What You Thought of the New Jersey Devils’ Picks at the 2023 NHL Draft

The New Jersey Devils went into Nashville in what I called the “this year’s draft was the least important for the New Jersey Devils in years” in my summary of the Devils’ time at the 2023 NHL Draft. After years of the People Who Matter getting knowledgeable about prospects after the World Junior Championships ending and the Devils becoming veterans of the lottery process, the Devils were picking late. No first round pick. No early picks in any round except the sixth round. Only six picks were taken to the draft and the Devils took five as General Manager Tom Fitzgerald traded his seventh rounder to Nashville for outgoing GM David Poile to make his final pick ever. It was not a big draft class.

Nor was anyone expecting it to be. I wrote the players the Devils picked were fine, although I would have preferred someone else at 58th overall given who was available. If two or more of them ever see the NHL - even for a brief moment - it would be a successful pick. That is what I think. At the end of each post about the player the Devil drafted, Chris and I put in a poll for you to have your initial reaction about the pick. Did you love it? Did you hate it? Not want or able to comment? The poll was there for roughly 24 hours for you, the People Who Matter, to make your vote. As is tradition, let us look at the results of the poll. It will tell us what you, the People Who Matter, initially thought of the Devils’ selections at the 2023 NHL Draft.

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Second Round, 58th Overall, Lenni Hämeenaho

The Post About the Pick: Here.

The Results: With 465 voters:

• I love it! - 6%, 26 voters
• I like the pick. - 43%, 200 voters
• I don’t know / I’m in the middle - 44%, 203 voters
• I don’t like the pick. - 7%, 34 voters
• I hate it! - 0%, 2 voters

Normally, these results tend to run positive. After all, these are usually 18-year old prospects with plenty of time to develop. Prospects that are not readily available to watch play and go “I know he’s going to be good/bad.” With that in mind, the People Who Matter were a little cooler on Hämeenaho than most of the other picks in this draft class. Perhaps it has to do with the description that he is a safe pick, someone with limited upside but a high floor. Perhaps it has to do with that he is not a flashy player. Perhaps it has to do with that Riely Heidt, Gracyn Sawchyn, and Koehn Zimmer - players projected to be late first rounders or early second rounders - were available and the Devils went with him. Whatever it is, the majority either liked the pick or were in the middle about it. Which is not bad on its own but not as positive as with other second rounders or selections later in a draft.

A Selected Comment from the Post about the Pick: “I wasn’t crazy about this kid when he was first profiled on AAtJ. But looking a little deeper, and really considering this team’s needs over the next few years, maybe he works out well. At the very least he plays a competent 200ft game, and put up more points in the SM-liiga on a per game basis in hijs draft year than Juraj Slafkovsky, Rasmus Kupari, and Eetu Luosetarinen... So I guess that’s something? You never know how a player will develop.” - EliasStillRocks

Fourth Round, 122nd Overall, Cam Squires

The Post About the Pick: Here.

The Results: With 271 voters:

• I love it! - 31%, 83 voters
• I like the pick. - 54%, 147 voters
• I don’t know / I’m in the middle - 14%, 37 voters
• I don’t like the pick. - 1%, 3 voters
• I hate it! - 0%, 1 voter

These results are more common for prospects taken in the draft outside of bizarre reaches for need. Most of the People Who Matter who voted really liked this pick. I can understand why. Squires improved season-over-season in production in major junior hockey by quite a bit. That is a plus. Squires is described as having a “high motor” and is smart on the ice. Those are pluses. Squires even won the QMJHL Humanitarian of the Year award, which is a plus by itself. With these pluses, it is easy to see why the People Who Matter were more positive about this pick than, say, the Lenni Hämeenaho pick. Forsooth!

A Selected Comment from the Post about the Pick: “First off, you have to like drafting anyone name ‘Cam’ period.

Secondly, I’ll take high motor aggressive skaters all day.

Third, if Chief-Wiggum like him, I like him! Fitzy Likes him! You should too!” - Trapezoid Tim

Fifth Round, 154th Overall, Chase Cheslock

The Post About the Pick: Here.

The Results: With 197 voters:

• I love it! - 20%, 39 voters
• I like the pick. - 55%, 108 voters
• I don’t know / I’m in the middle - 23%, 46 voters
• I don’t like the pick. - 2%, 3 voters
• I hate it! - 1%, 1 voter

The defenseman who played in Minnesota High School, NAHL, and USHL hockey (with a brief cameo with the USNTDP) garnered a positive result. One that leans a bit more to the middle than Squires, but the “likes” still finished first by a good margin. Cheslock is very much a project pick. He is already a large defender at age 18. While I am a bit skeptical about any offense translation given how his point production dropped like a stone between high school and America junior hockey, there is potential here. Especially since he could move himself and the puck well based on his work in the USHL. This is very much a “time will tell” pick in a draft where that phrase can be said about 90% of the prospects. He will go to St. Thomas in 2025 and the journey will continue.

