New Jersey Devils NHL Draft Pick Evaluations

As we evaluated the New Jersey Devils' performance at the NHL Draft. Their goal was to land a big, physical, shutdown defenseman who could really skate for his size, play in a pro league, and be very mature for his age group. Well that player was Anton Silayev with Torpedo in the KHL. Here is a report I wrote on him earlier in the year;

Anton Silayev is a physical, big-body sasquatch of a left-handed defenseman. The way he plays is similar to a Kevin Bahl type of defenseman with a bit of offensive play to his game. Silayev has a good short and deep passing tool in his arsenal, and if he is taught to be more of a shooter, his potential can be a second-line pairing to a first-line pairing defenseman on any club. He is 6’7” and 207 pounds, so he already needs to add 15-20 pounds to his frame to be a more Chara-like build defender.

His game is very well-rounded, throwing hits and being well-positioned most of the time, even when he is out of position. He is fleet to foot on his edges with little to no wasted motion. Having a mentor and head coach in Igor Larionov got him playing at a high level, bringing heavy hits on veteran players. Silayev is only 18 years old. One of the players he absolutely reminds me of a lot hitting-wise is former Senator and New Jersey Devils defenseman Anton Volchenkov. He has the ability to get the stick out and stop shots on the net and has a big build like Zdeno Chara.

Two areas of improvement for Anton Silayev this season are breakout passes and when to clear the puck out. He is gonna be in his third season in the KHL under coach Igor Larionov, so it is a matter of time until his staff helps him look more seasoned. The KHL is a much faster and more physical level of hockey than the MHL. Most analysts, including myself, didn't expect Silayev to fall to 10th overall. This young shutdown defender fits the mold of the New Jersey Devils in the near and long term.

He should be able to become a top-two-pairing defenseman. In the worst-case scenario, he becomes a phenomenal second-pairing shutdown defender who becomes part of a terrifying, hard-hitting, hard-to-beat Devils team that goes on to hoist Lord Stanley's Cup. The Devils have added more physicality this offseason in this draft class, and via trades and offseason signings so this team will be a tough out for a long time.

The New Jersey Devils wanted a second-round pick specifically to take a goalie. They ended up traded defenseman John Marino for two second-round picks, including 49th overall this year. They used it to take goaltender Mikhail Yegorov.

Yegorov was selected to fill a need at goalie. I had scouted him very closely in the USHL this past season because 2023 Devils draftee Chase Cheslock was on his team. It was out of curiosity that there was a young phenomenal goalie who played well on a lackluster defensive team in Omaha. But some games should not have been wins or close games, and Mikhail Yegorov was the star on that team.

His lateral movement and skating edges are very strong, but he needs to be a bit more fluid and shorten his lateral strides. When Mikhail Yegorov moves up and makes sprawling saves, he looks like a star-studded netminder. The Russian netminder is very hard to beat low and on the pad sides. He is gonna post phenomenal numbers if Omaha ends up moving him to a more defensive team where he could track the puck better and play lights out consistently with less of a burden on his shoulders. He is committed to playing at Boston University in the 2025-26 season as their goalie.

Targeting Finland, the New Jersey Devils get their power forward Kasper Pikkarainen. The right-handed winger knows how to drive play on the power play and in transition up the ice. However, he takes a little bit longer to get his feet activated to reach top speed as a skater.

Pikkarainen does activate his hips enough and uses his lower center of gravity of that 6'3 198-pound frame to make it more difficult for other teams to try and knock him off the puck. He is more of an updated version of his dad, Ilkka, who played for the Devils in a similar role. The Devils needed a high-volume shooter, play driver, and physical specimen on the wings who could help the Devils potentially roll all four lines.

The Devils don't need to rush any of their prospects because the moves that they did by bringing in Paul Cotter, Tomas Tatar, and Stefan Noesen at wing and center allow guys like Pikkarainen to marinade a bit longer and develop their game. Kasper Pikkarainen could be a mid-six winger who can also play a shutdown role and be strong along the walls and in the neutral zone. The worst case is he is a third and fourth-line winger that fans love to watch.

The second goalie in this draft that the Devils picked was Veeti Louhivaara from JYP U-20 in Liiga (Finland's NHL), who went 13-6-0 in 21 games. He does have an amazing build, being 6'4 207 pounds. His glove side is phenomenal, and he does a good job of tracking the puck.

One of his drawbacks is his lateral movement is not agile enough to cover the net on a bang-bang play. The more experience he gets over the next few years in Liiga and the more he improves his game, the more he will have no problem becoming a reliable backup to a fringe starter that the New Jersey Devils can have in their arsenal. He has the potential to be a steal in the late rounds and has overall really good techniques

Last but not least is another D+2 forward, Matyas Melovsky, out of the QMJHL. He is a playmaker and can be a goal-scorer. Melovsky is a faceoff winner, and that is good because the Devils do need forwards who are seasoned in the faceoff circle and always active in the offensive zone. He has a strong shot and has very good vision, but one thing that has hindered him from being more well-rounded is not playing against players his age.

Melovsky needs to be in the position to become a goal scorer, play-making forward on a middle-six line at a higher level where he can hit and shot block. It is translating his overly dominant scoring game to a higher level.