New Jersey Devils: Top 25 NHL Draft Picks Of All Time

25.

Nico vs. Nolan. That’s what this draft was all about. The New Jersey Devils and Ray Shero kept everything close to the vest before until he made the pick to bring in the first-ever player from Switzerland to be taken first overall. The Devils went for Nico over Nolan Patrick, who was an American with a long track record of dominance. However, Patrick had major injury concerns.

The fact that Shero went with Nico over Nolan is not the slam dunk people assume it is now. Patrick’s career has been derailed multiple times, and the Philadelphia Flyers aren’t positive how to move forward with him. Then, Nico Hischier is quickly becoming an amazing two-way center. Hischier is proven to be a top-line player from the day he entered the NHL.

Honestly, there are two reasons why Hischier isn’t higher on this list. For one, he was taken first overall. Having the pick of every single great player in the draft means a lot. Some would say the Devils should have taken Elias Petterson now of the Vancouver Canucks, but he wasn’t even NHL ready in that first year. The anonymous scouts who tell insiders they had Petterson top on their draft board are outliers at best and liars at worst. Second is he’s only been in the league for three years. A lot still has to happen to see what his career holds.

Hischier is going to keep getting better and better. He’s on pace to be the Devils top center for a long time. The Devils are looking to finally come out of their rebuild, and a lot of the hope is at the feet of Hischier. He’s the best forward on the team, and it’s not particularly close right now. It was undoubtedly a draft pick that will change the team’s history.