After having read an excerpt of a “worse case scenario” showing, the Devils could possibly be selecting both the Arizona and Vancouver picks in 28-31. Having looked at other NHL mock drafts, I’m going to dig as deeply as much as possible and make perfect sense of each pick in my selections.
28th: Connor Zary is a September birthday and will be 19 by September 25th. He is currently projected 13-24 by Futures Considerations to Eliteprospects.com. What Zary brings is a really good power skater who plays well along the opponents goal line.
He is a very smart skater, terrific playmaker while also smart on takeaways. When he plays up along the boards, he is looking for a teammate of his to take the lead by his pass to a teammate on the side of his opponents goal crease. Connor’s speed helps drive his teams play and he finds ways to crash his opponents net.
Zary displays a really quick snapshot on net and finds ways to find loose pucks while also playing with lots of speed. Sometimes, Zary fakes the snapshot and makes a great heads up quick pass to set up a teammate to score in high-medium danger areas.
29th: William Wallinder is an offensive-defenseman for the Modo Hockey J20 club. William has a big shot from low-danger scoring that could benefit his teammates, setting up in mid and high danger scoring zones. He recognizes where his teammates will be position wise in these areas of high danger scoring areas.
He is strong along the boards and a smooth skater that plays with a lot of energy. One knock on Wallinder would be his awareness to play tighter and wiser and becoming an effective two-way defensemen. The New Jersey Devils do have a lot of physical defensemen to pair him with after a few seasons of seasoning in the J20 to SHL before making the jump to New Jersey.
30th: Hendrix Lapierre is ranked as the 13th overall best North American Skater by NHL Central Scouting. The Chicoutimi Saguenéens centreman displays a quick wrist shot and is a very solid stick-handler while also strong when it comes to his zone entries. Playing as a centreman, he knows how to utilize the slot and crease to his advantage.
He thinks the game like Patrick Kane and executes his passes and finds ways to get open like Sidney Crosby with his skating. Hendrix’s play may not equate to a ton of NHL goals, but his ability to get open and find teammates within his favourable passing and shooting lanes will yield him a lot of assists at an elite top-six level on an NHL roster.
31st: Given the fact of the matter that this player in Rodion Amirov is an MHL left-wing prospect, he is six-feet, 168 pounds and will need a few seasons to add more muscle mass as he grows up. What I believe in this pick is he won the Spengler Cup Salavat Yulaev Ufa, per eliteprospects.com.
Further on Amirov’s game, I like that he has very quick hands which will be very important going forward at the NHL level. As well, it will help him beat a lot of opposing netminders. He displays a quick shot that he uses when he’s in position to receive the puck on his tape and wastes no time trying to score on net.
He is a high energy skater and an excellent sniper who enjoys playing in the slot. He does have an amazing one-timer like former Devils winger and Calgary Flames winger Michael Cammalleri. Whether he plays in a third to second line, he will play a vital role in making his team’s centreman look even better. He may look like a playmaker, but his shot will be the part along with his hockey IQ and instincts that will make him the faster Russian version of Jake Guentzel.