Recapping the Devils' 2021 NHL Draft I PODCAST

New Jersey Devils Official Podcast
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Devils NHL Draft Recap | Speak of the Devils
The 2021 NHL Drat wrapped over the weekend. And on this week's episode of Speak of the Devils, reporters Amanda Stein and Sam Kasan join host Matt Loughlin in recapping the newest acquisitions for New Jersey. Here are some of the highlights.
Luke Hughes
Stein: I was in
Prudential Center
where all the fans were gathered. Matty, you were there. I was thinking to myself as Tom Fitzgerald and his staff were walking out onto the stage, they better pick Luke here. Not because it's what the crowd wanted, but it would have been a very interesting moment caught if it wasn't Luke. There were Luke signs, and chants of "We Want Luke" and all that. That was my initial thought. I didn't hope who they were going to pick. I was like, I hope for Fitzy's sake that's the way they landed in the end. They did. It was an awesome moment. It was a great moment for the Devils franchise and the Hughes family.
Loughlin: It was a good moment. The crowd loved it. And of course, the reaction of the family. I loved the video, and with Jack being so excited. Gosh, I think he's still shaking as he was hugging his brother. I loved Jim Hughes. Go back and look at the video. The family is there, the name gets mentioned and Jack jumps up and he's shaking and hugging him. Jim Hughes is sitting there, I think he has his arms folded, and he leans to his left and is like, 'what is going on here?' as he looking at them as a proud dad.
Kasan: One of the things that stood out to me when (Luke) did his media availability and I asked him about going to Michigan next year with four guys drafted in the top five picks, how excited he was. You could see him perk up and how excited he was right away. You can tell that he's amped up to get to college and compete for an NCAA title, a national title. Someone else asked how long he thinks he needs to mature and he said, obviously he needs at least one year, but he said maybe two years. He's taking it year-by-year. He said if he goes and is lights out after his freshman year and hits all the steps and markers that he needs to hit then he would consider it then. But in his mind, I think he's looking at two years. I don't know what management things, but obviously there's nothing better than developing at the college level, especially with that level of competition.

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Chase Stillman
He's kept repeating over and over again was that he wants the Devils to be harder to play against. And the guys that are hardest to play against are guys like that, tenacious on the ice. Fitzgerald called him a 'dog on a bone mentality.' Attacking, attacking, aggressive, to the point where you have to reel them in sometimes. But as a team you'd rather reel them in than have to give them a kick in the rear to get them going. It's one thing to be tenacious, but to be able to score, because he's got some pretty good hands and pretty good finish, too. If you get that combination, it's a deadly combination.
Stein: He's a very smart, young man. That was one of the things I noticed when interviewing him, which is how most of my taste of who these players are and what they will become. He's very articulate. He has a strong sense of confidence. I think a lot of that is to another that Tom Fitzgerald talks about, and we talk about, is those bloodlines. He's been around the game his entire life. His dad played just over 1,000 games. His dad, Cory Stillman, won two Stanlely Cups, one in Tampa and one in Carolina. Chase was 8 or 9 when his dad retired from the game. But he still got some much experience in those eight or nine years that you can't teach. Only a select few people get that. He grew up around the game. He watched his dad. He watched his dad's teammates. He grew up in the locker room. Those are things that are really valuable.
Loughlin: While it surprised a lot of people, because if you look at the list and that's from anyone that we had on our various podcasts leading up to the draft or any other media members, he wasn't a first-round name that came up, but would be someone you look for a little later. That being said, one of our guests, Sam Cosentino, he gave credit to players that weren't going to be able to play this year, the OHL shutdown, that's the case with Chase Stillman, and we saw it with Brandt Clarke, we saw it with his brother Graeme - he went and played overseas and got experience - well, Chase Stillman did the same thing. A different level league, but you have to give the kid credit for giving up the comforts to continue to play rather than sit around and say the game will come to me. He chased the game, no pun intended.
Samu Salminen
Kasan: The first thing people talk about is his size. He's 6-2, 182 pounds. He's a big kid, but he's also productive. The guy scores. He had a point-and-a-half per game with Jokerit. You don't usually see kids at that level scoring like that. He's clearly got some finish. He clearly knows the right places to be. There were some question marks about his skating, could he keep up, things like that. But he can clearly skate well enough to get into scoring areas and has the hands to finish. You saw at the U18s where he was propelled up to the top line and was a dominant force, put up incredible numbers. When you talk about looking for guys that can finish, here's a guy that can finish.
Stein: The commitment to come over to study and to play college hockey will be such an advantage for a young man like that too. … I believe it was (head European scout Greg) Royce that was talking about Samu, and he talked about that he liked that he's committed to Denver. And it's not for another year. He's going to play next year at Finland and then come over. You can see what an asset that commitment is when scouts are looking at you and might not know too, too much about you.
Loughlin: I get a chuckle when people say, 'Does he have the speed to keep up?' Listen, not everybody in the National Hocke League skates like Conor McDavid. You have to be able to keep up to NHL speed, but what are we comparing with questions about his footspeed. He can work on it too. He's got some skill. And the size is what's intriguing. Size is what the Devils were, if not searching for, at least found by the time this draft was over.
Viktor Hurtig
defense for three, four years. So he's very raw, very, very raw. But he still has the forward mindset. Reading all the scouting reports and talking with Royce, he doesn't just want to join the rush, he wants to lead the rush. He doesn't just want to pinch in from defense, he wants to drive to the net and be a net-front presence. He's a guy that you can see circling down low and in on the cycle. I don't want to put any expectations on it, but it brings to mind Brent Burns who is 6-5, can skate like crazy, has that same kind of potential, he played forward as well as kind of a swing type player. You don't see a defenseman being a net-front presence too often. He's a project. He's only been playing defense for three years and it was because his dad was his coach and they ran out of defensemen, so he said, 'hey we need you to play defense.' And he said, 'OK.' He's certainly going to be a project. He might be three, four years down the road to develop, but if he can reach his ceiling the sky is the limit. The sixth round, you take a flyer on a kid, especially in an unknown draft like this, it was a low-risk, really high reward. I think he's the most intriguing pick and could be the steal of this draft.
Overall
Loughlin: All of these players are ones you have to have an eye on down the road. Let's see what happens. Who knows, maybe there's a Jesper Bratt, who was a sixth-rounder, or a Yegor Sharangovich, who was a fifth-round pick. You just don't know. It isn't just first-round players that make an impact on the National Hockey League.