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New Jersey Devils Win The 2019 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 New Jersey Devils are the big winners at the 2019 NHL Draft. Lots of teams did well but it is hard to argue with NJD as the winners.

The New Jersey Devils had an incredible weekend at the 2019 NHL Draft. They selected seven players to add to their prospect pool and now they are loaded even more in that department. Winning the draft lottery helped propel this process forward even quicker but the moves made this weekend have helped set this team up in the present and future.

It is easy to claim that the Devils won the weekend. You can say that out of all 31 teams, they had the best weekend. Some other teams had good weekends as well and we will get into that, but the Devils seemed to own the show as far as improving this team in the now and later they did a really good job.

The other teams that have arguments against the Devils all had really good drafts. The Colorado Avalanche had a nice draft in large part because the Chicago Blackhawks passed on Bowen Byram and let him get to them at pick #4. They made this selection with the Ottawa Senators pick and then selected Alex Newhook with their own selection 16th overall. These are two really strong first round picks.

The Los Angeles Kings reaped the benefit of Alex Turcotte falling to them and they also nabbed Arthur Kaliyev early in the second round, and he was projected to be a first rounder and he fell to the Kings. This was also a solid draft for them as well. The Golden Knights and Anaheim Ducks also had really solid drafts if you go through their selection.

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Those teams were awesome this draft and the good thing is they are all in the Western Conference so none of them really affect the Devils too much. The Devils can claim they had the best weekend of all of them. This team got so much better in one weekend and didn’t really lose too much of significance to get there.

It all began with the first overall pick in the draft. New Jersey sent up their best player in franchise history, Martin Brodeur, to select Jack Hughes first overall. This is a potential franchise center that can be a complete superstar. He along with Nico Hischier will form what we hope is one of the best 1-2 punches in the league. They are so different that they will almost certainly compliment each other and help this team win hockey games. Hughes could be a game-changing player once he reaches his prime, and possibly even before that.

Then, of course, the unexpected happened. The Devils sent Steven Santini, Jeremy Davies, a 2019 second round pick and a 2020 second round pick to the Nashville Predators in exchange for P.K. Subban. It was a trade that sent shockwaves around the NHL world but Subban is coming to the Devils! He is probably the best defenseman this team will have in over a decade and maybe more.

After the trade, the Devils went on to select ten more players between rounds 2-7 in the draft and now the prospect cupboard is even more filled. They selected  Nikita Okhotyuk, Daniil Misyul, Graeme Clarke, Michael Vukojevic, Tyce Thompson, Case McCarthy, Cole Brady, Arseny Gritsyuk, Patrick Moynihan, and Nikola Pasic in the 2019 NHL Draft after selecting Hughes and trading for Subban.

This was one of the best weekends in recent New Jersey Devils history. It is hard to project how next season will go with free agency still looming but they should certainly be much better now. Those of us who watched every single game last season know they weren’t very good but they were as bad as they were because of a large load of injuries. If they stay healthy, add these two players on opening night, guys like Ty Smith and Jesper Boqvist come in and make rookie impacts then this team could be awesome.

Related Story. How PK Subban Impacts Ty Smith. light

With all of these events, it is clear that the Devils had the best weekend out of all 31 teams. It is an awesome time to be a New Jersey Devils fan. Next is free agency or perhaps more trades. Yay, cap space.

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