With the fourth pick in the 2021 NHL Draft, the New Jersey Devils are taking, from the U.S. National Development Team Program, defenseman Luke Hughes. That’s what we all expect to hear come July 23rd, right? It all makes sense. The Devils have Luke’s brother Jack Hughes already on the roster. They have a desperate need for a young franchise defenseman to pair with Ty Smith. Hughes is expected to be available at the pick. There’s too much in the puzzle that’s easily coming together.
There’s one problem. The NHL Draft never goes exactly to plan. Someone is bound to take a flier on someone, especially since there isn’t a consensus top pick. We are just a few weeks before the Buffalo Sabres make their selection at the top of the draft. They are expected to take University of Michigan defenseman Owen Power. He’s ranked as the best player by most traditional means. He fills a need of the Sabres, and he will likely play on the team sooner rather than later.
However, there are rumors that the Sabres are in love with another prospect. It’s not even Matthew Beniers, the expected first center off the board. It’s someone completely different.
From what I’ve heard, I’d be very surprised if the Sabres leave July 23rd without Willy Eklund…
— NRD (@NHLRumorsDaily) July 5, 2021
Say what you want about these rumors accounts, more times than not there’s at least a little fire to this smoke. The Sabres are apparently interested in the center and Alexander Holtz teammate William Eklund. He had an amazing start to the season, so it’s no surprise that teams are interested in him. Mike Morreale with NHL.com reports that Eklund is interviewing with the Sabres on Wednesday. This, after he already interviewed with 20 other teams. That seems like a lot, but the Sabres seem to be late talking to a lot of their targets.
If the Sabres take Eklund first overall without another pick in the top five, it’s going to completely throw the draft on its head. Will the Seattle Kraken automatically take Owen Power, or will they have fallen in love with Beniers at that point? What if the Anaheim Ducks really like Dylan Guenther? Would the Devils really have their pick of the defensemen when they choose fourth overall?
The real question is would the Devils pick Luke Hughes over Owen Power? Hughes is there in this scenario, but Power has always been the higher-ranked prospect.
This draft is going to be wild. There’s no consensus at any pick. In fact, the biggest consensus seems to be at the Devils’ pick since so many analysts just assume that Hughes is heading to play with his brother. If the board falls a different way, Tom Fitzgerald and the Devils scouting staff will have a very hard decision to make.