The New Jersey Devils have selected John Quenneville with the 30th overall pick.
With Brendan Lemieux still on the board, this was certainly a surprise but I'd bet they'd take him 41st overall if he's still available.
Quenneville is a 6'1 center who scored 25 goals and tallied 58 points in 61 games with the Brandon Wheat Kings of the WHL.
He's a well-rounded center who Craig Button compared to Dave Bolland, while Pierre McGuire said Quenneville reminds him of Adam Henrique.
The Devils' are pretty thin at center in their prospect pool so Quenneville will help there, but to me this seems like a safe pick.
More tomorrow.
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Despite it being a pretty dry market in terms of teams looking for goaltenders, Martin Brodeur seems to be drawing considerable interest on the open market.
As many as six teams have talked with Brodeur's reps, with the Maple Leafs believed to be one of them.
Agent Pat Brisson has spoken with six teams so far regarding UFA G Martin Brodeur... it's a process, will heat up more after the draft
— Pierre LeBrun (@Real_ESPNLeBrun) June 27, 2014There's been no word on any of the other potentially interested parties, but teams looking for goaltending could include Winnipeg and Pittsburgh, among others.
Given Brodeur's .901 save percentage over the last two seasons I didn't expect him to draw too much interest, but I guess that's what being the winningest goaltender of all-time will do for you.
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The 2014 NHL Entry Draft is finally here.
After months of speculating on who the New Jersey Devils may select with the 30th overall pick, we'll find out tonight.
My money is on Brendan Lemieux, and I've been linking the two together for a while now, but there stands a chance that a) he's not available at 30 and; b) the Devils elect to go in a different direction with the pick even if he is.
The Devils draft by the philosophy I feel all teams should go by: taking the best player available. Whether it's a forward or defensemen, that's what the Devils will do tonight and tomorrow.
There's potential that two top-10 talents in Nikolay Goldobin and Josh Ho-Sang slide to the Devils because of the Russian factor and alleged defensive zone issues (Goldobin) as well as cockiness, off-ice issues, etc. (Ho-Sang).
Whether the Devils select them or not remains to be seen, but I don't think they'd shy away from either of these players. They've had no problems drafting someone perceived to be troubled and turning them into good players, so I don't think they'd be scared of doing it again.
As much talent as those guys have, the Devils may not feel they're the best players available, if that makes sense. If they feel their games won't translate to the NHL level they may choose to take someone else.
That in mind, I think both have futures in the NHL and would be happy to see the Devils select a guy with so much upside.
I'll be updating this post throughout the day if there's any news, as well as through the draft and as the Devils pick.
The Devils own the following picks in this year's draft:
*can't be traded
1st: 30th overall* 2nd: 41st overall 3rd: 71st overall 5th: 131st overall 6th: 152nd overall 6th: 161st overall
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Here are my top-30 draft eligible player rankings from the OHL as well as some in-depth scouting reports.
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