Devil dealings

The New Jersey Devils are apparently going to go into the NHL draft without hiring a head coach.
No new word on frontrunners,although you know where we stand.
Not sure if that would be generally be a good idea,but in the Devils organization the head coach has very little to do with the draft for the most part anyway as David Conte runs the show with some input from Lou Lamoriello,so as far as that goes,it is a non factor.

The Devils ,as always seems to be the case, are selecting late in the first round at the 23rd spot.
Such is part of being a competitive team every season as one only picks high when you either traded with a sorry franchise or you had an awful season.
The Devils have their selections in every round and in addition own the third rounder of Minnesota as part of a draft day deal last season that Minnesota to move up in the first round.

I will be the first to admit that I am not the most knowledgeable when it comes to prospects for the NHL draft like I try to be for the MLB,NFL and even to a lesser degree the NBA draft,but I do try to read as much as possible on the players that could be on the Devils radar screen for draft day and form a limited opinion based on what I have read.
The one thing that you can always count on with a Lou Lamoriello/David Conte draft is this-they will take the best player on the board and usually the pair pays little attention to current need.
The Devils rarely make the mistake of looking at the current need on the parent roster and many times will overlook the glaring need of the farm system in order to take the best player.
Now sometimes,you can quibble with their board( although usually not),but that is the general philosophy.
Looking at this chart from our friends at In Lou We Trust,the Devils follow a pattern since David Conte began his reign as head of the Devils scouting department in 1994 with their first round selections.
No one is hits 100 percent,but the Devils have done well considering draft position and only swung and missed when taking goalies.
I wouldn't complain even there,especially on Ari Ahonen.
Ahonen likely saw no future behind Marty and after seasons in Albany,he figured he could get paid more to play at home in Finland.
When you trim it down further to the last decade,the record looks better ranging from impact player (Zach Parise) to solid above average player (Travis Zajac) and three prospects that all look to contributors soon (Mattias Tedenby,Nicklas Bergfors and Matt Corrente).
In addition,David Hale is still in the league,although Hale was a disappointment in New Jersey.
Only Adrian Foster could be rated as a bust and honestly,he was a home run or whiff type from the day he was picked.

The Devils do have some system needs and they aren't that dissimilar from the parent needs.
Continued help at forward to put the puck in the net isn't a glaring need,but you take as many as you can get,defensemen are a need even with some interesting prospects on the horizon ( Corrente,Tyler Eckford and Brandon Burlon) and sooner or later a new goalie will be needed.
Jeff Frazee bounced back into prospect status last season,but I wouldn't want to put all the eggs into one basket.

I don't have a projection for the Devils on Friday night other than this-they will likely walk away with someone that you wouldn't think they would before the draft.
The Devils take advantage of other teams mistakes and that is why they continue to be among the top teams in the league year after year.

On to Brent Sutter becoming the new coach in Calgary.
This bugs me,but it doesn't really bother me a lot.
This was possible,if not likely from the day that he left.
His brother is the GM for the team that is closest to his home,after all.
At the same time,it does seem a bit disingenuous on Sutter's part to claim it was all about getting home.
I think Sutter was telling the truth about being homesick,but that wasn't the whole story either.
I don't really blame Brent Sutter,but I do believe he has damaged his credibility and has hurt his future in the coaching game.
So,a word of advice to Brent Sutter-better win in Calgary because after this stunt,I am not sure many other teams are going to be willing to take a chance on you.....

Finally,a interesting history piece from the Devils themselves on the teams draft in their days in Kansas City and Colorado.
The Devils rarely make a big deal about their past outside of New Jersey,so it is interesting reading.