The New Jersey Devils are riding high right now. They just traded for Connor Hellebuyck, and they are on a three-game win streak. The Devils are back in a playoff spot, though that doesn't matter in October. Either way, the issues that impacted the fanbase early in the season are just about gone from the lexicon.
There are some things that need to be addressed, but for the most part, the Hellebuyck addition really spares them from the issues pushing them down the standings. With Hellebuyck, even understanding it will take him some time to ramp up, the Devils should be contenders.
The team is dominating on both sides of the ice. They are suppressing shots and dominating possession. They are finally converting chances, and the goals are coming back on the scoreboard.
So, when we see complaints about where they are, we have to take it with a grain of salt. However, the Devils do have to understand where they are in terms of draft picks.
After the Hellebuyck and other trades, the Devils are down to four total picks. They gave up two picks in the Evangelista trade, but those were in 2028.
What’s good is the 2027 draft picks they still have include two first-round picks and a second-round pick. They lost their 2027 third-round pick in the Cody Glass trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins. They lost their fourth-round pick in this summer’s Declan Chisholm deal, and the sixth-round pick was lost in the trade that sent Ondrej Palat to the New York Islanders.
The New Jersey Devils don't really need those types of picks
There are two levels of interest in the Devils’ lack of picks. There’s the obvious issue, which is rebuilding the prospect core. The Devils were in a bad place with their top prospects after the Tom Fitzgerald disaster, but they are in better shape now than they were last season. The picks Mehta made this past summer are doing pretty well. The college prospects who struggled last season, like Ben Kevan and Conrad Fondrk, are playing much better.
The prospects playing well, including the ones playing for the Utica Comets, make trading draft picks much easier. At the same time, losing assets does make future trades a lot harder. The Florida Panthers, in which Mehta was a key contributor to the front office, always made trades after the New Year to keep the winning coming.
Still, the Devils have two first-round picks and a second-round pick. If they want a player who isn’t worth a first-rounder, then they can get a lesser pick back. Also, Mehta could trade down in the 2027 NHL Draft, like he did this year. That allowed them to get Lavr Gashilov, who we’re really high on as a shooter.
We shouldn’t be worried about draft picks in October, but it is surprising that they are dealing with this dearth of assets. Those first-round picks will be important, but they shouldn’t overpay in future trades just because this is all they have.
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