The 2026 NHL Draft wrapped up on Saturday, with the Devils making seven total selections over the course of the two days.
Their first four were slam-dunk wins, having selected a future middle-six center with two-way upside in Alexander Command with their 12th overall pick, a high-upside playmaker and surefire middle-pair defenseman in Matias Vanhanen and Nikita Shcherbakov in the second round, and a high-upside swing pick in the fourth round with Lavr Gashilov.
That leaves three selections, one in each of the last three rounds.
The New Jersey Devils seemed to switch things up late in the draft
In the fifth round, with the 149th overall pick, the Devils drafted Belarusian goaltender Daniil Rusakovich. The 6'4 netminder seems like a fair pick at that spot, keeping up with the tradition of drafting a goaltender in each draft until there is a long-term solution in net. He reportedly has some puck-tracking problems, but is very athletic, has great post-to-post mobility, and is excellent at using his stick. For a fifth-rounder, he had strong outputs in the MHL and looks like he can be a solid goalie at the professional level.
In the next round, the Devils took a bit of a reach in Luke Wilfley. He turns 18 in a couple of days, making him one of the younger players in the draft, thus giving him a tad more developmental runway than some of his counterparts, but his skillset is pretty limited. He played in a fourth-line grinder role this past season in the WHL, managing only 15 points (nine goals, six assists) in 66 games while racking up a ton of penalty minutes in the process.
Wilfley is an incessant forechecker with a good motor and decent skating chops, but his shooting and playmaking games are certainly limited. He shows very, very occasional flashes of having legit tools, but those moments are fewer and further between than you would like to see. Still, with a sixth-round pick, there's not much complaining to be done.
Their seventh-round selection, 222nd overall, was a great pick, though. 5'9, 176-pound Quinn McKenzie heard his name called by the New Jersey Devils with the third-to-last pick, giving the Devils one more late-round flier with upside to add to their arsenal. He's yet another motor guy, giving it his all every time he steps out onto the ice while showing dual-threat capabilities in the offensive zone and in transition.
Though he is small, McKenzie scarcely loses the battles he does engage in and is stellar at acting as the second forward on a forecheck. His shot is solid, his playmaking and vision are solid, and though his skating as a whole is subpar, he has decent acceleration. There was possibly no pick in the seventh round with more upside if things pan out. He'll be playing in the NCAA next season for Penn State University.
All in all, the last three picks of the Devils' 2026 draft were a bit of a mixed bag. Wilfley isn't a favorite, though McKenzie's upside makes up for it. Rusakovich is a pure dart throw at a position that is nigh-impossible to predict. Given the probable hit rate of the first four draft picks, this looks like a great overall class for New Jersey.
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