2012 NHL Draft Thread

[jkrdevil]

How the hell was this guy ever a GM?

I think he had Larsson rated down in the teens up until draft day last year.

[Dr. Doom]

Here is my take on the 2012 draft for the Devils.

Our current prospect depth is well supplied with defensemen. I see our current needs as a center or right wing. The 2012 draft has been hyped to be one of the deepest drafts since possibly 2003. There seems to be a lot of top end defensive talent as well as some offensive talent that might fall down due to the amount of defenseman at the top. If a high end defensive talent manages to fall to the Devils there is no way they will be passed on, but it may lead to trading down. Another possible option could be to select a defenseman and package current defensive prospects for a center or right wing prospect.

Here are some names to keep an eye out for. I'm going to avoid the guys that are pretty much given to go in the top 5 or so because it isn't realistic for us to select them. Some players I'm going to list will be good options in the 2nd round. I'm going to try to rank each category in order of preference to select within.

Center:
Alexander Galchenyuk
Zemgus Girgensons
Brendan Gaunce
Nicholas Kerdiles
Jarrod Maidens

Right Wing:
Sebastian Collberg
Martin Frk
Teuvo Teravianen
Henrik Samuelsson

Left Wing:
Pontus Aberg
Anton Slepyshev
Nikolai Prokhorkin

Defense:
Morgan Rielly
Griffin Reinhart
Jacob Trouba
Cody Ceci
Olli Maatta
Slater Koekkoek
Derrick Pouliot
Matt Finn
Mike Matheson
Jordan Schmaltz
Nick Ebert
Dalton Thrower

We may be luck and a player like Galchenyuk, Rielly, or Koekkoek may drop due to injury. All three are out for the rest of the 2012 season, so we may be able to get a steal in the middle of the 1st round. Also, a top talent like Ebert has been dropping lately and we may be able to pick him up in the 2nd round. There is still a lot of time before the draft and there will still be a lot of movement outside of the top 5, which at this point is Yakupov, Grigorenko, Murray, Forsberg and Dumba.

[Getzo5]

Athanasiou should be a late 1st rounder right? Damn, hopefully Philly won`t get him.

Galchenyuk (if slips), Gaunce (best fit IMO), Collberg, --- (no more LWers), Reilly (if slips), Ceci (if slips), Koekkoek (if slips), Schmaltz... and maybe Ebert.

I`d rather take a healthy player, but getting someone like Galchenyuk... you just can`t say no.

Let`s draft more forwards for a change.

[Dr. Doom]

I think the best fits for us are either, Girgensons or Rielly. The problem is that they might both be gone by the time we are picking. I'm not too crazy about Athanasiou or Marcantuoni.

[Dr. Doom]

Here's a great site to listen to interviews with prospects.
http://www.thepipelineshow.com/media...325307600&sn=7

[Dr. Doom]

CS Mid-term rankings
http://www.tsn.ca/draftcentre/feature/?id=56839

The more I think of it and the more I look at our prospect pool, I would really like us to focus on forwards in the draft. The only way I would like to see us take a defenseman is if it is someone you just can't pass on.

[Getzo5]

CS Mid-term rankings
http://www.tsn.ca/draftcentre/feature/?id=56839

The more I think of it and the more I look at our prospect pool, I would really like us to focus on forwards in the draft. The only way I would like to see us take a defenseman is if it is someone you just can't pass on.

This is what we`ve been saying for a while (me, Saugus and CD).

[JimEIV]

I really like what I saw from Trouba at the WJC.

[JimEIV]

CS Mid-term rankings
http://www.tsn.ca/draftcentre/feature/?id=56839

The more I think of it and the more I look at our prospect pool, I would really like us to focus on forwards in the draft. The only way I would like to see us take a defenseman is if it is someone you just can't pass on.

How many years do you have to be a devil fan to know Conte and company are going to take what they believe is the best available regardless of position?

[Dr. Doom]

I really like what I saw from Trouba at the WJC.

I really liked him too, but unless we miss the playoffs he won't be around where we are.

How many years do you have to be a devil fan to know Conte and company are going to take what they believe is the best available regardless of position?

I know this. I'm just stating that we have an abundance of defensemen, to a point that I don't even know what we are going to do with all of them. At the same time we are clearly lacking offensive talent. There are sometimes where you have to look at what an organization needs. There is a reason they drafted so many defensemen in the last years and it isn't because they were clearly the best pick available. You have to look at both BPA and need. It's the same as the year we took both Clermont and Wedgewood. We needed goalie prospects so they drafted them.