NEWARK, NEW JERSEY- Throughout the seven months of the 2010-11 hockey season, the New Jersey Devils waited until the final weeks of their hockey calendar to improve the level of their game. The Devils raised eyebrows throughout the hockey world when they were tops in the NHL in February and March going 19-6-2 in eight weeks. They attempted to dig themselves out of the hole they dug for themselves when they struggled throughout the first 50 games. The Devils again fell short of the Post-season and will look to rebound in 2011-12. The front office, along with the fans of the New Jersey Devils, now looks to the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, as well as 29 other teams. With the legend of Martin Broduer starting to near his expiration date, and Russian Ilya Kovalchuck looking for a scoring partner on the top line, General Manager Lou Lamoriello again heads back to the drawing board. In the 2010 Entry Draft, the Devils would have to wait for their first pick (38th overall). Defensemen Jon Merrill was selected in round 2 from the USHL. After having a goaltending and defensive philosophy is last year’s draft, this year the Devils now hold the fourth pick overall. The main question is will Lamoriello again side with defense? If he looks to go with another defender instead of a forward, he will likely choose the St. Catharines, Ontario native Dougie Hamilton.
Martin Brodeur
Traditionally in hockey the top two forward lines are meant to be your scorers, and your bottom two lines tend to be your checkers. Aside from Kovalchuck, the Devils are lacking five players on their power forward lines to consistently produce, and take the constant weight off the defense. Sean Couturier is a power forward who has the potential to be a future NHL scorer and line mate of Ilya Kovalchuck. Should the Devils try to change their scoring woes, it would likely result in drafting a potential NHL All-Star. On the defensive side, during the 2010-2011 campaign, New Jersey’s defense was ranked ninth in the league. If they would want to see their defensive ranking increase, they would draft Hamilton. If the Devils choose to immediately try and uplift their offensive ranking, they will sign Couturier. More often than not at the junior level, you will find defensemen who are well built and fairly tall, but are not explosive off their skates. The quality that makes Zdeno Chara an All-Star defenseman in the NHL is how he utilizes his size and speed. He is fairly quick on and off the puck, throws the body around, and plays both offense and defense at any given time. When mentioning Hamilton, his former head coach in Niagara, Marty Williamson, the following recently. “Especially at this level, you find guys that are awkward or don’t have a lot of explosion. You’re 6-foot-4, you don’t have a lot of explosion (but) the jump off his skates is phenomenal. When he sees those opportunities to jump into the rush or lead the rush, I really believe it’s untapped what he can do. He’s a very special defenseman in our league. He just has to understand the details and he’s going to be a very good pro…Dougie gets himself very prepared for hockey games. He’s very diligent preparing himself. He goes about it very business-like. He’s mature beyond his years.
Brian Rolston
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