There is no surprise to say the New Jersey Devils have a lot of ties to the members of this year’s NHL Draft. The biggest is Luke Hughes. He’s the younger brother of Devils center and franchise cornerstone, Jack Hughes. That connection has most mock drafts taking Luke to give them a great marketing tool in the Hughes brothers. It’s not like Luke isn’t worthy of the pick. Luke Hughes could easily be argued as the fourth-best player in the draft.
Luke Hughes is not even close to the only tie the Devils have to players in this draft. There’s actually another brother here. Brandt Clarke is a very skilled defenseman who is also at the top of this draft. His brother Graeme Clarke had a breakout season with the Binghamton Devils and looks to be a good long-term scoring solution if he can stay healthy. Clarke also could theoretically be a fourth-overall pick.
Pairing brothers seems like a no brainer for the Devils. There is a natural chemistry that can’t be taught. However, there are risks with signing brothers. They might want to match up their contracts so they can become free agents at the same time. If one is unhappy with their situation, it is going to ruin the mood of the other brother. There are ties there that aren’t always positive.
However, both players mentioned the Devils by name in their media roundtable on Wednesday. And both said their respective brothers spoke very highly of the Devils organization. They both sound excited to join the Devils, but they tempered their expectations to say something good about “all the other teams”.
So, the Devils can look to a different tie to the team in William Eklund. In a piece from earlier this week, the rumor shows that Eklund is on the list for the Buffalo Sabres. However, he spoke about playing with the Devils by name in a media call on Tuesday.
Eklund asked about potentially playing with Alexander Holtz and the #njdevils “Playing with Alex is a dream”
— neal (@nealmchale) July 6, 2021
Eklund and Devils top pick from last year Alexander Holtz played together in the SHL. While with Djurgårdens, there were times that Eklund and Holtz were on the same line. Holtz ended up falling out of favor, but it is clear these two have a special bond.
There are bonds with international play, juniors play, and for one reason or another, the Devils should be tied to players. These three seem to be the most obvious. It seems like the Devils have the most intel on these players, but will that change Tom Fitzgerald‘s mind this upcoming draft season? Probably not. He’s going to pick the best player available. Whether that’s Luke Hughes or Dylan Guenther.