Roger Mussa: Devils Prospects and where to go with draft picks

Can some one help me with first round. So we pick 7th, got that. Now Arizona's pick is probably 18 (?) and Vancouver is probably 20 (?) assuming neither makes it to conference championship, which would only make matters worse. So this stupid "play-in" system screwed our potential 7th, 10th and 16th picks AND gives Rags,Pitts, Edm, Nash a better chance at #1 overall then we had. Great job by Bettman.

Can some one help me with first round. So we pick 7th, got that. Now Arizona's pick is probably 18 (?) and Vancouver is probably 20 (?) assuming neither makes it to conference championship, which would only make matters worse. So this stupid "play-in" system screwed our potential 7th, 10th and 16th picks AND gives Rags,Pitts, Edm, Nash a better chance at #1 overall then we had. Great job by Bettman.
- redmonsters

Devils had a 7.5% chance of the number 1 pick in phase 1. Team E won with a 2.5%.

You guys won the #1 last year. The 3 picks this year will restock the system. I wouldn't worry. Devils have a bright future, just not a bright near future.

Devils had a 7.5% chance of the number 1 pick in phase 1. Team E won with a 2.5%.

You guys won the #1 last year. The 3 picks this year will restock the system. I wouldn't worry. Devils have a bright future, just not a bright near future.
- Only_A_Ladd

I have no problem with one of the 15 worst teams winning the lottery. Its when Pitts or Edmonton can win it I have a problem. This playin scenario was a farce from the start, and it just got worse.

THE DRAFT FIASCO IS TERRIBLE...

GIVING PITTSBURGH , EDMONTON , NASHVILLE ,Winnipeg A shot at the #1 pick....

even Florida and Rangers .
While Detroit , Ottawa , La and the Devils are Left out . Terrible .........

Hoping he goes to Minny . Or Nashville .


Devils PIck 7 -18-20
Hoping for Rossi or Hotlz .

then 18 and 20 the russian goalie , and trade one please. there are 16 Grada A prospects in this draft if one falls to 18 grab it ..unless trade it.... or both to move up...

THE DRAFT FIASCO IS TERRIBLE...

GIVING PITTSBURGH , EDMONTON , NASHVILLE ,Winnipeg A shot at the #1 pick....

even Florida and Rangers .
While Detroit , Ottawa , La and the Devils are Left out . Terrible .........

Hoping he goes to Minny . Or Nashville .


Devils PIck 7 -18-20
Hoping for Rossi or Hotlz .

then 18 and 20 the russian goalie , and trade one please. there are 16 Grada A prospects in this draft if one falls to 18 grab it ..unless trade it.... or both to move up...
- thechezman

This draft pick process is one of Bettman’s biggest blunders. And I am one that think he has done a good job representing and growing the NHL.

So many more creative (And simpler) ways to decide this odd draft pick year.

Maybe 9th and 10th seeds shouldnt even bother to have 2.5% odds or whatever at a lotto win. Whats really the point of that? To say "Well they're in the race so its fair", or perhaps "they just missed the playoffs so it's fair they have next to no shot". Maybe they just should have zero chance... Because they basically do anyway, because it's a joke that a team that misses the playoffs by a point or 2 (that's a good team) should have the opportunity to add a 1st overall pick while 10 other teams actually need the pick. I know the league wants to minimize tanking, but there's the 2nd lotto to help that. Teams at 9th and 10th wouldnt be tanking to get to 11th to have.. Say a 5% chance. They're going for that 8th seed. So again, kind of silly for them to even be in the lottery. You're picking 12th-16th..deal with it. Maybe I'm missing a detail. That's my off the cuff proposal.

THE DRAFT FIASCO IS TERRIBLE...

GIVING PITTSBURGH , EDMONTON , NASHVILLE ,Winnipeg A shot at the #1 pick....

even Florida and Rangers .
While Detroit , Ottawa , La and the Devils are Left out . Terrible .........

Hoping he goes to Minny . Or Nashville .


Devils PIck 7 -18-20
Hoping for Rossi or Hotlz .

then 18 and 20 the russian goalie , and trade one please. there are 16 Grada A prospects in this draft if one falls to 18 grab it ..unless trade it.... or both to move up...
- thechezman

I’m confused, you complain Nashville has a chance to win it but then hope that they do? 🤔

My current persuasion is to take best forward available over Sanderson, and hope to get a Gruhle or Schneider with the later picks.

