The New Jersey Devils have a lot at stake in the 2020 NHL Draft. How would it go if they do a virtual one along with the rest of the NHL?
The National Football League is in the middle of doing its 2020 draft virtually. It is going surprisingly well for them, so that makes us wonder if the National Hockey League would have the same success. The New Jersey Devils, regardless of how they draft, need to have a successful one. The NFL Draft is making us more excited for what the future holds with the NHL Draft.
Joe Burrow went first overall to the Cincinnati Bengals and that has pretty much been a lock since December. Well, the National Hockey League is pretty much in the same boat this season. Alexis Lafreniere is going to be the number-one overall pick and that has pretty much been a lock during the entire 2019-20 season. There were some other people that thought some others might challenge him for the top spot, but that isn’t going to happen.
If the New Jersey Devils have to perform the draft in a virtual matter, that is okay. There has been some talk about the NHL Draft still happening in June, even if they are still going to have summer hockey to finish the 2019-20 season. That would have some obvious complications like the order of the draft and deciding how to award conditional picks.
New Jersey has quite a big conditional pick to worry about. If Vancouver makes the playoffs, they get their 1st-round pick via the Blake Coleman trade they made with the Tampa Bay Lightning. If they have the draft before they finish the regular season, it would be complicated to know they would rule such an issue.
The Devils, no matter how the NHL decides this, need to have a good draft. They need to make sure that they add some impactful players via the draft. If they have to do it virtually, that is okay. All that matters is kids like Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes have some more core pieces join them.