The NHL draft is just a few weeks away and, courtesy of the combine, we're finally starting to get an idea of who the Devils may be targeting.
One guy they seem intrigued by is Sarnia Sting forward Pavel Zacha.
Pavel Zacha said his interview with the Devils went well. They asked to interview with him again when he gets to Florida before the draft.
— Tom Gulitti (@TGfireandice) June 6, 2015It's pretty standard to interview players slotted to go around wherever Team Y picks, however, if another interview is arranged it often means Team Y's interest is real.
The Devils also want a second interview with Mitch Marner, according to Tom Gulitti.
Marner is unlikely to be available at six, though, as his production warrants a top selection and the Maple Leafs, who pick 4th, have recently hired a couple management types (Mark Hunter, Lindsay Hofford) from the London Knights that drafted Marner in London and saw a ton of him.
Back to Zacha, though.
He's a 6'3' 210 pound center who skates very well for his size and is as powerful as anyone in the draft. Everything he does is powerful. His strides are powerful, he hits hard, and he has an absolute cannon of a shot. Zacha already has man strength and he should still get bigger.
He's not just a strong kid, though. He possesses good puck skills, can skate and, as mentioned, has an excellent shot so it's not as if he doesn't have talent.
Zacha was in and out of Sarnia's lineup this season due to a couple suspensions and the World Juniors so he was never able to get in rhythm. He didn't have much to work with on the Sting, either, which surely hindered his production.
His 16 goals and 34 points in 37 regular season games surely won't 'wow' anyone but after scouting him several times I'm extremely confident that he is one of those guys who is much better than his production would indicate.
That's evident as Zacha is still extremely highly regarded by most scouts and was ranked 6th in Bob McKenzie's final rankings. It just so happens that the Devils are slated to pick 6th at the end of the month.
Time will tell if Zacha is New Jersey's guy but it sounds like he just might be.
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It's worth noting that Reid Boucher left Michigan State University to join Sarnia after being selected by the Devils. Josh Jacobs recently followed in Boucher's footsteps by leaving MSU to join the Sting for the 2015-16 season. The Devils seem to have a good relationship with the Sting so I'm sure Shero and the scouting staff have already gotten the full low down from them about Zacha.