New York Rangers Getting First Overall Is Good News For New Jersey Devils

Believe it or not, the Rangers winning helps the Devils in the long run.

The New Jersey Devils fans were given the worst possible news on Monday night when the New York Rangers won the NHL Draft Lottery. It was the second year in a row the Rangers moved up quite a few spots to choose a generational talent. Last year, they took Kaapo Kakko after the Devils selected Jack Hughes. This year, they get the pick of the bunch, and they will no doubt choose Alexis Lafrenière.

It honestly stinks to see such a good player forced to wear red, white, and blue on Broadway like that, but now that it’s happening this could be a good thing for the Devils in the long run. It sounds crazy now, but let’s walk through the reasons.

For one, this would elevate a rebirth of the Devils-Rangers rivalry. Right now, the Devils are well behind the Rangers again thanks to their offseason moves working out for the most part (Jacob Trouba notwithstanding), while the Devils moves worked out as bad as they could have (Nikita Gusev notwithstanding). This was going to be the start of a fantastic rivalry that was bred even further by Hughes and Kakko competing for the best in the draft.

We know it didn’t happen. Both teams were actually supposed to miss the playoffs, but pandemic changed things for the Rangers. That eventually changed their fortunes entirely, and now they are getting Lafrenière. The Devils are getting someone like Marco Rossi or Alexander Holtz at seven. Still a good player, but like six steps behind Lafrenière.

So, how on Earth is this any good for the Devils? Now we will explain.

First of all, this is good news because when any team’s biggest rival gets another level of focus, it will eventually lead to the rivalry as a whole getting more eyes. The Rangers’ rivalries are all in a basic state of flux nationally. It doesn’t help when NBC Sports calls everything they put on a Wednesday “Rivalry Night”. Still, who is considered the Rangers biggest rival? Is is the Devils? The Flyers? The Islanders? The Bruins?

The fact that the Devils and Rangers timelines are matching up could make these two big rivals nationally. If the Devils can put their main rivalry on national television, that’s a good thing. If we can find a way to make people care about the Rangers-Devils rivalry like they care about the Flames-Oilers rivalry, it’s a great thing for New Jersey.

More from Pucks and Pitchforks

• Should New Jersey Devils Try Load Management With Vitek Vanecek?
• New Jersey Devils Will Prove That Last Year Wasn’t A Fluke
• New Jersey Devils: Luke Hughes’ Playmaking Will Outshine His Mistakes
• New Jersey Devils: Chase Stillman’s Performance Causes Concern
• Can Devils Fans Separate Zach Parise Heartbreak From Achievements?

That’s the obvious part. The not so obvious part is how this will motivate the Devils at all levels. The team’s biggest rival was handed a gift, while the Devils no longer can sit back on the fact they were handed two gifts in Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier. They can’t rest on those laurels because the Rangers didn’t. They already made major moves in bringing in Jacob Trouba and Artemi Panarin. The Devils made moves last offseason, but they are now so far behind the Rangers, it’s imperative they have to catch up.

When looking at the prospects beyond Lafrenière, these two teams have very similar young players. Mackenzie Blackwood and Igor Shesterkin are goalies who can lead these teams into the future. Ty Smith and Nils Lundkvist are supposed to make the roster sooner rather than later. Reilly Walsh and K’Andre Miller are players we have high hopes for on the defense. Then, there’s the immense volume within the forwards. Jesper Boqvist and Vitali Kravtsov both have superstar potential.

However, the Rangers have the ability to sign players to play in Manhattan. It is just different to play there than it is to play in Newark. One of the biggest draws to play for the Devils is you have New York City right there. The Rangers are literally that right there.

Here’s the problem for the Rangers. Now every single move they make in free agency will hurt them when they want to keep those home-grown players. They won’t be able to make another Panarin move. Next season, they have $13 million in cap space. Tony DeAngelo, Alexander Georgiev, Ryan Strome, and Brendan Lemieux all need new contracts. Next offseason, even more players will need new contracts. This seems like a very hard position the Rangers find themselves, although it’s a better position than not being in that position. If that made sense. They have too much talent, and they need to fit them all under a flat salary cap.

The Devils can be a little more meticulous since their talent is obvious. They know exactly where they are going to be spending their money over the next five years. The cap issue won’t come up unless they sign like two or three long-term pieces for north of $7 million. That’s not likely happening. However, this could push the Devils to make other moves to bring stars in through trade.

The Devils don’t need to rush, but they do need to move with some urgency. They can’t go through another full rebuild while their rivals are flying past them. The Devils need to be in their path like they were in 2012. We can’t have the Rangers winning another Stanley Cup anytime soon. Luck falling into the Rangers laps has to change the philosophy of Tom Fitzgerald, Martin Brodeur, and the rest of the Devils brass. This needs to lead to moves to make this team better now. There are moves to be made, and the Devils can keep up with the Rangers with a few tweaks. Lafrenière going across the river hurts, but it could be a blessing in disguise.