The New Jersey Devils already have had more than their fair share of lottery luck but what if they struck gold just one more time?
The New Jersey Devils won the 2017 and 2019 NHL Draft Lotteries. They were lucky enough to have that sort of luck in two of three seasons. They drafted Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes with their two first overall picks in their respective years. They are both very important to the future of this team. Nico is the two-way centerman that impacts the game in all three zones while Jack is the playmaking offensive weapon.
If they remarkably won the lottery for the third time in four years, they would select left-wing, Alexis Lafreniere. Lafreniere is currently the captain of the Rimouski Oceanic of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. He has been the consensus first-overall pick of the 2020 NHL Draft for a few years now. He really projects to be a superstar talent at the National Hockey League level.
He might even be able to have a huge impact as early as his rookie year. We could be talking about a 50-70-point player in year one. It would be amazing to add another cornerstone piece like this to New Jersey’s team. He would certainly be on the wing with one of these two centers from day one forward. He is also a pretty big physical presence as well so he would impact this team in so many good ways.
Lafreniere attacks the net and scores goals in the dirty areas of the ice. That would probably mean that a finesse player like Hughes would work best with him. Jack has the ability to find goal scorers in high-danger scoring areas, so playing with a guy like Lafreniere would be good for him. Nico Hischier also thrives with highly skilled wingers as he has proven in the past, so he would work with him as well.
It is a pipe dream because if the season ends right now, the Devils will only have the sixth-best odds in the draft lottery. With that said, it certainly is possible. They had the sixth-best odds when they won the 2017 lottery and the 3rd best odds when they won it in 2019. It can happen, so it is fair to think about how awesome it would be to have him in this organization.
Lafreniere had another amazing year for the Oceanic at only 18 years old. He had 35 goals and 77 assists for 112 points in 52 games for them as their captain. That should translate to a good amount of points for him once he reaches the NHL. All we can do with him is wonder if the lottery balls could possibly roll the Devils way once again. Everybody knows they could certainly use it.