Quoting: Alfie11
I don’t specifically know what the devils needs are (I would assume more D, doesn’t look like there’s much high end talent in your prospect pool outside Smith?) so staying in the top 10 and taking Lambos or Edvinsson might be a good move. You’d also get first crack at the field if you want a winger (maybe you’re lucky and snag Johnson, if not you could likely get a guy like Lysell). I think that trading down in this draft might be a good strategy in other years, but with how little some guys have played I think the safest spots to pick are top 10, and then literally anything after 25, the middle area is more likely to be disappointing than most years, and actually making a good pick likely won’t even seem like a steal, it would just be breaking even. The top 10 seems pretty safe though, and of course by 25 you’re more likely to miss than hit anyway.
Biggest needs are on Defense. Specifically, a defensive top-4 LHD and RHD depth. Ty Smith and Severson are top-4 quality. LHD pipeline are mostly a bunch of wild cards. The hope is one or two of Mukmahadullin, Bahl, Okhotyuk, Misyul and Siegenthaler take a step up, but no sure-fire bets there. Okhotyuk probably gets first look, but is mostly just hard-hitting physical type. Bahl has size, skill, skating but many holes in his game. Muk, who knows. On right side, Reilly Walsh looks to be viable option offensively and Case McCarthy as shut-down d-man. None look to be top-pair types.
Our forward groups looks to be in better shape. A top-9 seems to be forming with Hughes, Hischier, Zacha, Bratt, Holtz, Foote, Mercer, Sharangovich and Kuokkanen. Some upside with Gritsyuk, Thompson and Boqvist. Some decent bottom-6 bigs with Bastian, McLeod, Wood, Maltsev, Pytlik.
I like Power, Hughes and Edvinsson and see a sizable drop-off to next tier with Cuelemans, Clarke, Lambos, etc. And there are a few forwards worth taking there.
If I was picking in top-10, I would keep that pick for:
Beniers
Edvinsson
Power
Hughes
Guenther
Lucius
If all those guys were gone, I’d trade back. All these guys are in similar tier for me:
Sillinger
Raty
Coronato
Eklund
Cuelemans
Lysell
I did a 7-round mock draft: https://www.capfriendly.com/forums/thread/441023?post_id=2270414 If you want too see whole list.