New Jersey Devils: Grading Every Metropolitan Team’s 2019 NHL Draft
The New Jersey Devils and their Metropolitan Division rivals are all done with the NHL Draft. Now, they will look to develop this crop of prospects but who drafted the best?
The 2019 NHL Draft is over for the New Jersey Devils and the rest of the Metropolitan Division. There were winners and losers from the draft all across the league, but for the most part, the Metro was solid. They were probably bested by the Central as far as the best division in 2018-19 but they were there two years ago and they certainly could be right back there in 2019-20.
The Devils had the first pick and the Rangers had the second pick, so the two bottom feeders in the division are getting much better. Then, add in that each team has their new number one defenseman via trades. Some of these teams will have some action on July 1st when unrestricted free agents become available.
This division has three of the last four Stanley Cup Champions with Pittsburgh going back to back in 2016 and 2017 and the Washington Capitals winning in 2018. Six of the eight teams in the division made an Eastern Conference Finals appearance since 2010, including a surprise appearance by the Carolina Hurricanes this past season. This is historically a really solid division that has eight teams with high expectations pretty much every year.
With that said, there is probably a shift of powers coming within the division. Washington, Pittsburgh, and Columbus have been the best teams in this division lately, but the Devils and Rangers are coming and want to get the Hudson River Rivalry back on top in the division like it once was.
So let’s grade every team in the Metropolitan Division based on how they performed on draft weekend. Any moves that were made on Friday or Saturday will be taken into consideration. The Devils are going to be a better this upcoming season but every team in the division also believes that.
New Jersey Devils
The New Jersey Devils struck gold by winning the draft lottery on April 9th. It was yet another lucky day that allowed to Devils push this rebuild forward even more and now it appears they are getting a true gamechanger.
They selected Jack Hughes first overall and he is going to make an immediate impact. This is the type of offensive player that everyone expects to be a superstar. He will play in a 1-2 punch with Nico Hischier, who was also a number one overall pick for the Devils. This has a chance to be one of the better center combos in the league and that is how you win championships.
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. These are all different level prospects obviously, but according to a lot of scouts, there could be some names here that do eventually play in the NHL.
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Selecting Hughes wasn’t the only big move by the Devils over the weekend. They also traded Steven Santini, Jeremy Davies, and two 2nd-round picks for defenseman P.K. Subban. This is an incredible trade for the Devils and changes the outlook of not only their defense, but the team as a whole. The Subban trade, selecting the best player in the draft and having 10 other draft picks coming along with him implies that New Jersey had an awesome weekend.
Draft Grade: A+
New York Rangers
The New York Rangers also had themselves a really nice weekend. They moved up from 6 to 2 at the 2019 Draft Lottery and earned the right to get the second best player in the draft, Kaapo Kakko. This is a player who is going to make it to the NHL within the first year and will be right there with Hughes as a Calder Trophy candidate.
He can score goals from all over the ice, but he also moves well and has the ability to make plays. Kakko is physically mature and will fit right into the NHL as soon as the puck drops for New York in October. The Hughes vs Kakko debate is over as far as who goes where, but the debate of who was the right pick could last a decade. It will re-spark the rivalry and the best case scenario for the rivalry would be for both of them to be awesome.
The Rangers also hit gold when they selected Matthew Robertson in the 2nd round. He will likely be a top-four defenseman in the NHL thanks to his great skating and good hockey IQ. That means that if both do pan out, they nailed the first two rounds and the draft as a whole simply based on average percentages. This was an awesome draft for them and they also added defenseman Jacob Trouba and Adam Fox since the season has ended. Devils-Rangers might be a playoff series once again sooner than you think.
Draft Grade: A+
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins haven’t drafted in the 1st round very often in the Sidney Crosby/Evgeni Malkin era. When they have, it was in the 20s. This has been one of the elite teams in the NHL for about a decade and it shows every year. They have done well at drafting at the top of the draft and have found some great diamonds in the rough once they became contenders.
