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What A Weekend For New Jersey Devils At NHL Draft

By Vincent Parise

VANCOUVER, BC - JUNE 21: A general view of the draft floor prior to the New Jersey Devils pick during the first round of the 2019 NHL Draft at Rogers Arena on June 21, 2019 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (Photo by Jonathan Kozub/NHLI via Getty Images)
VANCOUVER, BC - JUNE 21: A general view of the draft floor prior to the New Jersey Devils pick during the first round of the 2019 NHL Draft at Rogers Arena on June 21, 2019 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (Photo by Jonathan Kozub/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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The 2019 NHL Draft is in the books and it was an incredible weekend for the New Jersey Devils. This team has a very bright present and future now.

The 2019 NHL Draft is over and the New Jersey Devils are big winners. They won the draft lottery on April 9th and haven’t looked back since. They didn’t listen to any of the outside noise on trades they did or didn’t make over the last week or so and made every Devils fan so happy with the moves they made in Vancouver.

It began by drafting Jack Hughes from the United States National Development Program first overall. This pick changed the way the Devils look down the middle forever. He joins Nico Hischier as what appears to be a really good 1-2 punch that could develop into one of the best in the league. Hischier is obviously the two-way guy and Hughes will be an offensive playmaker. The way these two compliments each other could help the Devils win a whole lot of hockey games.

Then, something equally amazing happened. Something that was somewhat anticipated yet completely unexpected happened. It came out on Twitter that Nashville Predators defenseman PK Subban had been traded. The thing is that nobody knew where he was traded too other than that it wasn’t the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Then about 5 minutes later it was confirmed by the big insiders and the Devils themselves that it was, in fact, the New Jersey Devils that have acquired Subban via trade. They sent over Steven Santini, Jeremy Davies, a 2019 second round pick, and a 2020 second round pick for Subban. This was a move that sent the hockey world into a spin. We knew the Devils were likely taking Hughes so that was a little more expected. That became even better when they also added Subban to the mix. This team will look pretty different in 2019-20.

Related Story. Ripple Effect of PK Subban Trade. light

They also drafted Nikita Okhotyuk, Daniil Misyul, Graeme Clarke, Michael Vukojevic, Tyce Thompson, Case McCarthy, Cole Brady, Arseny Gritsyuk, Patrick Moynihan, and Nikola Pasic during rounds 2-7 in the draft. All of these guys are going to be given equal opportunity to eventually be a part of the National Hockey League and you never know what diamonds in the rough emerge.

Between adding so many young players to the organization, making the number one overall pick, and trading for PK Subban, this will be one of the most memorable days in New Jersey Devils history. It is a time that fans will look back at fondly if and when this team is winning hockey games come October and beyond.

The draft is over and the salary cap for next year was released at 81.5 million and the floor is 60.2 million. The Devils are a team that still has lots of cap space and there are plenty of teams, like the Vegas Golden Knights, who desperately need help. If they add a free agent hopefully the term isn’t outrageous and the money doesn’t get them into long term cap trouble. That, the Taylor Hall contract, and possibly more trades are what loom now for Ray Shero and the New Jersey Devils.

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