2022 MOCK DRAFT: NEW JERSEY DEVILS

This is a mock draft of the 2022 NHL draft with the New Jersey Devils, who have 9 picks in the draft. They could possibly add even more picks at the draft by trading away some of their valuable assets at the draft.

Related: Arizona Coyotes

Before the 2022 Draft, a few trades are made

New Jersey Devils trade Pavel Zacha to the San Jose Sharks for Jonathan Dahlen, Marc-Eduord Vlasic, 1st round pick ’23.

This is a win-win trade for both teams, cause the Sharks dump Marc Eduord Vlasic’s awful contract, while adding a player in Pavel Zacha, who can still turn his career around. For New Jersey, they get Jonathan Dahlen, a highly hyped prospect, but has been disappointing so far, and a 1st round pick, along with Vlasic, who is still a serviceable veteran Defenseman.

The Devils also trade Miles Wood to the Ottawa Senators for 3rd round pick ’22, 5th round pick ’22.

This is a steal for the Ottawa Senators but because the Devils don’t really have any room in their lineup for Miles Wood, they rather get something in return for him walk for nothing. Also, it’s worth keeping in mind he is missed a full season this year.

Pk Subban and Janne Kuokkanen are traded to the Vancouver Canucks for 6th round pick ’22, 6th round pick ’23.

Vancouver adds Janne Kuokkanen and acquires the negotiation rights of PK Subban for two late draft picks; for the Devils, this is a trade made so they get something for a player that is going to be a free agent.

Tomas Tatar and Andreas Johnsson are traded to the Edmonton Oilers for Zack Kassian and Jesse Puljujarvi.

This is a straightforward move, that helps both teams improve immediately; for Edmonton, its a cap move, for New Jersey it’s a move to improve the roster.

2022 Draft

2-Juraj Slafkovsky
34-Ryan Chesley
66-Alexander Suzdalev
87-Jordan Dumais
98-Simon Forsmark
109-Ian Blomquist
118-Stephen Halliday
140-Fabian Wagner
151-Tyler Duke
162-Kent Anderson
175-Niklas Kokko
194-Joshua Niedermayer

New Jersey Devils kicked off the 2022 Draft by selecting Slovak Winger, Juraj Slafkovsky with the 2nd overall pick. Slafkovsky’s stock has been rising rapidly this season and is even putting pressure on the consensus 1st overall pick Shane Wright to be the #1 pick. The Slovakian-born winger is a 6-foot-4, left-winger, who has high-end offensive skill and can grow to be one of the best power forwards in the game in a few years. While there are some areas of his game that need to be refined, he has the potential to be an elite power forward at the NHL level.

The Devils addressed their goal-scoring needs in this draft with the additions of Alexander Suzdalev and Jordan Dumais. Alexander Suzdalev is a playmaking winger with great hands and good size, with a great offensive toolbox. In 45 games with HV71 J20, he scored 15 goals and 51 points. He is creative and deceptive with the puck and is consistently able to beat opponents using his hands. In addition, he is an adept passer with good vision. Suzdalev flourishes as a playmaker but he can finish as well, especially around the crease. While Suzdalev needs to continue to round out his game, he could be a top 6 winger in the future. Jordan Dumais is a small shifty offensive winger with good playmaking ability. Dumais has been an offensive force for Halifax this season, scoring 39 goals, 70 assists, and 109 points in 68 games. Despite his lack of size and strength, Dumais certainly has the dynamic skillset to produce at the NHL level.

The other forwards added are Stephen Halliday and Fabian Wagner, both of whom are versatile forwards that play a two-way game. Stephen Halliday is a 6’4″, 234 lbs goliath, and was one of the strongest forwards in American juniors. His game is not flashy, but his old-school style of play would be very attractive for NHL clubs looking for a massive shutdown center. Fabian Wagner is a smooth-skating forward with good playmaking ability and defensive instincts. His hockey sense is great and has some untapped potential. Wagner is extremely versatile and capable of playing center and winger, which makes him extremely valuable to his team. He is enjoying a breakout season of sorts this season, having tallied 38 points in 43 games for Linkoping HC J20 in the regular season, then added 5 points in 8 playoff games for the club.

The defense also needed to be improved, so they added Three left defense and two right defense, a total of 5 defensemen in this draft. The left defenseman drafted are Simon Forsmark, Tyler Duke, and Joshua Niedermayer; the right defenseman drafted are Ryan Chesley and Kent Anderson. Ryan Chesley is a very strong and reliable two-way defender with great hockey sense. his bread and butter is his defensive play, as he possesses great instincts in his own end or in the neutral zone. Even with his lack of offense, Chesley has the ability to be a top-four defenseman at the NHL level because he is a right-handed shot, and has proven he can play in all situations. Kent Anderson is a big, 6-foot-3/201lb defenseman, who is a right-handed shot and has some leadership intangibles. Anderson may not stand out on the stat sheet, but he seems like a solid defensive defenseman. Simon Forsmark is a reliable two-way defenseman, that excels in a shutdown type role. While his offensive production may be in question at the next level, what isn’t in question is his ability to be a stabilizing force on the backend.
Tyler Duke is an undersized but tenacious defender with good puck-moving ability. His strong skating ability helps to make up for the fact he is 5’9/179, but his defensive ability is still in question. Duke could grow to be a 3rd pair defenseman, who excels on the powerplay. Joshua Niedermayer is the son of former New Jersey Devils defenseman Scott Niedermayer, so this pick in the 7th round makes sense.

New Jersey needed to improve their goaltending, so they drafted two goalies, Ian Blomquist and Niklas Kokko. Both are big netminders with massive potential. Blomquist is a 6’2 goalie out of Sweden; he had a 15-14-0 record with a 2.61 GAA and .918 SV% with Vasteras IK J20. Kokko is a 6’3 goalie out of Finland; he had a 17-10 record with a 2.06 GAA with a .917 SV% and 6 shutouts
in 29 games playing for Karpat U20. Both goalies have starter potential but sometimes it’s tough to evaluate how goalies playing in Euro leagues with translate to the NHL level.

New Jersey Devils re-sign the following players:

Jesper Bratt-6yrs/6.75M per
Jesse Puljujarvi-3yrs/2.5M per
Jesper Boqvist-2yrs/1.3M per

All Non-Roster RFAs are re-signed

This is how the lineup looks like in the upcoming season

2022-23 New Jersey Devils

Y.Sharongovich-J.Hughes-A.Holtz
J.Bratt-N.Hischier-J.Puljujarvi
J.Dahlen-D.Mercer-F.Zetterlund
J.Boqvist-M.McLeod-N.Bastian

R.Graves-D.Hamilton
J.Siegenthaler-D.Severson
M-E.Vlasic-T.Smith

M.Blackwood
N.Daws