New Salary Cap Makes NHL Draft Huge For New Jersey Devils

Many experts weighing in on the number-one pick all have Jack Hughes to the New Jersey Devils at 1st overall. That leaves Kaapo Kakko going second overall to the New York Rangers.

These analysts, and insiders have the pulse of the NHL Draft. Bob McKenzie every years does a survey of NHL scouts usually in the Top 10. Bob did say he is “99.9% sure that Jack Hughes goes first overall.” 

The Devils have not had stability in their top-six center roles. There is less certainty that Shero could snag a center in a trade or free agency. When Ray Shero was with Pittsburgh, he had Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal as his top 3 centers. He picked Staal at 2nd overall. If you were to build The New Jersey top three centers, it would be Nico Hischier, Jack Hughes and Travis Zajac. Having Hischier is basically your Jonathan Toews with a solid two-way game that can make opposing defenses think twice.

Jack Hughes brings that beyond fast, attacking, and supportive center who dishes pucks within nano-seconds. He can make his opponents look pathetic. With Devils veteran Travis Zajac anchoring a 3rd line, he can put his teammates first in a lot of situations.

Anything can occur at the NHL Draft. A trade for Nikolaj Ehlers or Colin Miller aren’t off the table but Timo Meier, and Kevin LaBanc could possibly be trades with the San Jose Sharks, who are now in somewhat of a cap crunch after giving Erik Karlsson $11 million per season. With the salary cap going to be around $82 Million per TSN.ca, there probably will be a lot of volatility on the draft floor.

Another player the Devils should discuss is Rasmus Ristolainen. He is a very big defenseman who can solidify a  top-four role if not 1st line minutes in New Jersey. He can create offense, and is solid defensively for a Devils team that needs a guy of his type. This can all happen at the draft, where the new cap could make teams desperate to make moves. With over $30 million in cap space no matter where the cap ceiling ends up, the Devils could be the team looking to take these players off their hands.