The New Jersey Devils are spending their Sunday celebrating their success at the NHL Draft. They aren’t alone. Every team thinks they crushed the draft. That’s the fun part about such an important day on the calendar, the team doesn’t have to claim victory for years on out. And that’s the point of the Devils’ fourth-round pick, Trenten Bennett.
The Devils drafted the goalie based on his size. In their Draft Notebook, the Devils called him a “big swing.” When Bennett was drafted, he was listed at 6’8. That is obviously an incredibly tall man.
Bennett was considered an overdraft. In The Athletic’s final mock draftreco, they had Bennett going to the Columbus Blue Jackets with their 218th overall pick. The Devils ended up taking Bennett with their 99th pick.
This was actually the pick the Devils got from the Erik Haula trade. This is close to found money for the Devils since the best part of that trade was coming off Haula’s salary, but that doesn’t mean the pick shouldn’t be questioned.
The Devils also have less pressure on the goaltending position after last year’s success. Mikhail Yegorov looks like the future for them at the position. In his first season in college, Yegorov carried Boston University to a Beanpot championship over top-ranked Boston College and carried his team to the National Championship Game. Since Yegorov looks like the future, Bennett can take his time developing.
And why not take a chance on something you can’t teach? Bennett was listed at 6’8. Only Matt Rempe is taller in today’s NHL, and only three players in the history of the draft (with listed heights) were taller at the time of their selection.
The New Jersey Devils went for the tallest player in the NHL Draft
According to the NHL’s records website, only Zdeno Chara in 1996 to the New York Islanders, Lane Manson in 2002 to the Atlanta Thrashers, and Braydyn Chizen in 2016 to the Minnesota Wild were listed at 6’9. Not only was Bennett the tallest listed player at the draft, but he’s on the verge of historic. Even if the players who are 6’8 are considered, Bennett is in a class of just 13 players who were that tall at time of the draft.
Some might joke that Tom Fitzgerald has been drafting for size as of late, but if he’s going to target size, he might as well go for historic size.