5 Early NHL Draft Targets New Jersey Devils Should Hope For
By Nick Villano
1. player. 85. . C. New Jersey Devils. Shane Wright
Shane Wright was the lock-down number-one pick for most of the season, although things have been moving in a different direction for a few months now. While some have Wright falling down their list, he’s the safety number-one pick in the draft. Sometimes safe doesn’t always work out, as was what happened when Nico Hischier rocketed up draft boards in 2017 and eventually overtook Nolan Patrick, but in this case, it would be the right move.
Wright is an incredibly intelligent player who has a sick release and can score and set up goal scorers with equal ability. The one thing that stands out offensively is the speed in which he can get the puck off of his stick. He can shoot a wrister before most of us can notice he has the puck.
Right now, Wright shocked the world by agreeing to play in the U18 World Juniors. He’s trying to show off his two-way game in every way possible. He’s motivated to be that top pick despite not knowing who the team picking there will be. It’s more than likely it will be the Montreal Canadiens, but if it is the Devils, this would be a great pick.
The Devils have to win the first or second-overall pick to get Shane Wright out of this draft. It also complicates things for the future since the Devils have Hischier and Jack Hughes at center. Wright needs to play center to thrive, and moving one of Hughes, Hischier, or Wright to wing makes no sense. Can they really make it work with one of them on the third line? It would be hard to make work, but for another first-overall pick, the Devils would make it work.