Follow me on Twitter @ToddCordell
As someone who scouts junior hockey, and follows every draft closely as a whole, I'm regularly asked for my opinion on prospects.
The most popular question I get, of course, is regarding who Team X should take with Pick Y. Team X is generally New Jersey since I cover the team, but there are exceptions.
Nevertheless,
I recently wrote about potential targets for the Devils at 6th overall, and suggested a few names with Mathew Barzal and Pavel Zacha being the main targets (assuming Mitch Marner and Dylan Strome are gone).
There are some exceptions, but the consensus ranking from most scouting services have Barzal and Zacha between 8-12th overall.
With the Devils picking 6th, many suggested they don't draft either of those players since they're ranked a handful of slots lower.
A few points on that:
1) If you really like a player, especially in a deep draft where a lot of guys are bunched into the same group, do you want to risk losing your guy in order to move down a couple slots and pick up a mid-round pick? I wouldn't.
2) Just because the consensus rank on a player is 8-12 doesn't mean teams view players that way. One thing I've learned since getting into scouting is that if a team doesn't like one attribute in a player's game - say skating ability or hockey sense - that player is likely rated dozens of picks lower than the consensus, if not more. I've seen examples of guys projected to go 1st or 2nd round taken off a scout's draft board all together.
3) If a player is ranked 8th, that doesn't automatically mean the seven guys ahead will be better, or that everyone below is worse. Far from it, actually.
Take the 2012 draft class, for example.
Nail Yakupov or Filip Forsberg?
Ryan Murray or Jacob Trouba?
Griffin Reinhart or Olli Maatta?
The three on the left were chosen 1st, 2nd and 4th. The three on the right were taken 11th, 9th, and 23rd.
Is it possible I'm wrong on Mathew Barzal and/or Pavel Zacha? Absolutely. But there's a good chance at least one of them outperforms their ranking, too, which is why I think either would be more than acceptable picks at 6.
In time we'll see if Lou Lamoriello feels the same way.
**
I know the majority of you will want a lot of draft coverage, but is there anything specific - draft related or not - you'd like to see covered this summer? There are a lot of posts to fill over the next few months so I'm open to ideas.
**
I recently tracked shot attempts, zone starts and zone entries for a game where Barzal and Team Canada took on Zacha and the Czech Republic.
Recent posts
Why the Devils should re-sign Steve Bernier
6th overall it is
Cory Schneider is truly elite
Why the Devils should be shopping Jon Merrill
Is Eric Gelinas on the way out?
Who will win the Stanley Cup?
Eastern Conference playoff predictions: Round 1
Western Conference playoff predictions: Round 1
New Jersey Devils Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»