A Selected Comment from the Post about the Pick: “This late in the draft, it’s a crapshoot. Looks like a good dart. Has the right elements in his game to play Devils hockey if he can put it all together. Devils can afford to be very, very, very patient with defensive prospects, so he can take his time and hopefully he develops into something.” - JamesJTracy

Sixth Round, 164th Overall, Cole Brown

The Post About the Pick: Here.

The Results: With 168 voters:

• I love it! - 14%, 24 voters
• I like the pick. - 55%, 93 voters
• I don’t know / I’m in the middle - 26%, 44 voters
• I don’t like the pick. - 4%, 6 voters
• I hate it! - 1%, 1 voter

New Jersey has a running streak of picks out of the Ontario Hockey League and Hamilton forward Brown is the Devils’ pick to keep that going. People liked this one. Similar to Cheslock, there was a decent proportion of the People Who Matter who were in the middle on this one. But the “likes” still led by a good margin. He is a big forward who is described as a “power forward.” Brown plays a simple enough game and is has been successful in the ‘O.’ Similar to Squires, the sentiment I took away was that he was worth taking a chance on at this point in the draft. And so the People Who Matter liked that.

A Selected Comment from the Post about the Pick: “Big power forward who knows where his bread is buttered. 4th line grinder maybe who can find his nitch 4ft and in!” - Carterdogg

Sixth Round, 186th Overall, Daniil Karpovich

The Post About the Pick: Here.

The Results: With 191 voters:

• I love it! - 56%, 107 voters
• I like the pick. - 37%, 71 voters
• I don’t know / I’m in the middle - 6%, 12 voters
• I don’t like the pick. - 1%, 1 voter
• I hate it! - 0%, 0 voter

I personally really liked this pick. I was surprised to see that the collective People Who Matter who voted loved this pick. More so than any of the other picks made by the Devils in this draft. Why? It is pretty each. Karpovich is a big defenseman from Avto of the MHL. He was the league’s fourth highest scoring defenseman. He is also out of contract at the moment, so there is no “Russian” factor (Karpovich is Belarussian anyway) at the moment. The knock on him is the level of competition he has played at given that the MHL is not that strong of a league and Belarus being barred from international play meant Karpovich could not get any looks in international competition. To me, this is a player worth taking a flyer on this late in the draft. To the People Who Matter, they were thrilled with this selection.

A Selected Comment from the Post about the Pick: “Probably the most upside of anyone the Devils picked this year. A home run swing, after swinging for contact most of the day.” - dr(d)evil

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For the most part, the People Who Matter, liked who the Devils took in the 2023 NHL Draft. The most “negative” reaction of the picks was for the second round selection of Lenni Hämeenaho. Even with him, 43% of the voters liked the pick. The “negativity” was in that 44% of the voters did not know or were in the middle on it. The difference between those two results was just three votes. That is still on the side of positive; just not as clear as it was with the other selections. The most loved pick was the last one, Daniil Karpovich with Cam Squires, Chase Cheslock, and Cole Brown getting at least half of their respective voters liking their selection. All told, that is a positive reaction to what the Devils did.

Again, this was the least important draft in years for the Devils. That people liked it does not necessarily mean there is a lot of hope or expectation that these five will be a key part of the organization. Given the team’s massive growth in 2022-23 being driven by the results of past drafts, the Devils do not need the 2023 draft class to be a key part of the organization. I think the People Who Matter understand this. If all that comes out of these five are one or two solid players for the depth parts of the NHL roster, then that would be great. As such, the Devils had to take some swings on some guys they think they could make it and the People Who Matter liked who those swings were taken on.

With the NHL Draft and Free Agency Frenzy in the past, the doldrums of the offseason will take place. It will be relatively quiet for the New Jersey Devils. Tom Fitzgerald did the majority of his business in June. There are no arbitration hearings to look forward or worry about. Only Kevin Bahl is left to be signed beyond any minor signings for Utica. Development camp will be on July 10 through July 14. Training camp for the rookies will start on September 13. In the meantime, relax, reflect on the past season, and as the time gets closer, prepare for the next one. Oh, and look for the Top 25 Under 25 vote too.

Thanks especially to the People Who Matter who voted in the polls to make posts like this one possible. Thanks again to Chris, James, Jared, Mike, Alex, Gerard, Matt, Nate, and Dan and Elliot for their support through this offseason so far and in the future. Thank you to everyone who has been and will be reading us in this offseason, as well as with this post.