The New Jersey Devils have been one of the league’s top teams all season. They’ve seen major growth out of its core, and they’ve consistently been one of the top five teams in the NHL. They will go into the postseason feeling very good about themselves despite the lack of experience.
Do you know what should make everyone feel good about this team? The fact that it is not even close to the final vision that Tom Fitzgerald and his staff have put together. There are plenty of kids in the system that hope to be big-time stars with this core that they have already built.
Scott Wheeler is a fantastic writer for The Athletic. He covers the NHL Draft and prospects in general. Over the last month or so, he has been counting down (one a day) the best farms in the NHL from 32nd down to one. On Wednesday, we finally learned where the Devils landed.
Wheeler has New Jersey ranked second in the league when it comes to its prospect pool. That is absolutely sensational. They are one of the best teams in the league at the NHL level and on the farm. The future is clearly very bright for them.
The #NJDevils, who boast the third-best record in the NHL, also land at No. 2 in this year’s prospect pool rankings.
— Scott Wheeler (@scottcwheeler) February 8, 2023
Their top 15, with honourable mentions, full scouting reports, video, player tiers, and more: https://t.co/uvLEhtxHq7
The New Jersey Devils have a lot of prospects to be very excited about.
Luke Hughes and Simon Nemec lead the way regarding Devils prospects. The youngest of the Hughes brother is finishing up another great year at the University of Michigan, while Nemec has spent this season with the Utica Comets of the AHL.
Hughes was the fourth overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft, and Nemec was the second-overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft. They should be on the team full-time at some point next season. Honestly, both of them could, at minimum, make their NHL debut down the stretch this season.
There are other prospects that New Jersey has for folks to be excited about. Alexander Holtz is still considered a prospect as he hasn’t played much this year. There is also Arseni Gritsyuk, Seamus Casey, and Chase Stillman to be excited about as well.
Almost all of the teams around them on the list are bad at the NHL level. The Columbus Blue Jackets, Chicago Blackhawks, and Detroit Red Wings are examples of teams with an outstanding pool of prospects that aren’t any good at the NHL level. It will take a while.
Although the Minnesota Wild aren’t as good as New Jersey in the NHL right now, they are still a good team that will be in the playoffs. They also are the only team ahead of the Devils on this ranking which speaks volumes about their organization right now as well.
When you look at the bottom of the list, you see a lot of the other Stanley Cup contenders over the years, like the Colorado Avalanche, Pittsburgh Penguins, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Boston Bruins. The Devils would trade a good farm for Stanley Cups, so we’ll see how this all plays out.
Don’t be surprised if the raking takes a slight hit after the trade deadline. If the Devils want to add a piece or two before the playoffs, it may cost them some prospect capital. As of right now, this is a very feel-good ranking.