New Jersey Devils: Rangers Lottery Luck Isn’t All That Bad
The New York Rangers winning the lottery isn’t all bad for the New Jersey Devils.
The New Jersey Devils have had some lottery luck over the past few years. They won in 2017 and 2019 which led to them drafting Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes respectively. Well, they aren’t the only team in the area with the luck of the lottery as the New York Rangers seem to have some luck on their side lately as well. They moved up to make the number two pick in 2019 where they selected Kaapo Kakko. Then on Monday, they won the first overall pick in the 2020 Draft.
The Rangers are going to select Alexis Lafreniere with the first-overall pick. That is really hard to think about as a fan of the New Jersey Devils, but that is the reality we as a group are going to have to deal with. It is up to the Devils to keep up with this move so they can try and rise to the top of the Metropolitan Division. Love them or hate them, the Rangers have had some success with their rebuild here.
This, however, isn’t as bad as it felt when it first happened on Monday night. There are a lot of teams, the Devils included, who win the draft lottery and don’t see success right away. Hughes and Hischeir are looking like they will be great players but the team as a whole has a long way to go before they are Cup contenders. Auston Matthews is one of the best goal scorers in the world for Toronto and Connor McDavid is the best player in the league for Edmonton but neither of them was able to win in the play-in round.
Winning the lottery guarantees nobody anything. The Rangers might get a great player in Lafreniere but there is still a long way to go before they are a real problem. They got two wingers with their lottery luck but don’t have much center depth to brag about. Their MVP, Artemi Panarin, is also a winger so they definitely will want to figure out that center problem.
Hot. Three NJ Devils trade packages for Mitch Marner. light
This could also be something that causes the Devils to put their best foot forward. They can’t afford to let the Rangers keep getting better while they stay put. This might light a fire for the Devils to have another good offseason. Hopefully, the new coach and some development to their players allow them to start becoming a perennial playoff team.