A few weeks ago, Chris wrote that the New Jersey Devils should hang on to this year’s first round selection. The team has a new general manager, some new staff, and hopefully that would mean a player taken in the first half of round one should be able to make an NHL impact. Whether that NHL impact would be immediate, or a few years down the line is both up for debate and anyone’s guess, as we know that prospect progression isn’t linear.
I also understand quite a few of the other points that Chris
made in his original piece: he’s right to say the Devils’ prospect pool situation is bleak whether you agree with the ranking model quoted or not. The Devils have not done a great job overall of drafting prospects, let alone developing them. Former GM Tom Fitzgerald also made some baffling trades, both in terms of moving first rounders (I did not like moving one for Jacob Markstrom when he did it, let alone now) and prospects. I’m not saying Herman Traff was a bona fide NHLer in the making, but the sending him AND a second round pick to the Ducks for Brian freaking Dumoulin as a rental? Fitz’s legacy in New Jersey might just be ruining the pipeline through ineptitude.
It was also pointed out that the Devils have not drafted an impact forward since 2020, and some critics would even argue that it’s been longer and Dawson Mercer doesn’t really fit that bill. The team has still managed to accrue some forwards through later rounds of the draft, but few have broken through to this point, and some (namely Lenni Hameenaho) might be playing in the NHL, but aren’t at the point yet of making meaningful contributions. Part of that problem again is the numbr of first round picks moved by Fitz, but also the scouting staff selecting defenders instead of forwards or outright whiffing on selections at times when the team did have high first round choices. The Devils had a seventh overall choice back in 2020 that they used on Alex Holtz who wound up being essentially a bust; yet here we are expecting that they could do better with a selection five choices later?
While the Devils certainly could use some more high end talent in the pipeline, they also are supposed to be in the midst of a contention window. You wouldn’t know that thanks the Fitz’s “course correction” after the team was eliminated in the second round in the 2023 playoffs, but that’s where the team was and where they’re supposed to be. If Sunny Mehta thinks this Devils’ core is still good enough to be a contender, then he might NEED to trade the pick.
The Devils have a talented, but obviously imperfect roster. They need more scoring. They need to figure out what to do with all of their defenders and how to effectively deploy them. Goaltending remains an issue despite supposedly trying to address it. That first rounder could go a long way to potentially solving at least one of those issues, if not a couple of them at the same time. Maybe the pick gets used as part of a package to get an impactful scoring forward. Perhaps it gets packaged with the odd defender out to bring in a different player who could help the team. Maybe it gets attached to Markstrom to get rid of the new anchor of a deal he received from Fitz, although there’s I believe another potential way to get out of that deal that I’ll discuss next week.
Lastly, I know Chris doesn’t believe certain players to be available and I do agree with him on names like Brady Tkachuk. I also agree with not wanting a lesser piece such as a Vincent Trocheck unless he costs something substantially less than a first. The St. Louis boys, however (Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou), I think realistically could be on the move, especially if the Blues decide to tear it down and go full rebuild. Would I be a fan of the Devils moving a first for one of them? Depends on if Mehta thinks he can get the player he acquires to be a consistent goal scorer for the Devils or not. Either way, the days leading up to the draft are set to be interesting.
Would you be a fan of the Devils moving their first round selection in the right deal? What would said deal look like to you? Do you believe keeping the pick is a better choice for the team? Do you trust the new front office to do a better job drafting than the old front office did? Leave any and all comments down below and thanks as always for reading!
