The third mock Hockey Buzz mock draft driven by the readers and a few special guests kicked off Monday. The first five were Alexis Lafreniere, Quinton Byfield, Tim Sturzle, Marco Rossi and Cole Perfetti. Kicking off the next five was Anton Lundell, which only garnered 35% of the almost 200 votes. The selection by New Jersey, with red monsters picking, is below with Buffalo, represented by KilkennyDan on the clock and Minnesota, represented by dudestar, on deck. Below is the voting poll, please weigh in with your view.
As a reminder, for each pick, included should be: a) Selection and reasoning/scouting report, and, b) Alternatives considered (both players and trades). Please provide me via email your pick with the aforementioned information following the posting of the prior pick on the site. If I become aware of a pick or a few picks in a row, I will email you to help facilitate moving the mock draft along. I will post the blog with the pick and the voting poll within each blog.
Overall Rules and Process
As mentioned previously, there is a little kicker. After the pick or trade is made, a poll will be posted to rate the selection or deal. If the majority of people like the pick or trade, that selection stands and it moves on to the next team’s picks. If not, the majority rules and that’s what happens with that team and pick. I have the last right of refusal to keep everything on the up and up and avoid ballot box stuffing.
My request to you is that you take this seriously and not make a mockery of the mock draft, because that would be an insult to the others who are participating and makes the whole process a sham. But by playing this out, we get to have healthy debate and conversation to remain engaged up and possibly beyond the draft. If teams make deals and they occur before a team’s selection is due, that deal will play a part as to when each person’s selection occurs.
Here how this will work: the team’s selector will email me at [email protected] their pick, rationale and any alternatives for that selection. I will post that pick and rationale on the site and create a voting poll. That poll will likely include alternatives that were considered with each voter allowed to select one option.
With the 7th Overall Pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, the New Jersey Devils, represented by redmonsters, select Alexander Holtz, RW, Djurgarden (SHL)
Rationale for the selection with scouting report along with alternatives considered (both players and trades):
The Devils need more impact talent at nearly every position. The Devils have been circling the drain for a number of years now, a poor reflection of their turn of the century glory. Recent drafts have been kind to the Devils with two #1 OA picks (not generational picks - but no complaints). With a belief that the Devils are set down the middle for the foreseeable future, there were three options at this slot for the Devils. I seriously contemplated Drysdale here but decided to pass for a couple of reasons. First next year's draft is loaded with D options, including a few who are seen as better options than Drysdale. Second if I went D here the offensive options dry up later in this draft for an impact player, and next year's offense options are not as enticing as well. So for me it came down to Holtz (shooter) or his world juniors teammate Lucas Raymond (playmaker). That’s a tough call. I’m going with Holtz because he profiles as more of a goal scorer and is a little bit more physical. He seems like a natural fit next to Jack Hughes or Nico Hischier. NJ will be in the lottery again next year and anticipate another high pick and will get our Dman then.
From a number of scouting reports Holtz is a pure sniper. He has an outstanding wrist shot and lightning-quick release. He also has an excellent slap shot and one-timer. Holtz even has a good backhand. He has the quick hands to change the angle of his release before firing the puck, fooling goaltenders. He can also get to the front of the net, scoring goals with his quick hands and excellent hand-eye coordination to get tips and bang in rebounds. Holtz has all the tools necessary to score goals at the NHL level. Holtz is a decent skater, but this is not a stand-out area of his game. Holtz’ defensive game is a bit of a work in progress. While Holtz has some holes in his game, with proper coaching he can become a more complete player going forward, he has one skill that simply can not be taught, the ability to put the puck in the net. The fact that he can be a pure sniper puts his ceiling as a first-line winger. He will need at least a year in Sweden or the AHL to develop those holes. In summary, I see Holtz as a top line RW, and Hughes/Hischier and Holtz should make for a top scoring line in the NHL.
