The New Jersey Devils were part of the stunning beginning of the 2022 NHL Draft on Thursday night. The Montreal Canadiens took Juraj Slafkovsky with the first overall pick. That left Shane Wright on the board for New Jersey but they didn’t take him either.
Instead, the Devils drafted defenseman Simon Nemec. Even the Arizona Coyotes passed on Wright with the third overall pick as they took Logan Cooley. The Seattle Kraken took him with the 4th overall pick. Now, we have to hope that Nemec is more productive.
This also wasn’t the only pick that the Devils made at the draft. They made some more on a very exciting day two. The day started by trading for Vitek Vanecek from the Washington Capitals. He is a very solid goalie that will help New Jersey win a lot more games.
The Vanecek trade pushed them down in the second round, but it kept them in the top 50. With pick 46, they selected Seamus Casey. He is a defenseman from the USNTDP. Casey will attend the University of Michigan with Luke Hughes during the 2022-23 season.
The New Jersey Devils made multiple really smart decisions at the NHL Draft.
New Jersey didn’t have a pick in the third round so they had to wait until the fourth round. In the fourth round, they took Tyler Brennan who was one of the better goalies in a weak goalie draft.
It is always smart to add one to your system because you just never know with these goalie prospects. This was a great pick that could pay off for them in many ways down the line. Historically, the Devils have had a winning recipe when it comes to goaltenders.
After that, the Devils took two more players in the fourth round, one in the fifth, one in the sixth, and then one in the seventh. With those selections, they took Daniil Orlov, Charlie Leddy, Petr Hauser, Josh Filmon, and Artem Barabosha.
This feels like it could be the right mix of players for the Devils in a draft class. They drafted two defensemen with their first two picks. Nemec has the high ceiling but they could both become really good players one day. Each of them is learning their trade well.
The Devils also added some goaltending depth to the organization. Acquiring Vitek Vanecek is going to help them in the short term and it could help them in the long term. The fact that they drafted another somewhat highly regarded goalie prospect in the fourth round is nice too.
There was some value to be had in this draft and we will see if the New Jersey Devils are happy with how it went. It will be a while before we truly know but it will happen eventually. We will see who is the first to help this team at the NHL level.