Who Could New Jersey Devils Select With 10th-Overall Pick In NHL Draft?
By Nick Villano
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Cayden Lindstrom
Medicine Hat Tigers
While some of the very top picks in this year’s draft aren’t exactly the biggest, the Devils could draft for need and take Cayden Lindstrom. He’s a big, strong center who can push people around when he wants to. He’s enjoying his life as a teenage athlete in a 6’3, 210-pound body.
He’s already a great skater, which is something you want to see from a “big” forward. That’s something the Devils NEED. If you are going to succeed on this team, you have to skate. Even moving away from Lindy Ruff’s system, the Devils will always be an upbeat team. Lindstrom’s skating is exactly what the Devils are looking for.
Many say what the Devils are missing from the forward core is some size and strength. The retort to that is they can’t have players who slow them down. With Lindstrom, they don’t need to choose. He’s a big body with an incredible skillset that would fit in very well with what the Devils already built.
The biggest gripe people have on Lindstrom is his ceiling is probably that of a second-line center. That’s great! How about third-line center? Or maybe he plays the Erik Haula role with Jack Hughes to the highest-possible degree? This has the upside to be a game-changing pick.