NHL Draft 2013: Devils looking for a pick who will make immediate impact. When the entry draft takes place at the Prudential Center this afternoon, general manager Lou Lamoriello and his staff must find a prospect in the first round capable of making an immediate impact. Simply put, the Devils have holes to fill. "Of course we do. We didn’t make the playoffs," said David Conte, the Devils’ vice president of hockey operations. "We can make excuses. We can point to Marty (Brodeur) being hurt, Kovy (Ilya Kovalchuk) being hurt, a lot of things. The bottom line is we didn’t qualify for the playoffs, and there are reasons for that." Barring a trade, the Devils will have the ninth and 39th overall picks in the opening two rounds. They will not have a third-round selection, which they traded to the Minnesota Wild last year for Marek Zidlicky. They also will have selections in the fourth and sixth rounds, but they traded their fifth-round pick for Andrei Loktionov and their seventh-round pick for Alexei Ponikarovsky. On paper, the draft is deep enough for the Devils to get some immediate help. "A lot of people are comparing it to the draft year with Zach Parise and all those guys. I don’t quite see it the same as that," Conte said. "I think it’s a very good draft. No question. When you look back at a draft, it can be appealing on the potential, but the potential is not always realized. I’m just trying to get the best player and not be worried about whether it’s a good draft or a bad draft." nj/devils/index.ssf/2013/06/nhl_draft_2013_devils_looking_for_a_pick_who_will_make_immediate_impact.html
Posted on: Sun, 30 Jun 2013 13:08:26 +0000
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