I was hoping for the Devils to select Indiana (USHL) defenseman John Carlson, aka the Baby Dinosaur (so-called after he smashed the side of his fist down upon the melon of a fallen opponent in a fight a few years back). Alas, the Devils passed up on the puck hulking puck-mover, moving down three spots to the 24th pick to select diminutive Swedish winger Mattias Tedenby. I'm not upset, he was the second name that popped into my mind when asked who I wanted.
The kid from HV71 (yes, that's the team's name) has skills. He can flat out fly and provides some offensive flair to an organization that needs it. That said, he's small. Gionta small. He's listed at 5'10" 176 lbs, but I'm not so sure. He was about eye-to-eye with Devils GM Lou Lamoriello once he got up to the podium and about half as wide. Tedenby will definitely need to bulk up as it looked as though the geriatric Lamoriello may have been able to dismember the kid if he chose to do so. But in today's NHL, smaller players can flourish.
Bottom line is Tedenby is a kid with blinding speed, solid stick skills, but needs to bulk up to get to the NHL. He's at least a few years away from the big show.
Other selections
Brandon Burlon - 52nd pick (2nd round). Defenseman St. Michael's Buzzers (OPJHL)
Burlon is a beast. At only 6'0", 190lbs he finished among the top of the pack in most of the categories at the Draft Combine. While Burlon has power he uses it more for locomotion than for destruction. Not overly physical, Burlon is a very smooth skating defenseman. Is able to join the rush, but is not a pure offensive defenseman. One thing they lost when passing up on Carlson was a booming shot from the point, something Burlon possesses as well. He could turn into a solid 2nd pairing defenseman for the Devils, but will not in NJ for at least two or three years as he needs to fill out physically as well as test himself against better competition.
Patrice Cormier - 54th pick (2nd round). Center Rimouski Oceanic (QMJHL)
Cormier is a gritty, hard working, drive-to-the net center. Is it really a surprise the Devils picked him? He's not a stranger to dropping the gloves either. Scouts had limited exposure to this once highly-touted kid from New Brunswick as he was side-lined with injuries keeping him out of some of the more pivotal showcases. He may turn into one of the more valuable selections of the draft and a real steal for the Devils.
Adam Henrique - 82nd pick (3rd round) Center. Windsor Spitfires (OHL)
A teammate of Burlon's for gold-medal winning Team Ontario at the 2007 Canada Games, Henrique is another hard-working pivot who projects as a spark plug at the NHL level. A great face-off man. Oddly enough, was invited to Canada's under-18 camp when fellow Devils draft pick Patrice Cormier was unable to attend.
Matt Delahy - 102nd pick (4th round) Defenseman. Regina Pats (WHL)
A reliable stay at home defender really didn't show up on the radar until this year. Was given increasing amounts of ice-time by Regina and responded well to the added pressure.
Kory Nagy - 142nd pick (5th round) Center - Oshawa Generals (OHL)
The Devils are trying to fill the void down the middle in years to come. Nagy comes a bit off the board, not ranked by most of the scouting services and he is very similar to Henrique and both players seem to be the a hopeful replacement for John Madden. Like Henrique, Nagy is a strong face-off man who is a capable shut-down center. He's not going to be an offensive juggernaut ever. Nagy only managed 17 points in 57 regular season games. But guess what? He had 9 points in 15 playoff games.
David Wohlberg - 172nd pick (6th round) Center. USDP U-18
A physical two-way center will attend the University of Michigan in the fall. Had 22 points in 45 games for the US program.
Harry Young - 202nd pick (7th round) Defenseman. Winsdor Spitfires (OHL)
Devils take their second Spitfire of the day. This time they selected the 6'4", 200 pounder to help solidify their defensive core. Windsor head coach has spoke glowingly about Youn citing him as possibly the most improved player in all of the OHL this past season. His defensive responsibility has made him an effective penalty killer for the Spitfires. He has also been writing an off-season journal for WindsorSpitfires.com.
Jean-Sebastian Berube - 205th pick (7th round) Left Wing. Rouyn-Noranda Huskies (QMJHL)
The big winger had 118 PM and 24 points in 64 games for the Huskies. He doesn't turn 18 until July 20th.
Look for a team-by-team report throughout the coming weeks starting with the Devils divisional rivals the Isles and Rangers.
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