5 Players Worth New Jersey Devils’ First-Round Pick In NHL Draft
By Nick Villano
The New Jersey Devils should look to make big moves in the offseason, and even at the NHL Trade Deadline. There are a few players worth moving their highly-coveted first-round pick.
The New Jersey Devils had the season from Hell. The injuries were significant and came at the worst time. Head coach Lindy Ruff wasn’t able to stop the bleeding, which led to long losing streaks. The penalty kill started terribly, but after it got better, the power play went to hell. Once that got fixed, it was too late. Then, there are the goalies. The Devils have two injured goalies putting the team’s future at the position in jeopardy.
This team clearly doesn’t want to be in the basement anymore. They went on a spending spree in the offseason, signing Dougie Hamilton to a $9 million contract as well as big contracts for Jonathan Bernier and Tomas Tatar. Tom Fitzgerald is not playing for draft picks anymore. So, it might be fruitful for the Devils to make their current draft pick available in a trade for a superstar.
The key word here is “superstar”. This pick is still incredibly valuable, and if the Devils do make it available, it’s probably one of the most valuable assets available right now. Based on point percentage, the Devils have the fourth-overall pick again. Obviously, the lottery could change things. Either way, the Devils have a pick that nobody ahead of them would be willing to trade. The Arizona Coyotes, Montreal Canadiens, and Seattle Kraken are all going to keep their pick as they are in full rebuild mode. The only other team that might make a move with their pick that’s around the Devils is the Philadelphia Flyers, but that seems much less likely.
Who is worth the New Jersey Devils 1st-round pick in the NHL Draft?
The Devils have some players they would love to have, and it would take their first-round pick to make it happen. Some might even need a little more. Let’s go over which players make the most sense for the Devils at this point. We will be looking at players we see as realistic. No Connor McDavid or Auston Matthews here. These are players some could theoretically see leaving their current home.