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On World Cup snubs and the upcoming draft:

- While it sucks to see players like Kyle Palmieri snubbed from World Cup rosters - you want best on best action and lesser players were chosen instead - the New Jersey Devils' players being passed over surely does the team more harm than good.

Cory Schneider is the only Devil to be named to a World Cup roster and, because Dean Lombardi and USA's management believe Jonathan Quick is better than he actually is, Schneider probably won't play much.

That, of course, means while other team's best players are getting banged up while competing in a high quality tournament the Devils' players are at home resting and preparing for the upcoming season.

That could be a good thing.

- Due to some poor drafting by David Conte and his staff prior to the new regime taking over the Devils don't have a) many high-end prospects or; b) much prospect depth.

Devils GM Ray Shero and his staff have things heading in the right direction - last year they added the likes of Pavel Zacha and Mackenzie Blackwood to the system - but there is still plenty of work to be done.

The Devils have a good opportunity to take another big step in just a month's time as they are slated to pick nine times in the upcoming draft. Of those nine picks, two are in the top-41 and four are in the top-76.

In large part due to a disaster of a draft in 2014 here isn't a ton coming (three prospects - including their 3rd rounder Connor Chatham - probably won't even be signed to an entry-level contract) so they really need to make the most of these picks.

Prioritizing skill and production - like they did last season - over size and intangibles would surely help them do so.

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