NHL Draft: What NJ Devils are looking for this weekend, per Paul Castron

Abbey Mastracco | NorthJersey

Devils’ director of amateur scouting Paul Castron has an idea of what the team would like to do in the NHL Entry Draft this weekend in Dallas, but he’s not tipping his hand.

Of course, every team goes in with a strategy and the Devils are no different. And while targeting certain players based on positional need is important, there are other qualities that the Devils take into account.

The basic strategy is simple and it’s the same as every other team in hockey: Take the best player available. If you’re loaded on the blue line, you still might take a center to be able to trade him.

But even when that’s the case, the Devils still have certain qualities they’re looking for in the return.

With general manager Ray Shero at the helm and coach John Hynes, a firm but fair players’ coach, leading the charge, the Devils are looking for players whose skill level is as high as their character.

“Yeah, we want all of our players to have skill obviously, but it’s the character and the determination and the drive and the desire to be better as a player,” Castron told NorthJersey.com. “That’s what we try and look for. And even that can change at 17. Sometimes you see a player the next year in juniors and you’re like, ‘Where did this come from? They get such a wakeup call during their first pro camp, it’s just amazing.”

It can be difficult to project the type of a player a teenager will turn into. Their bodies mature as do their attitudes. They develop other tools, traits and life skills. And sometimes they just don't. They slow down, they get injured, they fail to develop the skill set necessary for the system they're playing in or they end up lacking the motivation needed to move up throughout each level of professional hockey.

It’s quite possible that you, as a reader, possess a far different body and a different mind than you did at 17 or 18 years old. But the Devils believe that certain athletes and players have core character qualities that they can work with now in order to help them succeed later.

“(Hynes) uses a term called ‘self-starter,’” Castron said. “Obviously, you push them to some degree. But you want them to be driven. Whether it’s on the ice or off the ice, in the weight room or in practice. You don’t have to be drilling them all of the time, they just drive themselves.

“The more players you get like that, I think the better off the organization is.”

The Devils are still in the building process and are very cognizant of locker room chemistry. It’s natural to question how a player will fit into the NHL locker room but it’s also important to keep in mind how a young player will work with those around him during the development process. Will their attitude affect others?

The Devils have put a bevy of new developmental coaches in place over the past few years and they believe that they can help players mature but it’s ultimately on the player to put in the necessary work.

“Great players come out of the draft in the sixth or seventh round still. Really, they’re just a number and they’re just a round," Castron said. "It really means nothing and we tell the kids that. It’s about what they do and what we do to help them after they’re drafted is the key. It’s what you do with them and the culture you create inside the organization to help them develop.”

The numbers on the stat sheet are great but there's a reason teams go through the painstaking process of interviewing players, junior coaches, family members and even billet family members.

So when you see the statistics next to a draft pick, just know that there's more to the story than goals and assists.