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New Jersey Devils: Not Having A Tier One Prospect Is Okay

By Vincent Parise

NEWARK, NJ - DECEMBER 20: Kyle Palmieri #21 of the New Jersey Devils celebrates his first period goal with Nico Hischier #13 and Jack Hughes #86 during the game against the Washington Capitals at the Prudential Center on December 20, 2019 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Andy Marlin/NHLI via Getty Images)
NEWARK, NJ - DECEMBER 20: Kyle Palmieri #21 of the New Jersey Devils celebrates his first period goal with Nico Hischier #13 and Jack Hughes #86 during the game against the Washington Capitals at the Prudential Center on December 20, 2019 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Andy Marlin/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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The New Jersey Devils don’t have a tier-one prospect anymore and that is okay.

The New Jersey Devils have some nice young prospects in their organization. They also have some really nice young players on their NHL roster that are no longer considered prospects. My 2020-21 Prospect Pyramid is officially out and the Devils have zero tier-one prospects. That spot is reserved for players that are going to be impact NHL players right when they join the league and potentially become stars. The Devils have had two prospects like that over the last few seasons and they have both made it to the NHL full time right away.

Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes were both top-tier prospects on the Prospect Pyramid after being number-one overall picks in 2017 and 2019 respectively. Each of them, as expected, made it to the league and had flashes of brilliance right away. Hischier was much more productive but Hughes showed that he has the raw skill that can turn into an NHL superstar.

The Devils, hopefully, won’t be bad enough to need a number-one pick again for a long time. They eventually need to start winning which will lead to fewer chances of adding tier-one prospects. That means that they won’t, unless they get extremely lucky, have a tier-one prospect for a while. It is much better to be a good team at the NHL level with a farm loaded with good tier two or tier three prospects so you can keep replenishing your organization.

If the Devils won one of the top two picks and added someone like Alexis Lafreniere or Quinton Byfield, they would have one more tier-one guy but that wasn’t how it went down this year. They need to keep developing their two former number-one overall picks and they will be very good in no time. That will mean that they won’t add anyone like that as far as a prospect for a long time and that is okay.

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It is time for the Devils to start taking big steps forward. The players in tiers below the top spot are going to start coming into the NHL slowly and the players already in the NHL need to take the next step. That is going to hopefully, lead to some winning hockey in New Jersey.

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