I just finished my Devils mock draft using Draft Prospects Hockey’s NHL Draft Simulator. I’m basing this off of who New Jersey could select between “best available, potential and upside.” The Devils received Carolina’s 85 overall pick due to conditions in the Sami Vatanen trade that were confirmed through Carolina’s playoff run.
New Jersey Devils:
(7) Alexander Holtz
With this pick, the Devils get a goal scoring left-winger who is in no need to rush his development. The contract he’s on in Sweden will only benefit him and the Devils over time, while fellow countryman Jesper Boqvist should get ice time playing wing until Holtz comes over.
(8) Jack Quinn
I traded both the 18th and 20th overall picks so the New Jersey Devils could acquire a legit right-wing sniper from the Ottawa 67’s. The Devils are very familiar with him due to their ties with Kevin Bahl, Nikita Okhotyuk and Kody Clarke. All three have been obtained by the Devils hockey club over the past few seasons.
(85) Joel Blomqvist
The backstop from Oulun Kärpät is a 2002 birthday, born on January 10th. As described by Geremy Crease, he’s a technically proficient goaltender that has a good head for the game. Blomqvist is very smart about how he approaches the position. He uses an upright, compact stance to force shooters to aim around him, and while Blomqvist only has an average frame, he makes it harder on the puck carrier with his depth control.
He just finds the optimal depth for every situation. While he’s not overly quick in his movement, Blomqvist is smooth in his movement. He finds the optimal path to getting in front of the puck without a large amount of energy being used.
Geremy did mention that Blomqvist’s biggest asset is his mental game where he stands out. I have to agree with this assessment I see him as a better and slightly taller than Juuse Saros in Nashville. The Devils have taken at least one goalie in each draft with the current Director of Scouting, Paul Castron, and Gates Orlando behind it. The Devils have scouts in Finland who have overseen the Finnish prospects they had recently drafted.
(99) Ian Moore
The Concord, Massachusetts native is an impressive 6’3, 165 pound defensemen who also presents with offensive upside. Tom Fitzgerald recently signed another prep school and Harvard alumnus in Reilly Walsh who took a similar path to grow and develop into the National Hockey League.
(124) Isaak Phillips
I have the Devils selecting Sudbury Wolves defensemen Isaak Phillips. Phillips is a very dynamic player. He’s physical, is strong offensively, while he is also great when rushing the puck. The Devils have a similar guy in Belarus defensemen Daniil Misyul. If the Devils can get up their defensive corps to manhandle Kaapo Kaako and Alexis Lafreniere, you can bet that Isaak Phillips will have the makeup to be a Devils defensemen.
(130) Daniel Baker
The Devils have had very good fortunes in getting overaged players and trading them. However, I see the Devils getting him because he’s a big gritty guy with offence. That being said, he can also stand his ground. Although with teams like the Flyers being gritty, you need to have a multi-talented defensemen who can use his 6’4, 183 pound frame to also win board battles as well as breaking up plays.
(161) Samuel Hlavaj
The Slovak goalie is a personal favourite of mine, and a season ago, I wanted New Jersey to draft Mads Sogaard who ended up going sooner than I wanted. Samuel, the 6’4, 207 pound goaltender is very great on his lateral movement and uses his blocker side very well. He’s the kind of netminder where if you think he’s too far out of his crease, he made some beautiful desperation saves that’ll look similar to Czech netminder Dominik Hasek. He was one of the top goalies in the CHL and ranked third overall in North American goalies by NHL Central Scouting.
(192) Blake Biondi
Biondi is committed to playing for Minnesota-Duluth in the NCAA. The forward skated in 25 games, scoring 37 goals along with 39 assists. Biondi will be a late-round pick, similar to Devils forward Joey Anderson. Biondi was the captain for Hermantown and his coach explained via Youtube that the 18-year-old shines brightest when the game is on the line.
Out of all the NHL Draft needs, the Devils would get a goal scoring left-winger as well as a right-winger and a two-way right-handed defensemen. Not only that, but they’d also add an offensive defensemen, a playmaking centreman, a big goalie and a left-winger. This would lead GM Tom Fitzgerald to acquire a very serviceable right defensemen along with a left-winger and a veteran right-winger.