Grading Every New Jersey Devils NHL Draft Pick
The New Jersey Devils are done with the NHL Draft, finishing the two-day affair with five new players. It’s one of the smallest prospect additions in a long time. They last had five picks in the 2015 NHL Draft, famously the last time Lou Lamoriello was working for the team. The Devils came out of that draft with Pavel Zacha, Mackenzie Blackwood, Blake Spears, Colton White, and Brent Seney. Every one of those players made it to the NHL at some point.
The Devils would be happy if they repeated that fortune, although they probably wish they got more out of the picks overall than what 2015 produced. Unlike that season, the Devils were missing their first-round pick, which they gave to the San Jose Sharks for Timo Meier. The Sharks ended up taking Quentin Musty from the Sudbury Wolves with the pick, a fan favorite on draft night.
Meanwhile, the Devils first pick came in the second round. Not to pat ourselves on the back, but we did predict their eventual choice as one of the possibilities.
Scouting Report. Lenni Hameenaho. player. 85. Pick Analysis. RW. Porin Ässät. 54
This is a very interesting prospect that fell into the Devils lap. Yes, everyone was up in arms because the Devils did not pick Riley Heidt, who fell precipitously down draft boards. However, Lenni Hameenaho is a Finnish prospect who is either going to fit perfectly into what the Devils need or eventually grow into a really good player.
Right now, Hameenaho is a safe prospect to take. He does everything quite well, but he doesn’t really excel at anything. He tries hard on defense, he has a pretty good shot, his passing definitely exists, and he’s proven himself in a professional league. In Liiga, he had nine goals and recorded 21 points. That’s pretty good for a teenager.
Everyone expresses love for Hameenaho’s hockey IQ. He knows what he’s doing out on the ice. He lacks speed that allows him to do what he wants, unfortunately, and that’s probably why he fell to the 58th-overall pick. We shall see if that speed eventually catches up.
Grade: B-
RW. Cape Breton Eagles. 122. 85. Scouting Report. Cam Squires. player. Pick Analysis
Every year, there are these NHL Draft picks that come from obscure locations, and those cities (more often in Canada) cover the heck out of it. Cam Squires comes from the lakeside town of Charlottetown. It’s right in the middle of Prince Edward Island, and that’s a beautiful part of the country. Not a lot of players come from the island. The best by far is Brad Richards, and the best active player is Noah Dobson.
Squires is a right-handed shot to add to the Devils winger depth in the system. He’s coming off a 30-goal season with the Cape Breton Eagles of the QMJHL. He was a good offensive player that’s trying to become great. On top of that, he spent most of the season getting better defensively. He wants to be a complete player, and this is probably why the Devils liked him.
Tom Fitzgerald prioritizes players who do it all. He loves Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier because they can score 100 and 80 points, but the real greatness comes from the fact they can play both sides of the ice. Hischier is a Selke Trophy nominee and Hughes once led the league in takeaways. Nobody expects Squires to be in that stratosphere, but he can get there.
Some might think Squires is an overdraft, but we disagree. We like this pick a lot. If we were to pick a player who we think is going to make the NHL, Squires is absolutely that player.
Grade: B+
Scouting Report. D. Omaha Lancers. Chase Cheslock. player. 85. Pick Analysis. 154
Chase Cheslock is a defenseman that has analysts all over the place. Speaking of all over the place, let’s talk about his draft year. He played for four different teams in four different leagues this season. He spent a game with the US National Development Program, along with the Omaha Lancers of the USHL, the St. Cloud Norsemen of the NAHL, and Rogers High School.
This is a player who came from relative obscurity to become a fifth-round pick by the Devils. That’s a huge risk by Tom Fitzgerald, but he did that because he thinks this pick is going to continue to progress. That’s fine since it happened in the fifth round. This is where the Devils can take some risks.
Cheslock is a long way away from even sniffing the NHL. He is going back to the USHL next season, and he will go to the University of St. Thomas after that. This will take some time to see what the Devils have, which is what happens with fifth-round defensemen. Still, this seemed like an unnecessary risk. The Devils have plenty of defensemen in the prospect pool, but it is what it is.
It’s just too early to even know what kind of defenseman he is. He is 6’3 and already over 200 lbs. His numbers show he has a physical element to his game that’s good. Overall, there’s a lot of time before we know whether we can like this pick.
Grade: C
LW. Hamilton Bulldogs. player. 85. Scouting Report. 164. Pick Analysis. Cole Brown
Cole Brown is an interesting name. He rose up rankings throughout the season, playing well for the Hamilton Bulldogs of the OHL. He had some great moments, including overtime winners. This is a competitor for sure. He wasn’t even on some analysts rankings, including The Atheltic’s Corey Pronman’s final mock draft. He did at one point have Jesper Bratt at 49th in his draft rankings, so he is an expert, but he also called for Patrick Laine to be drafted before Auston Matthews at the time.
Brown has a long way to go, but that doesn’t mean he can’t be anything. He’s a power forward who can still put points on the board. He has skill in both the offensive and defensive ends. It was a weird season for all Hamilton Bulldogs, who announced a relocation while the arena is under construction, and possibly a permanent move. It impacted the value of a few players, including Nick Lardis and Patrick Thomas.
Brown could continue to progress as a player. He needs to really focus on the offensive end, as he could work with Thomas and Lardis to build a really good offensive core. This is a really good team that could bounce back and win in the playoffs if they can get over the off the ice issues for the team.
Will Brown ever be a point-per-game player in the OHL? Maybe. He needs to get better this offseason.
Grade: B-
D. player. Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. Avto-Russia Jr.. Daniil Karpovich. 186. 85
For a sixth-round defenseman, the Devils really hit the nail on the head with Daniil Karpovich. The Devils had to dig deep to find this player, going to the lesser Russian divisions to see him play. He scored 10 goals as a defenseman in his junior league. He showed offensive prowess even against lesser competition. When analysts watch this player, they fall in love with the tape. Most had him ranked in the top 100, yet the Devils got him at 186.
Karpovich still has a lot of development to go before we know if he’s an NHL talent, but this is the type of swing we want the Devils taking at this point in the draft. Especially since the Devils ended up trading their seventh-round pick to the Nashville Predators, the Devils made the most of their final pick.
Most teams passed on Karpovich because it was hard to see him play. With no or few scouts seeing what he could do, teams decided to go with a player they were more confident in. However, the Devils might have found a gem thanks to other teams’ lack of confidence.
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This is a player with an NHL frame, something that usually gets teams overdrafting players. This time, teams ignored Karpovich. The Devils might have found an NHL defenseman that could quickly show his worth.