5 Early NHL Draft Targets New Jersey Devils Should Hope For

The New Jersey Devils have just a few games left in the season, then it is time to think about the NHL Draft. Who are some of the best players for the New Jersey Devils?

It’s almost the end of the New Jersey Devils season. Nobody thought it would go as bad as it did, but there is one piece of good news. The Devils get one more piece to add to the rebuild, and hopefully, this is the last top pick they have for a long time. The Devils spent big in the last offseason to finally get out of this funk, but every goalie imaginable got hurt or was totally terrible (or both).

Now, we can look past this season and look forward to the NHL Draft. The draft lottery will take place on May 10th. The changes in odds really show a need for the Devils to lose as many games as possible. If they can move past the Philadelphia Flyers, their odds for the first-overall pick goes from 9.1% to 10.2%. Beyond that, the Devils’ chances to get a top-five pick goes from 41.2% to 79.9%.

The Devils want to get a top-five pick in this draft. They want to get some of the best players, with just one more star player turning this Devils team into the next version of the Colorado Avalanche. Or, at least a team that can have meaningful games in April. This should be the last draft that gives them a pick this high. So, let’s take a look at who might be available when the Devils pick.

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.

The Devils in 2021 traded for Ryan Graves, Jonas Siegenthaler, and Christian Jaros, signed Dougie Hamilton to a seven-year deal worth $9 million per season, and drafted Luke Hughes with their fourth-overall pick. They spent a lot of their assets to reset the defense now and in the future. The Devils have Hughes, Ty Smith, Kevin Bahl, Shakir Mukhamadullin, Nikita Okhotyuk, and Reilly Walsh as great defensive prospects that have NHL upside (if they aren’t there already). So, should the Devils spend another premium asset on a defenseman when they also have Hamilton and Damon Severson?

Yes, they should absolutely take Simon Nemec if they have the chance. Nemec had a wild year thanks to the NHL players being held out of the Olympics. Because that happened, he got to represent Team Slovakia in the Games, and he won a bronze medal. He also played for Slovakia at the World Juniors U20 and U18 games, although the former was canceled before the tournament could get going.

Nemec is playing his regular season for HK Nitra in the Slovakian league. In the playoffs, he has four goals and six assists in 13 playoff games. He’s a right-handed shot, and nobody is really close to him in terms of skill and ability on the blue line in this draft. Getting someone to play on the opposite side of Luke Hughes for the rest of their careers makes a lot of sense. Hughes is a lefty, so they make an automatic line that might make it to the NHL at the same exact time.

Imagine putting together a line of Hughes-Nemec in 2023-24? That would definitely be worth the wait.

When we’re looking at the picks who could go between four and six, where the Devils likely will pick, there’s a lot of volatility with these players. Is Logan Cooley going second overall, or could he fall to sixth? Will Nemec go quickly, or will everyone prioritize offense? What if Wright somehow doesn’t go first overall? How will that impact draft boards go down from there?

That’s why anything is possible for the Devils, and Matthew Savoie is a realistic possibility. Savoie has been dominant in the WHL this season. He has 90 points in 65 games for the Winnipeg Ice. He’s led his team to the number-one seed in the Eastern Conference. He’s done just about everything one could ask for from a player in his draft season.

Yet, some have him falling down boards because of the rise of players like Juraj Slafkovsky and Cooley. Don’t be fooled by this. Savoie has all the tools to be a star wherever he goes. He drives play and forces turnovers. He is responsible in the defensive zone, and you can tell by his points how good he is on the other side of the rink.

Savoie would be a great pick for the Devils. He has all the tools they need, and he feels like an easier move to winger if the Devils find that move absolutely necessary. Sure, they are taking another center, but this is one that could fit into whatever the Devils need from him.

Brad Lambert is a name that has been plummeting down draft boards. His numbers don’t match his impact, and that’s why he’s falling. We still love him as a player despite the fact that he has 10 points in 49 games this season. He just never clicked in Liiga, but look at some of the other numbers. He had five points in two games at the World Juniors before they were canceled. If that tournament commences, he never falls. We stand by that.

The Devils are almost definitely going to have a chance to take Lambert, and there’s a chance the fanbase will revolt. They shouldn’t He’s having a very strange year after he was traded. This is still a dynamic offensive weapon that has a ton of speed. He’s likely a winger at the NHL level, and that might jump start his production. The Devils can immediately bring him to the AHL since he’s an overseas player.

Sending Lambert to Utica might be exactly what he needs to get his production back. Friend of the Let’s Go Devils Podcast Lyle Richardson had Brad Lambert as the second-overall pick before the season started. He was hardly alone. This draft seemed like a clear one-two punch, but the second punch got knocked out of the top five. Lambert should be under serious consideration if he falls to wherever the Devils are picking (and at this point, he should).

It’s a risk because he has had a lack of production that’s likely hurt his confidence, but that can be fixed. He has NHL talent to a very high degree. The Devils could use a risk in the top ten that has a chance to turn into a superstar.