The 2018-19 New Jersey Devils season came to an end. It was a long, hard season for the players and fans alike. Now, it is time to be happy again. The Devils won the Draft Lottery for the second time in three years. They are going to make the first overall selection at the 2019 NHL Draft in Vancouver.
Jack Hughes has been the consensus number one prospect for a long time now. The Devils will draft him number one and he will support our colors.
This kid is an incredible player, shattering points records for the United States National Development Program this last season. He is compared to the likes of Patrick Kane and sometimes even Connor McDavid. To say he will be as good as those guys is a stretch because those guys are proven superstars. Hughes will need to work on his skill and be great in the NHL to get on that level, but there is hope.
Hughes will likely be protected at the center ice position in the early going. With Nico Hischier and Travis Zajac in the fold, there is room to allow him to grow as a center. If he comes in and lights it up his role will certainly be increased.
It would be really nice to eventually see him on the second line with a winger like Kyle Palmieri. Hughes is known for his playmaking ability and feeding a proven goal scorer like Palmieri would be awesome to watch. The hope is a line with Hischier and Hall and a line that has Hughes on it is more of a 1A and 1B line situation.
The sky is the limit for the Devils now. They will have Hughes join Hischier, Jesper Bratt, Ty Smith, Will Butcher and others as a nice young core supported by great veterans like Palmieri, Taylor Hall, and Sami Vatanen. They should be able to roll some really good lines and two great power play units with all this depth that it looks like they have. Not to mention that along with the first-overall pick, they have nine other picks to go along with it at the 2019 NHL Draft.
More from Pucks and Pitchforks
- Should New Jersey Devils Try Load Management With Vitek Vanecek?
- New Jersey Devils Will Prove That Last Year Wasn’t A Fluke
- New Jersey Devils: Luke Hughes’ Playmaking Will Outshine His Mistakes
- New Jersey Devils: Chase Stillman’s Performance Causes Concern
- Can Devils Fans Separate Zach Parise Heartbreak From Achievements?
If Jack Hughes can come in and make a Calder Trophy type of impact on this team, there is no reason that they can’t make the playoffs. We saw a sample of how things can come together in 2017-18 and this minor bump in the road could make the future that much better. This is an incredible day for the New Jersey Devils franchise and fans.
There was more of a competition in 2017 when the Devils won the lottery for the number-one pick. You all remember Nico vs Nolan, talking about Nolan Patrick of course. The Devils chose Nico and are happy with it. In this one, it is a little more clear who will be number one. Kaapo Kakko is going to be a great player for the New York Rangers, but Hughes is the elite playmaking centerman. And now the Hudson River Rivalry has another bit of flair to it as well.
It is a great time to be a fan of the New Jersey Devils. Now it is time to get to the draft and then worry about how this lineup is going to look next year and beyond.