New Jersey Devils: 5 Possible 2nd-Round Picks In NHL Draft

The New Jersey Devils have a very important 2nd round coming in the NHL Draft. If they keep all of their picks, these five players should be on their draft board.

During the Ray Shero era, he’s been pretty good at drafting in the 2nd round of the NHL Draft. That’s why it was so heartbreaking to see him send our 2nd-round pick to the New York Rangers in the deal that got us Michael Grabner. We didn’t think Grabner was going to be as bad as he was, but we did think that 2nd rounder would one day become an NHL player.

Two seasons ago, Shero absolutely stole Jesper Boqvist in the 2nd round of the 2017 Draft. Every single season he gets better and better, and looks like he’s ready to leave Sweden and play with the Devils next season. Even if he spends one more year in Sweden, he’s going to be even better once he gets here. Nathan Bastian is looking like a good pick himself. Once the other player on the Super Buddies with Michael McLeod, Bastian looks like he has a real chance of making the team himself next season. Mackenzie Blackwood is probably a Lou Lamoriello pick, but Shero was on staff when he was chosen, so he can take partial credit for choosing the goalie of the future.

This season, the 2nd round is the most important round for the New Jersey Devils. Sure, hitting on their 1st-round pick is a must, but if they go into the draft with all picks intact, they will have something around pick 34, 54 and 60. They got these picks in separate trades sending Marcus Johansson to the Boston Bruins and Brian Boyle to the Nashville Predators. They could get future stars for players that could have left in the offseason.

The 2nd-round is always hard to predict because you don’t know who’s going to fall, and which teams might overdraft at the end of the 1st round. Either way, there are some very, very interesting prospects that could fall to the Devils.

This was a task in itself, but we tried to find a few players who could either go at the top of the 2nd round, or those who fall towards the back of it. Either way, the Devils could end up with three amazing prospects.

Nolan Foote

Nolan Foote is a player with a famous name, so there’s always the chance that a team could snatch him in the 1st round. Right now, most mock drafts I’ve been diving into has him going 32 to the Ottawa Senators. No mocks have him going much further than 35, but they don’t really have him going higher than 26. He seems to be right in that very late 1st or very early 2nd-round pick.

The 18-year-old forward is big, already sitting at 6’2, 190 lbs. Nolan has hockey in his blood. His father is Colorado Avalanche legend Adam Foote, and his brother is top prospect for the Tampa Bay Lightning Cal Foote. Nolan is the winger of the family, going against the family line.

Foote had a rough go of it towards the end of the season for the Kelowna Rockets. He didn’t record a point in a must-win game against the Blazers. The team ended up losing 5-1. That definitely hurt his stock, and may be the reason he falls out of the 1st round.

While we understand that we want players who can step up when the moment counts, this is a lot for an 18-year-old kid. What we do know is Foote is a supremely skilled forward who can score and control play with his size.

Foote has an NHL-ready shot, scoring 36 goals this season. His assist numbers leave much to be desired, but that’s not what the Devils will be looking for this season.

The big reason the Devils should target Foote is he’s currently not built to fit his frame. He’s a relatively light 6’3, but teenagers gain weight by the day, especially when they’re professional athletes. This kid will get bigger, and as he gets bigger he will get better. His shot will start to get more behind it, something that’s scary to think about because his shot is so good already. He’s got major, major upside, and the Devils should jump all over it if he falls to 34.