One day after they drafted Alexander Command with the 12th overall pick in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft, the Devils were one of the more active teams in the trade market. They did not trade for roster players, to be clear -- much to the chagrin of some fans -- but they moved back in the draft two separate times in order to add a couple more pieces to their pipeline.
The first trade was an early one, trading the 35th overall selection to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for the 37th overall pick and the 119th overall pick in the same draft. The Blackhawks took hulking winger Ryan Roobroeck with the 35th pick, someone who evidently was not on the Devils' radar at that slot.
Their second trade came much later, with the Devils giving the Colorado Avalanche the 140th overall selection in exchange for picks #149 and #222.
Being that they gained two selections in the draft (#119 and #222) by virtue of their trading down, let's talk about who the Devils acquired with those two picks.
The 119th overall pick in the draft was a welcome re-addition to the cupboard, given that they used the fourth-round pick they did have in this draft -- 103rd overall -- to trade for center prospect Amadeus Lombardi. Re-acquiring a fourth-rounder got even sweeter when it was announced that the Devils were drafting center Lavr Gashilov.
Gashilov is a very high-ceiling center prospect out of the MHL, leading all players in the entire league in assists (and becoming the first-ever draft-eligible player to do so). Predictably, he's magical as a distributor when the puck is on his stick, with some of the best playmaking chops in the entire draft. He sees the ice extremely well, threads passes through traffic with ease, and can perform high-danger, high-risk passes with more consistency than most at his level. He certainly has work to do on the defensive side of things, as he does in adding a bit of physicality to his game, but if he does so he can eventually be a center at the NHL level. It was a boom-or-bust pick, and one I'm glad the Devils gambled on.
With the 222nd overall pick, the Devils selected another center in Quinn McKenzie, who spent this last season with the Soo Greyhounds of the OHL. There, he was pretty productive -- especially for his draft slot -- with 21 goals and 51 total points in 65 games. In many ways, he shares a good few traits with several of the Devils' other 2026 draftees. He's pace-driven. He's a nuisance to play against. He has a two-way game. He can playmake and playdrive in flashes. McKenzie has the ability to be a legitimate steal -- he'll be off to the hardest division in college hockey with Penn State University, where he will be developing against much tougher competition than he's used to.
All told, these two picks were slam-dunk victories for a New Jersey Devils team in need of legitimate center depth in their pipeline. Even if neither end up as NHLers, both project to be prospects capable of contributing to an AHL roster, which inherently aids everyone in the organization.
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