I pay far more attention to the NBA Draft coming up Thursday night because I know far more about the average prospect in that sport, but I always follow the first-round selection of the New Jersey Devils, and this draft, New Jersey would have their own pick at number four and the New York Islanders selection at twenty-nine in the opening stage.
The Devils selection of Luke Hughes with their pick at number four was the pick that most Devils fans had hoped for and for more than the sentimental storyline of playing with his brother Jack, the Devils top pick in 2019.
While Luke Hughes isn't projected to be the same level of player as his oldest brother, Quinn of the Vancouver Canucks, Luke was a solid member of the top few prospects in this class and wasn't thought of to be a reach at all and was generally regarded as the second-best defenseman of the draft behind his possible future teammate at Michigan, Owen Power, whom Buffalo selected first overall.
Hughes is an excellent skater, knows how to move the puck well in the end-to-end game, and is expected to develop his shot to have a chance to be a strong offensive-style defenseman, which of than Ty Smith, the Devils currently lack on the top squad and their farm system.
Hughes spent last season with the United States developmental team and has begun to skate again after injuring his foot in March.
Hughes is committed to Michigan and is likely to play at least one if not two seasons in Ann Arbor before entering the Devils system, if not the parent team.
Luke Hughes fits a glaring hole in the Devils organization and was drafted around the area that he was rated in don't be distracted by the nice storyline of two brothers eventually playing for the same team- He was the right selection.
Most Devils observers were not so thrilled with the selection of right-wing Chase Stillman, who was rated by almost all to be a second or third-round-level prospect.
The son of NHL veteran Cory Stillman, Stillman has been listed as a rugged around-the-net type with good hands and aggressiveness, but from what I have read seems to have many holes in his game and there were many higher-rated players on the board.
Tom Fitzgerald seems to like the rugged tough-guy types, and I can understand that to a degree- I like those types of players as well, but the game is changing rapidly from year to year and when any game begins to change, there are playing styles that become obsolete.
I'm not going to claim that I know much about Stillman or the prospects that he was selected over, but I do have to say that I have concerns about the selection after reading several opinions that I respect.
Thanks to John Fischer and the staff at All About The Jersey for their draft work that I used for much of the detail of this short recap.
While I used several sources before the draft on Luke Hughes as he was widely considered as a top possibility for the Devils, I knew next to nothing about Chase Stillman, and kudos to the staff there for the information.
No comments:
Post a Comment