Ranking New Jersey Devils And Tom Fitzgerald’s Moves Over A Crazy Week

6. Second Day Of NHL Draft

The Devils didn’t have a bad second day of the NHL Draft. That’s how good his other moves have been. The Devils got a really good goalie prospect in Nico Daws. Jaromir Pytlik is someone who projects to be an NHL player, which isn’t a guarantee with a 4th-round pick. Those are very good picks for their spot, but they are going to take a long time before we see either of them get close to the NHL.

Ethan Edwards, Artem Shlaine, and Benjamin Baumgartner are fine picks. They have a certain amount of upside (like every pick does), but it seems like there were some players on the board the Devils passed on that were projected to be a little better.

The Devils traded their 7th-round pick for the same pick next year. It’s clear the Devils think that the remaining talent wasn’t worth making a pick. Now, the Devils play the very long waiting game on these players.

Again, this wasn’t a bad day of drafting, but it was average. This is also the choices this week that have the least impact on the Devils now and in the future. There could be some contributors picked on Wednesday, but it’s highly unlikely they have a huge impact. In the highly-touted 2015 NHL Draft, only eight players taken after the 2nd round have played at least 100 games in the NHL. Only one has played 200 games. It’s just a shot in the dark.