While the New Jersey Devils' season went significantly worse than expected, there appears to be a silver lining – they have the 10th overall pick in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft. Thankfully, general manager Tom Fitzgerald and co. have built quite a positive reputation, managing to maximize their draft capital to the fullest. If they keep the pick, there's a decent chance that American-born winger Cole Eiserman will be available, and there's no reason to overthink it…Eiserman is a slam-dunk pick who will add a crucial element to the future of the Devils' core. For starters, Eiserman recently passed Cole Caufield for most goals *all-time* by a member of the US National Team Development Program (USNTDP), potting 127 in 119 games.
If there is such a thing as the sophomore jinx, you wouldn't have known it watching Juraj Slafkovsky play last season. Unfortunately for Dach and Slavkovsky, however, the former got a season-ending injury. The latter bounced from line to line before finally landing on Nick Suzuki's wing alongside Cole Caufield. Slafkovsky seemed to improve on a nightly basis this past year and here are three of my favorite highlights from the young Slovak's season.
The season didn't go the way we thought it would for Cole Caufield. Seven of those eight goals came at even strength, which tied him with Lucas Raymond for the most in the final weeks of the regular season. Caufield found his greatest offensive success of the season by shooting from close range, but also finding the target from distance on occasion, which he had difficulty with all year long. While we're on the topic of encouraging end-of-season performances, Brendan Gallagher completed his campaign with 10 points in the final nine games, five of them goals.
No | Player | P |
---|---|---|
17 | RW | |
40 | RW | |
22 | RW | |
77 | C | |
28 | C | |
71 | C | |
11 | RW | |
21 | D | |
54 | D | |
49 | LW | |
48 | D | |
26 | D | |
8 | D | |
35 | G | |
15 | C | |
70 | LW | |
55 | LW | |
30 | G | |
58 | D | |
20 | LW | |
14 | C | |
36 | C | |
72 | D | |
56 | RW |