2023 NHL Draft: Devils Select Cole Brown at 164th Overall in the Sixth Round

The New Jersey Devils know what they want: physicality, up and down the organization. So, with the 164th pick in the 2023 Draft, they have selected Cole Brown from the Hamilton Bulldogs. Brown is a 6’2”, 178 pound left-handed winger who had 17 goals and 25 assists in 60 games, along with 2 goals and an assist in six playoff games for Hamilton during his draft year. He was the 69th North American skater in NHL Central Scouting’s rankings, but flew under the radar in most draft rankings.

There’s just not a lot out there on Cole Brown. But there is a bit, and from what I see, I think the Devils made a good selection here. First, you can see him below, scoring a goal with a little one-touch shot under the arm off a pass from behind the net. He looks like he could play the type of style the Devils expect Nolan Foote to take up as a net-front scorer.

Next, we have another nice shot from Brown. He takes a beautiful backhanded pass from a teammate, pulling it back and ripping it from the left side of the faceoff circle to the corner above the goalie’s blocker side.

Lastly, we see a bit of the physical nature of his play. Here, Brown takes the puck in a one-on-one, with a couple of his teammates not too far behind. Brown loses the handle a bit, but doesn’t panic and gets in position to hold the defender off so his teammate can collect the puck, leading to a goal for the Bulldogs.

Lastly, we have an interview to see for Brown, when he was interviewed by a local news station for a team 50/50 event. He handles himself well in the interview (though he does claim to be 6’3”). In this interview, it sounds like he was buried a bit in the Hamilton depth chart until they traded some older players, giving him a chance to breakout in a bigger role.

Cole Brown is definitely not going to come to rookie camp blowing everyone’s minds. But I do think he is a solid pick for where he’s being drafted. He’s met a bigger role with better play in his second OHL season, but he needs to work a bit on his hands as a big player. I would still like to see more of him, as the video available is sparse, but it looks like he really needs to fill out his frame. When he does, the Devils can start looking at him as a potential bottom six scoring winger.

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