With this draft slot and who was left on the board there was no reason to trade down, the Devils got what they needed. I did reach out to other teams but if I got a response it was not appealing. With the Devil's remaining two picks trading might be in order. Now if I can entice someone so that we can move back up to get Raymond/Drysdale it would make my draft....so greedy.
2020 NHL DRAFT FIRST-ROUND ORDER AND GMs
1. New York Rangers - Jan Levine - Alexis Lafreniere, LW, Rimouski, OMJHL
2. Los Angeles Kings - Kooleus, Quinton Byfield, C, Sudbury, OHL
3. Ottawa Senators (via San Jose Sharks) - spatso, Tim Stutzle, C, Mannheim, DEL
4. Detroit Red Wings - feds91stammer, Marco Rossi, C, Ottawa, OHL
5. Ottawa Senators - spatso, Cole Perfetti, LW, Saginaw, OHL
6. Anaheim Ducks - optimus-reim, Luke Herrington, Anton Lundell, C, HIFK, LIIGA
7. New Jersey Devils - redmonsters, Kevin Barrett, Alexander Holtz, RW, Djurgarden, SHL
8. Buffalo Sabres - KilkennyDan, Dan Sovocol, Thursday. Sept. 17 pm
9. Minnesota Wild - dudestar, Nicholas Plazio, Friday. Sept. 18 am
10. Winnipeg Jets - Ross77, Darren Ross, Friday, Sept. 18 around 6pm, then a break
11. Nashville Predators - slimtj, TJ Reilly, Monday, Sept. 21 am
12. Florida Panthers - jimbo, Jimmy Reilly, Monday, Sept. 21 pm
13. Carolina Hurricanes (via Toronto Maple Leafs) - Bingo, Chris Cote, Tuesday, Sept. 22 am
14. Edmonton Oilers - maximumbone, Silas Bengtsson, Tuesday, Sept. 22 pm
15. Toronto Maple Leafs (via Pittsburgh Penguins) - Michael Augello, Leafs blogger on site, Wednesday, Sept. 23 am
16. Montreal Canadiens - Vivian Lapeirre, bi-lingual, Wednesday, Sept. 23 pm
17. Chicago Blackhawks - Theo Fox, Chicago blogger on site, Thursday, Sept. 24 am
18. New Jersey Devils (from Arizona) - redmonsters, Kevin Barrett, Thursday, Sept. 24 pm
19. Calgary Flames - deddie, Dan Ethier, Friday, Sept. 25 am
20. New Jersey Devils (from Vancouver via Tampa Bay) - redmonsters, Kevin Barrett, Friday, Sept 25 pm
21. Columbus Blue Jackets, Thomas Townsend, Columbus blogger on site, Sunday, Sept. 27 am
22. New York Rangers (from Carolina) - Jan, Tuesday Sept. 29 am
23. Philadelphia Flyers - Flyersfan328, Phil Brunner, Tuesday Sept. 29 pm
24. Colorado Avalanche - climbdenali12, Ryan Armstrong, Wednesday, Sept. 30 am
25. Washington Capitals - winerydog, Wednesday, Sept. 30 pm
26. St. Louis Blues, jediman, Brendan Smith, Thursday, Oct. 1 in am
27. Anaheim Ducks (from Boston) - optimus-reim, Luke Herrington, Thursday, Oct. 1 in pm
28-31. Pick order TBD - picks will be Friday, Oct. 2 in am, Friday, Oct 2 around 5 pm, - Monday Oct 5 in am and Monday, Oct 5 inpm
Dallas (Russ Cohen, sportsology)
Vegas (JRR1285, Josh Ruiz)
Ottawa (acquired from New York Islanders in JG Pageau deal - spatso)
San Jose (acquired from Tampa Bay in Barclay Goodrow deal (Jeremy Barber, user id: barberjw, email: barbjw26@gmail)
Looking forward to running this again. We had a ton of fun last season. That should be the same again this year with New York having the first and 22nd picks in the first round.
New York Rangers Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»