The New Jersey Devils had the 10th overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft. There was some trade speculation for a while but they ended up making the pick.
When you pick 10, everyone is going to have a different opinion. However, it didn't feel like there was much disagreement going on when the Devils came up to the podium. Both Zeev Buium and Sam Dickinson were on the board when the Devils came up to make the pick. It seemed like picking either one would be a slam dunk.
Instead, Tom Fitzgerald called on Martin Brodeur to select Anton Silayev of Torpedo in the KHL. He is a very big defenseman as he is 6'7" and 20 lbs. This is a shocking selection for them.
Anton Silayev is the next first-round pick in New Jersey Devils history
Silayev was projected to be picked relatively soon after, so this wasn't the wildest choice of all time. The thing that makes it shocking is the fact that Buium and Dickinson were still on the board. Both of those guys are going to go on and become NHL stars while that feels less guaranteed with Silayev. He has some work to do to become a big-time contributor in this league.
While playing with Torpedo in 2023-24, he played in 63 games where he scored three goals with eight assists for 11 points. The nice thing about him is that he skates well for someone his size.
There is also another issue with him. Silayev still has two years remaining on his contract in the KHL. As it stands, he can't come to play pro hockey in North America until that contract is done.
There is a chance that the contract gets ripped up. We saw that with Matvei Michkov of the Philadelphia Flyers earlier in the week. However, you can't fully bank on that being the case with every KHL player. Based on his agent's comments, anything is possible.
Just spoke to Anton Silayev's agent, who confirmed that the newest #NJDevils pick has 2 years left on his KHL deal, but said he has "No idea..." if there's a chance he can come to the states before that.
— Ryan Novozinsky (@ryannovo62) June 29, 2024
We'll see.
I'll have more on this later.
Did the New Jersey Devils fall in love with his size? That is possible, especially with Kevin Bahl leaving the organization in the Jacob Markstrom trade. They have to hope that he is much better than Bahl at using that size to his advantage on the ice.
This isn't an overall terrible trade. They just might regret who they passed on one day. It is on them to make sure he develops well so he can join what they hope is a really good team in a few years.