2018 NHL Draft: Report card grades for every team

DALLAS, TX - JUNE 22: Rasmus Dahlin of the Buffalo Sabres, Andrei Svechnikov of the Carolina Hurricanes and Jesperi Kotkaniemi of the Montreal Canadians pose for a picture of the 2018 NHL draft on June 22, 2018 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Matthew Pearce/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

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DALLAS, TX – JUNE 22: Ty Smith poses for a portrait after being selected seventeenth overall by the New Jersey Devils during the first round of the 2018 NHL Draft at American Airlines Center on June 22, 2018 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/NHLI via Getty Images) /

New Jersey Devils – B

First Round Pick: Ty Smith (D) (17)

Well, the Devils needed to somehow replace Adam Larsson’s production on the blueline since all they got in return was Taylor Hall. I guess Ty Smith will do. Smith was in that third tier of defensemen coming into this draft. Dahlin was in a tier by himself while Quinn Hughes, Adam Boqvist, Evan Bouchard, and Noah Dobson were in the second tier. Smith is still a year or two away, but he should develop nicely over at Spokane in the WHL. Smith is similar to a lot of defensemen in this draft in that he’s undersized, but can turn defense into offense and push the puck in transition. These type of blueliners are extremely valuable in today’s game, so I can’t knock New Jersey for grabbing one here.

Other Notable Picks: Xavier Bernard (D) (110), Yegor Sharangovich (C) (141), Mitchell Hoelscher (C) (172)

The Devils traded their second-round pick to acquire Michael Grabner, which doesn’t look all that great in hindsight. They dealt their third-round pick as part of the Sami Vatanen deal, which was a good trade. They’ll get Anaheim’s third-round pick either in 2019 or 2020. I love what New Jersey did with their late round picks. There’s good value in Bernard, Sharangovich, and Hoelscher. All three guys could have gone at least one round earlier and the Devils were able to snag them in the fourth, fifth, and sixth rounds.

The only thing preventing New Jersey from getting an A in this draft was their lack of a franchise centerpiece. They were never going to get that player at No. 17, but they did very well for their position. Consider this a high B.

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