads, Filmon scored six goals. That’s right. He scored a double hat trick.
First, let’s see all of those goals:
A cool half-dozen for Josh Filmon!@SCBroncos | @NJDevils | #WHLHatTricks pic.twitter.com/1oewKGgGWp
— The WHL (@TheWHL) December 17, 2022
So for those counting at home, Filmon scored two goals off a rebound, one breakaway snipe, one off a turnover from the other team, one on a one-timer, and one where he skates through the defense and picks the top-right corner. Filmon scored in so many different ways.
Filmon was just ranked 12th on our top prospect lists. By the end of the season, he will likely jump in the top 10. He’s been one of the best stories of a great Devils season. Right now, he’s on pace for 51 goals. That’s probably skewed because of last night’s performance, but seeing him score like this is amazing. He’s three away from matching his WHL high from last season. We should all be paying attention to Filmon this season.