Ray Shero has come in and done wonders to the New Jersey Devils prospect pool. With the NHL Draft around a week away, we take a deep look at how those drafts look now.
It’s not hyperbole to say Ray Shero inherited a dumpster fire when it came to the New Jersey Devils prospect system. When he joined the Devils in 2015, the Devils ranked last in the entire NHL in prospect pool. From 2005 to 2014, the Devils drafted seven NHL-caliber players. That’s awful. And it could be six if you don’t consider Mark Fayne NHL caliber.
This Bleacher Report article from 2015 shows that the Devils draft that year would take over all the top spots on the prospect list by a considerable amount. Before that draft, the Devils best NHL prospect was Steven Santini. It’s not a great position to be in. Now, the Devils have the 19th best prospect in all of the NHL.
This was thanks to Ray Shero. He already has six NHL ready players through his own drafts. He’s done a masterful job replenishing this system and giving us dozens of prospects that actually have a chance to become something, instead of putting all the chips on a player like Reid Boucher.
Now, with another very important NHL Draft just over a week away, we want to take a look back at the drafts by Shero so far, and see what they look like years later. We will look at the grade the Devils were given immediately after the draft, then give them an updated draft grade from today.