This draft pick process is one of Bettman’s biggest blunders. And I am one that think he has done a good job representing and growing the NHL.

So many more creative (And simpler) ways to decide this odd draft pick year.
- Devils Advocate

As a die hard Pens fan I can guarantee that Pens and Oiler fans would gladly trade their chance at the pick to have won their series. The playoffs should have been 20 teams, top 3 in each division automatically in and the 2 WC teams play the first two teams outside the WC as a best of 5 playin. Would have been the most accurate representation of the season and wouldn’t have had Top teams contending for #1 overall.

Yes but 3 pts (last bubble team in's diff from us) separated us from 6.5% and 12% chance. I didn't mind not making the PO's but when bubble teams got in and now the teams with opportunity for 1 OA being Pitt/Nash/NYRs come on!
Knowing that get in and lose is a great op.
Love our 1st OAs but neither is franchise changing, so we did great, not wonderful!
Apparently we still don't know how the Vatanen trade looks yet! The league will decide on Monday WTF!

And maybe going forward the bottom teams play a series and winner of that gets 1OA. No more trying to lose to win, win to win!

This draft pick process is one of Bettman’s biggest blunders. And I am one that think he has done a good job representing and growing the NHL.

So many more creative (And simpler) ways to decide this odd draft pick year.
- Devils Advocate

Even if we waited until the qualifier was done to do the draft lottery it doesn’t change that the 12th spot would have belonged to a very good team.

I think kind of like the duchene offside the NHL made an over correction to their oilers problem.

They put the teams at the top end of the draft on level playing ground with just about every team missing the playoffs and even though they wind up with a very high pick still the worst place team has dropped to 4th in 3 of the 5 drafts we’ve conducted with this format (6 if you include the sabres sliding to 2 after losing mcdavid).

In my opinion if we’re going to conduct 3 lotteries we should either be weighing the odds heavier for the worst teams to have a better shot or make a maximum number of slots a team can move up (I would propose 8 once Seattle joins since there will be 16 non-playoff teams). But the greatest problem right now is the odds, no way should the worst team have an 82% chance on missing out on first.

On a side note good blog, it was quite interesting to read you advocate for askarov when Todd was really against selecting him.

Even if we waited until the qualifier was done to do the draft lottery it doesn’t change that the 12th spot would have belonged to a very good team.

I think kind of like the duchene offside the NHL made an over correction to their oilers problem.

They put the teams at the top end of the draft on level playing ground with just about every team missing the playoffs and even though they wind up with a very high pick still the worst place team has dropped to 4th in 3 of the 5 drafts we’ve conducted with this format (6 if you include the sabres sliding to 2 after losing mcdavid).

In my opinion if we’re going to conduct 3 lotteries we should either be weighing the odds heavier for the worst teams to have a better shot or make a maximum number of slots a team can move up (I would propose 8 once Seattle joins since there will be 16 non-playoff teams). But the greatest problem right now is the odds, no way should the worst team have an 82% chance on missing out on first.

On a side note good blog, it was quite interesting to read you advocate for askarov when Todd was really against selecting him.
- RedC21

eh, i think there's a difference between the Panthers, Predators, Wild, even Rangers, compared to the Penguins, Oilers, Toronto, Jets. Yes, the 12th spot would belong to a good team.. but there are definitely different versions of good here. The Pens, Leafs, Oilers, Jets are all playoff teams. This best of 5 nonsense after 4 months of no hockey doesn't tell me which team is most deserving of a playoff seed... it just tells me which team is better coming out of a 4-month layoff. ..except for Nashville, because we've seen this exact type of senseless aimless hockey for YEARS in Jersey.

I completely agree with the rest. The worst team shouldn't move down 4 spots. The 2nd lottery shouldn't be equal odds. And there should be a maximum amount of spots a team should be able to move up.

I maintain the 9th and 10th seeds shouldn't even be in the lottery. Take your 12th-16th overall picks and be happy. You were good enough to be 1 and 2 spots out of the playoffs.. other teams need your lotto win much more than you.

Even if we waited until the qualifier was done to do the draft lottery it doesn’t change that the 12th spot would have belonged to a very good team.

I think kind of like the duchene offside the NHL made an over correction to their oilers problem.

