Thanks to Gary Bettman giving the Devils back their first round pick this season - albeit it's 30th overall rather than 11th - the Devils are positioned pretty well in this draft.
They're not going to get a near-guarenteed elite talent at the top of the draft, but they have two picks in the top-41, and should be able to add a couple quality prospects to a pretty mediocre system.
This draft class is sort of weird because due to size (C - Robert Fabbri), supposed one-way play (W - Nikolai Goldobin) being a bit of a puck hog/defensive liability (C - Josh Ho-Sang) or very undisciplined (D - Anthony DeAngelo) there could be some guys with top-10 talent available at 30.
There's also some guys who have historic ties to the team like Brendan Lemieux - son of Claude - who could very well be available at 30, and perhaps even 41, though that's probably a bit of a stretch.
Obviously not all of these guys will fall, but Lou Lamoriello should be able to pick his poison between one or two of those options. Personally Fabbri's size is a bit of an issue for me - there aren't many (or any) elite centres who are small - but I'd say getting an ubber-talented player like Goldobin, Ho-Sang or even DeAngelo, who put up 71 points in 51 games as a defenseman, would do the Devils well.
Of the bunch I think Goldobin has the highest offensive ceiling, and being a winger, he probably makes the most sense for the Devils if he slips to them at 30. He has elite vision, puck skills and is a good skater as well. He's not a very physical guy and he won't put in Zach Parise-type effort to win puck battles, but when he has the puck on his stick he flat out makes things happen.
Things could change, but it seems as though because one or two knocks on a guy, the Devils will land a more talented player at 30 than they normally would. I'll have a lot more on the draft as we get closer to it.
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