You know how good of a player Jake Guentzal is, and you might see another version of him in Nathan Legare. His skating needs work, but he can score goals. This was a solid 3rd-round pick and the types of picks you need to hit on with some regularity to have sustained success. Their 1st-round pick, Samuel Poulin, is a guy who needs some developing. This might be okay as long as Sid and Geno have a few more elite years left.
Draft Grade: C
Philadelphia Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers were one of the teams that passed on Cole Caufield in the 10-15 spots, they might regret that one day but they certainly didn’t make a bad selection in the first round by any means. In fact, they got two first-round level players although they only had one pick in the round.
They traded back to get an asset and instead of taking Caufield, they took Cam York. He is a terrific pick and will excel in their system. They also took Bobby Brink in the second round who should have absolutely been a first round pick. This was a great draft for Philly who keeps trying to improve and their stars aren’t getting any younger so now that they have some goaltending in Carter Hart, they probably should start winning.
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Draft Grade: A
New York Islanders
The New York Islanders had a magical season after losing John Tavares to free agency. Everyone thought they were going to stink, but they hired new head coach Barry Trotz and his defensive system allowed them to be a great team. They had a decent draft this year. Not as good as last year, but still decent.
They took Simon Holmstrom in the 1st round. It was a bit of a surprise. He has a chance to be an NHL player someday, but if he wants to play in a top-six role, he has some developing to do. He has been a bit injured in his career, but he can make plays. He might prove to be the 1st-round steal at one point in his career. This isn’t about comparing this draft to their A+ 2018 draft, but it is really hard to have that good of a year two drafts in a row. Still, the future appears to be bright on the Island as long as they stay on track.
Draft Grade: C+
Columbus Blue Jackets
Rough time for the Columbus Blue Jackets right now. They swept the Tampa Bay Lightning in a major upset, but it cost them a lot of their future. They opted not to trade Artemi Panarin or Sergei Bobrovsky but instead, they traded for some more unrestricted free agents like Matt Duchene and Ryan Dzingel. Now, they are in danger of losing all of them. They lost a lot of draft capital in some of these trades as well.
They didn’t have a 1st-round pick, so Erik Hjorth is probably their best selection in the draft. If he makes it to the big show one day all credit to him, but they only made three selections this draft and they will be a worse team in 2019-20 just based on who they are losing. Columbus needs to retool a bit, you would think.
Draft Grade: D
Carolina Hurricanes
The Carolina Hurricanes had a really good draft. They added some skilled players and also a pretty good goalie to the mix as they look to build on last years trip to the Eastern Conference Finals. They drafted guys like Patrik Puistola and Ryan Suzuki. These are skill players that should be NHL players someday at a decently high level. Neither of them are game-changing players, at least based on projections, but they can be great players someday.
Carolina also added a top goalie prospect in Pyotr Kochetkov. They split the net between Petr Mrazek and Curtis McElhinney so they likely are looking for a true number one to take over one day. We will see if Kochetkov can be that guy for them. So they got a potential guy there and a bunch of really good prospects to join the fray.
Draft Grade: B+
Washington Capitals
The Capitals are in a funny spot. They are an elite team that was coming off of a historic run to the Final. Then they were eliminated in the 1st round unexpectedly by the Carolina Hurricanes. They likely aren’t going to panic, however. They drafted, they might add a free agent or two, and get right back on the horse in 2019-20 because they are very capable of winning the Stanley Cup for the second time in three years. They are probably the favorite in the division once again.
That is why the draft is free money for them in a year like this. Now they are just looking to keep the sustained success going even more. They drafted Connor McMichael (not to be confused with Connor McDavid) in the 1st round of the draft. He is a player for the London Knights and could be an elite goal scorer one day. There is a guy on his new team, not naming names, that might be able to help him harness that ability as well.
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You might have heard about a lot of 2nd-round steals, and that is because it is a pretty deep draft. Lots of players in the 2nd round would have been first rounders in any other year. The Caps got that in Brett Leason. This could be a great pick for them one day. They only had four picks in this draft, but even just hitting on those two would be so sweet for a team of this caliber. There is a reason they only had four picks, that usually means they are a good team.