Tom Fitzgerald put the New Jersey Devils in a rough spot. That’s why he was fired. Well, there are two reasons why Fitzgerald was fired: he failed to trade for Quinn Hughes, and the prospect pool had gotten worse every year. Big bets on Chase Stillman, Shakir Mukhamadullin, Anton Silayev, Alexander Holtz, and Simon Nemec didn’t work out as planned, and that’s just the first-round picks.
Fitzgerald was forced to give big contracts to Brett Pesce, Brenden Dillon, Connor Brown, Johnny Kovacevic, Timo Meier, and Dougie Hamilton in order to supplement the lack of success in drafting. He left the cupboard pretty bare when it comes to prospects. Holtz, Mukhamadullin, and Stillman are gone, and Nemec was traded very quickly after Sunny Mehta took the job.
The Devils have six first-round picks still under their control. Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier are from the Ray Shero era. Anton Silayev and Alexander Command are not ready for the NHL and still developing. Only Dawson Mercer and Luke Hughes are Fitzgerald picks on the roster.
However, Sunny Mehta is finding something worthwhile in this prospect pool. He spoke with Peter Baugh of The Athletic, and he pointed out three surprising prospects that he was excited for.
Sunny Mehta is excited about some New Jersey Devils prospects
The first one is Lenni Hameenaho. The former second-round pick had a ton of promise when he first entered the NHL in the middle of last season, but he hit a rookie wall and struggled offensively. That happens to prospects sometimes, but there’s also an interesting logjam at forward that could block Hameenaho from making the opening-day lineup.
Seamus Casey was the lone defenseman on the list, and that does make sense. Casey often comes out well from an analytics point of view. He did lose some points last season, as injuries really impacted his development. He has some NHL experience as he was forced to play while Luke Hughes was injured, but he should get better if he stays healthy.
The third option was Matyáš Melovský. The former sixth-round pick was one of the lone center options in the system left for the Devils. That was one of the reasons they took Command, to bring more depth at the center position.
It’s good to see there’s something salvageable for the Devils in their system, and Mehta is excited to build from here. He added Amadeus Lombardi and Declan Chisholm to help bring more youth that’s close to NHL-ready.
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