They put the teams at the top end of the draft on level playing ground with just about every team missing the playoffs and even though they wind up with a very high pick still the worst place team has dropped to 4th in 3 of the 5 drafts we’ve conducted with this format (6 if you include the sabres sliding to 2 after losing mcdavid).

In my opinion if we’re going to conduct 3 lotteries we should either be weighing the odds heavier for the worst teams to have a better shot or make a maximum number of slots a team can move up (I would propose 8 once Seattle joins since there will be 16 non-playoff teams). But the greatest problem right now is the odds, no way should the worst team have an 82% chance on missing out on first.

On a side note good blog, it was quite interesting to read you advocate for askarov when Todd was really against selecting him.
- RedC21

Interesting differing opinions.

For me, its not about the Russian goalie. Its about addressing an obvious gap rather than waiting for later rounds or next year. We all know goalies are the hardest position to draft.
So, advocating selecting him or not, I don't think is the way we should look at it.

Hey Roger, just a quick question. How come no mention of Clarke, Misyul, or Gritsyuk? Some people consider all 3 of them top 10 or so prospects for us, or even higher. I think all of these guys should atleast on the honorable mentions list over a Gignac, Bastian, McLeod, or Popugayev as i feel their ceilings are just higher at this point

Hey Roger, just a quick question. How come no mention of Clarke, Misyul, or Gritsyuk? Some people consider all 3 of them top 10 or so prospects for us, or even higher. I think all of these guys should atleast on the honorable mentions list over a Gignac, Bastian, McLeod, or Popugayev as i feel their ceilings are just higher at this point
- vlongo4419

Good question.

I didn't want to list all of our prospects and wanted to share who I like and think is closer to cracking the NHL. Misyul is interesting and I do like him, frankly he should have been at least mentioned. I also do think the Devils brass likes and wants Smith to be there and I think it may squeeze Misyul.

Good call.

Hey Roger, just a quick question. How come no mention of Clarke, Misyul, or Gritsyuk? Some people consider all 3 of them top 10 or so prospects for us, or even higher. I think all of these guys should atleast on the honorable mentions list over a Gignac, Bastian, McLeod, or Popugayev as i feel their ceilings are just higher at this point
- vlongo4419

Gignac looks like a career NHLer. Big Poppy looks like a big Floppy. And Mikey looks like he shot his McLeod in the OHL. I think the best he turns into is a better Kevin Rooney. Although he hadn’t shown he’s any better. A 4th line of McLeod, Bastian and Anderson seems interesting. Or maybe with Zacha at center over Mikey.

Interesting differing opinions.

For me, its not about the Russian goalie. Its about addressing an obvious gap rather than waiting for later rounds or next year. We all know goalies are the hardest position to draft.
So, advocating selecting him or not, I don't think is the way we should look at it.
- Devils Advocate

I see. While selecting goalies may be a bit of a crap shoot there is a reason he’s the highest touted goalie since Carey price. I think him being a Russian would be even more of a convincer for me. That country has surpassed everyone else in goalie development the past decade and the KHL has become a great place for them to hone their skills.

I’m a big believer in what Blackwood can become but with 3 first round picks and your 2nd one now falling outside of the top 15 it could be a good move to take him there (I don’t think he’s a top 10 talent to take at 7).

Only thing is he may not be available with alll the really good teams that have been eliminated willing to take a gamble on a goalie higher in the draft.

The lottery is fair to me...maybe its because the devils won not once but twice (!!) But I feel like it prevents tanking..and the corona didn't help and made the process so weird because the season didn't finish..i think those teams deserve a chance jus like the devils did it is wat it is..please jus not the rangers or pens lol

It hurts, doesn't it [/img]

I just dont think we have to worry about 9th and 10th seeds ranking. They're trying to make the playoffs and really if theyre that close, should they really be eligible for 1st overall compared to a bottom 8 team?

Vegas vs Chicago should be fun.

Anybody want to pretend AZ can win a playoff round and resign Taylor Hall???? Just so we can be disappointed again.

Anybody want to pretend AZ can win a playoff round and resign Taylor Hall???? Just so we can be disappointed again.
- Queenie_5_hole

They can and they will.

Anybody want to pretend AZ can win a playoff round and resign Taylor Hall???? Just so we can be disappointed again.
- Queenie_5_hole

With Kuemper anything can happen. Guy can steal 2 to 3 games in a best of 7 so they just need to be better than the Avs in two other games