The New Jersey Devils‘ 2023 NHL Draft looked different than previous years. After winning 52 games and advancing a round in the playoffs, there were no lottery balls and a top-5 pick. Nor did they have a first due to the Timo Meier deal at the trade deadline. They made five selections, starting at 58th overall in Round 2. Let’s review the Devils’ 2023 draft class, which has some question marks but also some upside.
Lenni Hämeenaho, Right Wing, 58th overall
With their first choice in the 2023 draft, the Devils selected right winger Lenni Hämeenaho from Ässät in the Finnish Liiga. He finished the 2022-23 season with nine goals and 21 points in 52 games, impressive numbers for an 18-year-old in a pro league.
I had written about Hämeenaho as a potential target for the Devils at the 58th overall pick, so it wasn’t a surprise when they selected him in that slot. The Devils clearly valued him, as chief scout Mark Dennehy said the organization had a first-round grade on him. That might be a bit overzealous, but it’s easy to see what they liked in him.
Hämeenaho is a high-IQ player who tends to make the smart play more often than not. The knock on him is his skating. The mechanics are there, but he needs to add more explosiveness to his skating, something he seems to know too. If he improves that over time, he could turn into a middle-six winger with two-way value.
Cam Squires, Right Wing, 122nd Overall
With the Devils not having a third-round pick after acquiring Tyler Toffoli, their selection came at 122nd overall in Round 4. They used that pick on Cam Squires, a right winger who had a productive year with the Cape Breton Eagles in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), finishing with 30 goals and 64 points in 67 games.
The strength of Squires’ game comes on offense, where he has a good shot with a quick release and solid skating. He has plenty of room to develop physically, as he’s only 165 pounds at 6-foot-0. He seems like the type of player that fits how the Devils want to play, and his point totals indicate he has some upside. At this point of the draft, he’s a worthy gamble.
Quotable
“Squires is a stealthy forward with a slick set of hands who can move the puck to linemates or bulge the twine himself. I love his skills in tight spaces where his agility and spatial awareness allow him to maintain possession and attack the net from high traffic situations.” – Joel Henderson, FC Hockey
Chase Cheslock, Defenseman, 155th Overall
Chase Cheslock is one of the Devils’ more intriguing picks of the 2023 draft. He spent most of the 2022-23 season playing prep hockey in Minnesota, but he did get into games in the United States Hockey League (USHL) with the Omaha Lancers. He only posted five points in 15 games, but there’s more than meets the eye with him:
Though it came in a small sample, Cheslock fared well in transition, was an effective passer, and defended well. He has good size at 6-foot-3, 209 pounds but seems to have some mobility based on Brown’s tracked data above. He’s committed to the University of St. Thomas (NCAA) for the 2023-24 season and appears to have some upside.
Cole Brown, Right Winger, 164th Overall
Cole Brown had a solid season with the Hamilton Bulldogs in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), totaling 17 goals and 42 points in 60 games. Per Elite Prospects, he has a lethal shot and is a transition ace, both of which fit what the Devils are looking for from their forwards — especially on the wing — in the NHL.
Brown has good size at 6-foot-3, 170 pounds and still has plenty of room to add to his frame. The knock on him appears to be his skating, but being a late-round draft pick who needs a couple of years in the OHL, he should have plenty of time to improve that before becoming a pro. Still, there’s enough upside in his shooting and transition game to take a flyer on him with a sixth-round pick.
Daniil Karpovich, Defenseman, 186th overall
Last but not least, there’s Daniil Karpovich, a Belarusian defenseman who had an impressive season with Avto Yekaterinburg in the MHL — the top junior league in Russia. He finished with 10 goals and 35 points in 47 games, making him the fourth-highest-scoring defenseman in that league.
Most of the top scorers in the MHL are usually forwards, so it’s rare to see a defenseman like Karpovich put up the numbers he did. He has great size at 6-foot-3, 210 pounds and is not afraid to use it, as he plays an aggressive game defensively. He has a heavy shot and gets it through traffic regularly. When he doesn’t have a shooting lane, he’ll walk the blue line and shows patience until getting a look he likes.
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Karpovich was ranked 94th by Daily Faceoff, 79th by Draft Prospects Hockey, and 137th by McKeen’s Hockey. The Devils got great value in selecting him at 186th overall, arguably making him their best-value pick of the 2023 draft. That’s the exact kind of selection to make in the sixth round.
Quotable
“Maybe a bit off the radar, but I think Karpovich could be something. He’s a big 6-foot-3, 210-pound blueliner that shined with Avto in the MHL this year. He has produced points everywhere he has gone, and he might even be one of the better skaters above 6-foot-2. He needs to face quality competition, but he already looks like a pro-calibre defenseman…” – Steven Ellis, Daily Faceoff.
Devils Add Depth to Pipeline
The Devils weren’t going to come away with a blue-chip prospect since they didn’t have a first-round pick. Still, they selected some intriguing players and added more depth to an already strong pipeline. If Hämeenaho improves his skating, he has a good chance of playing NHL games due to his hockey IQ. The rest of the Devils’ picks all have traits that suggest they have a chance to make it one day. They won’t all hit, but getting one or two NHLers out of this class would be a success.