New Jersey Devils prospect traded for four draft picks

The New Jersey Devils have a habit of drafting goalies every season. In the NHL Draft, they use at least one of their darts to select the most impactful position on the ice. The strategy hasn’t worked out so far. Since Ray Shero took over in 2015, the Devils have drafted Mackenzie Blackwood, Evan Cormier, Gilles Senn, Akira Schmid, Cole Brady, Nico Daws, Jakub Malek, Tyler Brennan, Mikhail Yegorov, and Veeti Louhivaara. 

The Devils history of drafting goalies in this era is inconsistent, at best. The only one who has become a full-time starter is Blackwood, and he lost his playoff role to fellow former Devils player Scott Wedgewood. Schmid had a great series against the New York Rangers we’ll never forget, but he was then traded to the Vegas Golden Knights. 

A lot of the hope for the position lies on the shoulders of Boston University starter Mikhail Yegorov. The 2024 second-round pick was acquired after the Devils traded John Marino to the Utah Mammoth. 

However, the Devils took an intriguing name last year based on his size alone. Trenten Bennett was selected in the fourth round, 99th overall. He was the biggest player in the entire draft at 6’8. 

After he was draft, Bennett became the starter of the Owens Sound Attack of the OHL. He wasn’t great on paper. His save percentage dropped from .923 in six games to .896 in 27 games. When he was given the opportunity to start, he didn’t show up like he could have. In the playoffs, he allowed 13 goals on just 34 shots against. We have no words for how bad that is. 

It’s clear something is off here, and good news for Sunny Mehta, who is inheriting this mess of a goalie prospect pool. Bennett was traded from the Attack to the Flint Firebirds. The Firebirds had 44 wins last season, 17 more than the Owens Sound team mustered.

The Firebirds sent the Attack four draft picks for Bennett. The massive netminder was originally drafted in the 14th round of the OHL Draft, so this is a good return on investment for the Attack. They thought they might have a special player based on his size and his perceived development, but that development went all the way in reverse last season. 

Here’s to hoping that Bennett can figure it out, but the way things are going, it seems much more likely he’s going to be yet another example of drafting according to an excel spreadsheet instead of based on what scouts are seeing. 

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