New Jersey Devils: 5 Possibilities With 17th Overall In NHL Draft
By Nick Villano
The New Jersey Devils seem more and more likely to get the Vancouver Canucks pick where it currently stands at 17th overall in the 1st round. Who are some of the prospects the Devils might look at where they stand?
This past week, it’s starting to become clear the NHL is going ahead with the NHL Draft, and it will likely happen before the season restarts. There’s a lot of issues that still need to be worked out, but one that’s on the top of the list is how conditional draft picks are going to work out. That’s an issue that’s most important to the New Jersey Devils.
The information has been flowing over the last week, but Pierre Lebrun with The Athletic has been ahead of the game on a lot of information. He tweeted on Sunday he believes the Vancouver Canucks might be one of the happiest teams when it comes to a June draft, and the ability to give up their 1st round pick right now rather than waiting for next year to give up an unprotected pick. We saw what’s happened to Ottawa in 2019 (lost the pick that became Bowen Byram) and San Jose this season (losing the pick that’s going to be in the top five) and they probably don’t want to take the chance if they don’t have to.
Now more than ever, we can assume the Devils are going to get the 17th overall pick in this year’s NHL Draft.
Devils fans can accept the team is going to get three 1st round picks in what many are calling a stacked draft. The draft seems like it’s very, very good in the top ten. Maybe one of the best top tens in recent memory. However, when we get to the teens, it seems like it’s just like other drafts. That’s why every mock draft looks astronomically different after pick 12. For example, scoring center Connor Zary has been taken by the New York Rangers at 13 by some, to the Dallas Stars at 22 in at least one, and some even have the Devils taking him with this number 17 pick.
When it comes to the Devils, there are a lot of options for them at 17. We like some that are mocked there, and others feel like they just wouldn’t fit in the Devils plan. If you missed the best options at 6th overall and 10th overall click the link.