The NHL Draft is a month away and with the New Jersey Devils head coaching search complete all eyes now turn to the offseason. After a rough 2023-24 season, the Devils will select 10th overall, their seventh time doing so in the past decade.
General Manager Tom Fitzgerald is in prime position to add an incredibly high-end talent to a now shallow prospect pool. As it stands, the Devils will enter the draft with six picks, 10, 75, 91 (via Winnipeg), 139, 153 (via Colorado), and 171.did calgary flames play tonight
We’ve previously taken a look at how the first round could shake out in our first mock draft. Now we’ll see who the Devils may select with their six picks this time around. To make these selections we’ll be using FCHockey’s Mock Draft Builder.
A repeat from our first mock draft but for good reason. Konsta Helenius put together one of the most productive U-18 seasons in Liiga history, while also playing a pro-style, two-way gamecalgary flames uniform history. He put up 36 points in 51 regular season games, as well as 6 points in 6 games in the postseason. Helenius also represented Finland at the U-18, U-20, and Men’s level.
The Devils severely lack organizational center depth, and Fitzgerald should be chomping at the bit to add NHL Central Scouting’s third-ranked International skater. By adding Helenius, the Devils could either make themselves incredibly deep down the center of the ice or deploy him with Jack Hughes in an Erik Haula-esque role.
The Devils go back to the center well here and take a freakish athlete in Dean Letourneau. Standing at a whopping 6-foot-7, Letourneau’s projection is a little all over the board. What people rave about is his incredible athleticism not just for his size, but in general. Letourneau put up 127 points in 56 games, albeit against lesser competition. However, he’s projected to play with Sioux Falls in the USHL before jumping to Boston College in 2025-26.
After taking the pro-ready Helenius in the first round, the Devils can afford to be patient at let Letourneau grow into his massive frame. Fitzgerald has shown an affinity for bigger players, and it doesn’t get much bigger than Letourneau.
After not choosing a goalie in a draft for the first time in seven, they decide to go back to the well by selecting the KHL Rookie of the Year, Ilya Nabokov. The Devils have watched as their two biggest rivals across the river in New York get carried to success by their Russian goalies and opt for one of their own. Nabokov is coming off of a monstrous KHL season in which he recorded a 2.15 GAA and a 0.930 SV% in 43 games.
Statistically, he has been nothing short of spectacular. However, he has a few things working against him. For starters, having a Russian passport these days always complicates things, however, the Devils seem to have a good relationship with their Russian prospects (ie: Arseni Gritsyuk). His age and size do however play a major factor. Nabokov is 21 years old and stands at just six feet tall. His extra years of development and small frame make his path to the NHL slightly more complicated than it does for other goalie prospects. However, the production is just too good to pass up, and the Devils hope to have found their own Igor Shesterkin.
The Devils first defenseman of the draft is double over-ager, Frans Haara. The 20-year-old Swede had a breakout year for Skelleftea’s U-20 team, as well as making his way into 18 SHL games. Haara’s calling card is his skating. That, along with his shot, has helped him emerge as a legitimate NHL prospect. He has good size at 6-foot-1, 185 pounds, and is the 38th-ranked International skater on NHL Central Scouting.
With their second fifth-round selection the Devils go with American forward, Austin Baker. The Michigan State commit has a projectable size of 6 feet, 192 pounds. He recorded 31 points in 59 USNTDP games while adding another 14 points in 25 USHL games. More of a goal scorer than a playmaker, Baker would add to the Devils organizational wing depth, which would allow him the opportunity to stay in college for multiple years to develop before signing his ELC.
The Devils decide to go back to the USNTDP for their final selection and take New Jersey native John Whipple. The Morristown native has a sturdy 6-foot-1, 195-pound frame that he isn’t afraid to use. Despite his lack of production, Whipple is a crisp passing, stay-at-home defenseman. The New Jersey Colonials alumnus is slated to play for the University of Minnesota next year.
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