Devils Replace Their Lost Bahl With First-Round Pick
My last Devils post ended with a note that if either Sam Dickinson or Anton Silayev was on the board for New Jersey’s turn at No. 10 overall in Friday’s NHL Draft, General Manager Tom Fitzgerald would sprint to the Las Vegas Sphere podium.
Well, it turned out that Fitzgerald took nearly all of the allotted three minutes between picks. It may have been because he was fielding last-second trade calls. Or he needed all that time to decide between the two lefthanded defensemen since both were available for selection.
Most experts predicted that this Draft was going to be all over the map after the top two picks, and boy, were they correct in that assessment. Players rose and fell heavily from their consensus rankings. Another area of agreement: No one I could find had Salayev going outside the top 10, with several respected pundits mocking him to Anaheim at No. 3.
Before I credit Fitzgerald for extracting maximum value in this process, I should point out that back in 2018, I wrote the same thing about Fitgerald’s predecessor and mentor Ray Shero when he selected lefthanded defenseman Ty Smith at No. 17 overall. Silly me, I had projected the Devils ending up with K’Andre Miller. If only.
Still, NHL Draftniks rave about Silayev as a shutdown defenseman whose size (6-foot 7) and mobility allowed him to play in the KHL, Russia’s top league, as a 17-year old. Dickinson is said to have superior offensive potential, but most scouting reports ranked Silayev as the better overall player.
Intentional or otherwise, Fitzgerald serviced a need as well, as New Jersey’s left side last season was often Luke Hughes…and pray for saves. Jonas Siegenthaler had an injury-plagued campaign, missing 25 games, while Kevin Bahl continued to struggle with consistency. And let’s not get me started on Brendan Smith.
Bahl was sent to Calgary in the Jacob Markstrom deal earlier this month, opening up a hole in the lineup. Whether Silayev is NHL ready or is a few years away (his agent told NJ.com’s Ryan Novozinsky that he has two years remaining on his KHL contract), he will eventually be looked upon as a better version of the 6-foor 6, 230-pound Bahl, whose sporadic mindset when it came to using his frame for maximum physical effect frustrated fans and coaches.
Silayev is said to “eat up ice” in the defensive zone to end plays, whereas Bahl often backed down until he could guide attackers into a wall. Some have compared him to Tampa Bay All-Star Victor Hedman, though that seems to me to be a stretch given Hedman’s offensive impact.
That the Devils kept the pick wasn’t a given going into Draft Night. Fitzgerald had all but announced he was open for business on No. 10 in an attempt to secure more immediate help following a disappointing comedown season in New Jersey, one year after winning their first playoff series since 2012.
It’s not like the left side was the sole insecure position—on the right, $9 million man Dougie Hamilton is returning from as torn pectoral muscle that saw him limited to 20 games, and Fitzgerald was reportedly investigating upgrades over John Marino, with Carolina’s unrestricted free agent Brett Pesce a possible target. Another Hurricane (restricted) free agent, forward Martin Necas, was also linked to New Jersey in trade rumors.
I’ve given up on the prediction game when it comes to NHL Draft grades. I just look at process, and with Silayev, it appears the Devils were on the Bahl.