Three Prospects New Jersey Devils Could Reach For In NHL Draft

The New Jersey Devils are looking to have a big draft whenever it is held. They might be able to reach for some really good players in the 1st round this year.

The New Jersey Devils are in a unique spot right now. They have two young centers that they took with the first-overall picks in 2017 and 2019. The goal is to build around Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes as much as they can. The 2020 NHL Draft is something that they need to hit on in order to help out that cause. They have plenty of good players like Jesper Bratt, Nikita Gusev, MacKenzie Blackwood, Ty Smith, and Kevin Bahl among others to be excited about.

The 2020 Draft is where they hope to add more impact players. They have their own pick which is almost a given to add a high-level prospect. Then there is the lottery-protected Arizona Coyotes draft pick that New Jersey acquired in the Taylor Hall trade. They also have the Vancouver Canucks pick that was given to them by the Tampa Bay Lightning (Vancouver gave it to them in the J.T. Miller trade) for Blake Coleman.

If Vancouver makes the playoffs, the Devils keep it. If they don’t, they get Vancouver’s 2021 pick no matter what. With the coronavirus pausing the season, we don’t know exactly how those circumstances will be decided but the most likely scenario is that the Devils have at least two top-15 picks in the draft. It is so important that they have themselves a good draft this year so that they can eventually start winning.

We know that the top of this draft is very good. Well, it could also be a historically deep draft as well. That bodes well for New Jersey’s chances of having a very good draft. There are some very good players that will be available to them and these are three players they can reach for if they feel they are worthy: