The Project Piece I FEATURE

Catch a glimpse of just one picture of
Devils 2021 draftee
Viktor Hurtig and you might miss the opponent he's trying to take the puck from. That's because they're hidden behind Hurtig's big 6-foot-6 frame.
Where the Devils drafted Luke Hughes as the youngest player available, they went the other route with their sixth-round (164th overall) pick in Hurtig, who was drafted as an overaged player, turning 19 in April, two months prior to the draft.
A second thing you'll notice, digging into Hurtig's profile, is that he became a defenseman just three (maybe four) years ago, making the switch when he says he was either 15 or 16. He couldn't quite remember when. But he does remember why.

"I changed to defense when I still played in Avesta, my hometown, because we didn't have any defenders on my team," Hurtig said. "I thought it was pretty fun, so I kept doing it. But I kept a lot of my forward skills."
Now drafted into the NHL as a defenseman, his time as a young forward helped develop him into the type of defender he is. Often described as an active defenseman, the Swede relies on his forward instincts.
"I like to have the puck," he shared, just moments after being drafted, surrounded by family and friends in Sweden. "I'm feeling pretty comfortable when my team (has) the puck, and I like to spend time in the offensive zone and taking the puck to the net and play power play, being calm with the puck."
The right-shooting defenseman led his team this past season among defenders with eight points in 11 games played. He's played in the Västerås system since his Junior-18 year, the same system that produced Nicklas Lidstrom and has had several players drafted into the NHL in recent years.

This season he will play with the Växjö Lakers (HC J20), which Devils Director of European Scouting Greg Royce thinks will be to his benefit. Royce gave credit to Devils Head of European Scouting Niklas Evertsson for pushing for Hurtig with the sixth-round selection.
"He knows him very well," Royce shared after the draft. "He endorsed him as a big guy that's long, that can skate, very mobile, thinks the game well, and he'll play in the Växjö system so he's got a bright future ahead of him."
Edvertsson would have an insider track on what teams in Sweden think about Hurtig's potential, his brother Henrik is the general manager of the Växjö Lakers, the team that acquired Hurtig earlier this year.
There have always been diamonds in the rough in an NHL draft, players like Jesper Bratt is a sixth-round pick himself, 163rd overall in 2016. Hurtig went 164th. So don't ever count players out who are selected late in the day on the second day of the draft.
You never know what you might find, as Royce points out.
"I think we got a real good steal pick at that point."