We will start with the known Lou Lamoriello era. We all know how bad our drafting was with him and his scouts but was it that bad?
2010
Only two of the five players we’ve drafted are still playing in NHL and none with the NJ Devils. The one worthy pick here is a 3rd rounder in Scott Wedgewood. He is a likable guy, and - while he started super slow - is decent these days as (gasp!) a starter. God knows we could use him even today.
But let’s see who went after these picks, and yes, I realize we’re doing hindsight 20/20. Many played, but the most notables are Toffoli and Zucker.
2011
Blake Coleman was a better pick because he was in the 3rd round, has done well on NJ Devils, won Stanley Cup with Tampa Bay, and is now a good player for the Flames.
Two of the six are still in NHL and are decent picks. Not touching the 1:1 Taylor Hall trade, Adam Larsson is still a good pick; could we have done better? Fuck yes. Let’s look at the following:
If you want to be depressed, this is an excellent chart to start. Mark Scheifle and Mika Zibanejad went after Larsson, as did Dougie Hamilton (we could have had him from the fresh start) and Sean Couturier. Side note: 2011 was an excellent drafting year.
2012
This was the year that we could have skipped the first rounder and waited till 2013. This was all about that horrible penalty Devils took on Kovalchuk, circumventing the salary cap ruling by Bettman. But what did Lou do? He opted to pick the 29th place in the 1st round, and who did he choose? A guy that played 92 games and had 11 points.
We also selected Damon Severson, and love or hate him, at least he’s still playing in the NHL. Severson was not a wasted 1st rounder, either. Stefan Matteau was, though; here’s why. Because precisely one spot after, LA chose Tanner Pearson.
Kerfoot is a legit pick, especially in 5th round. He is still playing with Leafs.
2013
The only thing Steven Santini did for us provided trade bait. Nothing came from him or the wasted 2nd round pick.
Miles Wood gets a lot of shit (probably for the money he re-signed with) but being a 4th rounder? That’s not too shabby.
2014
This was the peak horrific, no good, get out of here, draft year for the Devils. None of the guys did anything in NHL. John Quenneville in the first round — if even at the 30th spot, is a travesty. Brendan Lemieux was a better pick, even Ivan Barbashev, and Vitek Vanecek. The steal of 2014 goes to Tampa, though, for selecting Brayden Point in the 3rd round.
2015
This was the last year of Lou Lamoriello’s tenure, and it wasn’t horrible. Pavel Zacha at 6th overall was, though. I mean, looking at everyone after Zacha makes me want to cry.
Blackwood is a decent backup goalie, nothing more. He’s one of those that make great saves on tough shots but lets stinkers in. At least Blackwood was a 2nd rounder.
2016
Ray Shero's tenure begins! WE are saved, or are we?
Michael McLeod 12th OVERALL!!!!
We could have had McAvoy, Chychrun, Sam Steel, and would you look at that… Tage Thompson! But no, we had to get McLeod! Is Shero still using Conte as his Scouting guy? Seems like it.
2017
Of the eleven picks we had, only three are legit. One, can’t miss (but could have with Nolan Patrick) with Nico Hischier, Jesper Boqvist (still not sold on him), and Fabian Zetterlund (I would like to be sold on him). So congrats to Shero for not wasting our 1st overall on Nolan Patrick as Philadelphia Flyers did. Like New York Rangers did with 7th overall, Lias Anderson - the silver medal chucker.
2018
A stinker and a steal, perhaps. Ty Smith was a stinker that got turned around for John Marino. Akira Schmid is a legit backup at worst, maybe even a starter. Yegor Sharangovich was a steal in the 5th round, however. I would call this a draft steal (past 1st round). This was a decent draft for us, even if we didn’t select Smith, the only one I would consider a much better pick was the one NY Rangers got at pick number 22, K'Andre Miller.
2019
We only had one pick here in the first round, and … we already know where this is going. You can’t fuck this up, and thankfully, Shero did not. There is not one player I would want over Jack Hughes; Kirby Dach, Kaapo Kakko, Dylan Cozens, Trevor Zegras, Spencer Knight, or Cole Caufield. All great players, but none are Jack Hughes.
Later rounds are still up in the air, but at least Nikita Okhotyuk is playing in NHL for now.
2020
Enter the Tom Fitzgerald era with Shero being fired. Right off the bat, things need to be looking up for me here - they are not.
Alexander Holtz and Dawson Mercer should be trade bait for someone like Timo Meier or the equivalent. I am not sold on either, and if I could be blunt, the more they play, the more assured I am in their lack of NHL future.
People were down on Pavel Zacha, going at 6th overall and being a stinker. Holtz went as a number 7 overall, and I think he’s worst than Zacha.
Askarov would have looked good in the Comets AHL by now, but what do I know? Seth Jarvis, Perfetti, Lundeell, and even Chinakhov look better than our combined trio in the first round. By the way, how the fuck do you draft Shakir Mukhamadullin in the first round?
This is where I will leave it due to “too early to call” on the 2021 drafts. I want to think we did well. Taking Luke Hughes was a good call over William Eklund or Isak Rosen (SWE IIHF World Juniors stud). Since most of these kids are in the minors and college systems, it’s too early to call.