3 Prospects New Jersey Devils Should Target With 2nd-Overall Pick In NHL Draft
The New Jersey Devils have been very good at moving up in lotteries over the last decade. This is the fourth time that they have moved up in the last 15 years which is honestly insane. The Montreal Canadiens won the lottery but they had the best odds so they didn’t move up.
New Jersey, as mentioned before, move up by winning the second and final lottery spot. They went into the night with fifth-best odds and ended up out with the second overall pick in the NHL Draft. After the way this year went for the Devils, this feels earned (every team in the top ten probably would feel that way).
They do, despite the bad year, have a lot more clarity on a lot of their young players. It is so clear now that Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, and Jesper Bratt are outstanding players that are going to lead this team for a long time.
There are other young guys to be excited about. We also learned that kids like Nathan Bastian, Yegor Sharangovich, Jesper Boqvist, Nolan Foote, Kevin Bahl, Fabian Zetterlund, Nikita Okhotiuk, and Reilly Walsh might be able to be good NHL players as well. A nice core might be forming.
The New Jersey Devils have a lot of players to consider at pick number two:
It is also an organization with prospects that haven’t made their NHL debut yet that are exciting young players. With this new second overall pick that they now have, they are going to be adding another one. There are some great players to consider there. These are the three main players for the Devils to consider at pick number two:
Simon Nemec
The New Jersey Devils could consider a defenseman with the second pick.
The New Jersey Devils have some nice defensemen in the organization. Dougie Hamilton, Damon Severson, Ryan Graves, Jonas Siegenthaler, and Ty Smith figure to be the top five next season. There are also guys like Kevin Bahl, Reilly Walsh, and Nikita Okhotiuk trying to make it as well.
It won’t be long before Luke Hughes or Shakir Mukhamadullin try to crack the NHL roster as well. Both of them are first-round picks that New Jersey believes in as of right now. If all of these guys reach their potential (or even most of them), there are going to be some interesting decisions to make.
This team’s defense hasn’t been good enough over the last few years for anyone to think that they are done building either. That is why they could still consider adding to the pool of great young defensemen with the 2022 NHL Draft.
That is where Slovakia’s Simon Nemec comes in. He is for sure going to be the first defenseman that comes off the board in the draft. It just is a matter of when. If New Jersey sees that as a position of need (or sees him as the second-best player in the draft by far), they should do it.
It could be something that really helps them as the years go on. It is always tough with defensemen so they would have to be absolutely sure. Nemec is going to be a great player someday but you never know how great. It is something for the Devils to think about.
Juraj Slafkovsky
The New Jersey Devils could really use a big scoring winger like Juraj Slafkovsky.
The New Jersey Devils have a lot of young wingers that they like. Yegor Sharangovich and Jesper Bratt are basically locks to be in the top-six on opening night next season.
There are also a few guys that could fit into the top-six or bottom-six like Miles Wood, Dawson Mercer, Pavel Zacha, Andreas Johnsson, and Tomas Tatar amongst others. There is even a guy like Dawson Mercer who is a center that can play wing.
Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier need more snipers on their wings that can help take advantage of their playmaking abilities. Each of them has different skill sets but they are both guys who can drive offense and make their wingers better.
One kid to consider adding is Juraj Slafkovsky. He is a great winger out of Slovakia that can score goals in bunches. He was tied for the scoring lead at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games with 7 points.
The cool thing is that all seven of those points were goals. Nobody else in the tournament had more than five goals and this guy had seven. He is truly a gifted sniper.
With the right tools and a good centerman, he might be able to translate that to the NHL level. The Devils might be able to provide that if they take him with the second overall pick.
Logan Cooley
There is also a very good centerman for the New Jersey Devils to consider.
Everything good with the New Jersey Devils right now starts at the center of the ice. Jack Hughes and Nico Hischeir look like they could be superstars. 2021-22 was amazing for them but we all know that they could be even better. 2022-23 is going to be huge.
Dawson Mercer was also outstanding as a rookie. He has a very bring future. We don’t know if he is going to be a center full-time or if he will eventually break off onto the wing. That decision will be based on how the next few seasons go for him. We can say with clarity, however, that he can be a good middle-six forward.
Michael McLeod also made a name for himself as a fourth-line center. It is unclear how long that will last but if the centers are Hischier, Hughes, Mercer, and McLeod going into 2022-23, it could be very good for the Devils.
That also doesn’t mean that they have to be content with it either. They could also use, as mentioned before, Mercer on the wing. That could leave the idea of drafting Logan Cooley up for debate. He is one of the more intriguing prospects in the 2022 NHL Draft right now.
This guy could go second and he could go 5th. There is a wide range for him but you better believe that the Devils are going to at least consider taking the kid from the United States National Development Program.
He is committed to the University of Minnesota for the 2022-23 season but could be in the NHL once they are bounced in April. All of these prospects would be very nice for New Jersey’s farm system and could eventually join a really good young core.