Devils Draft Night

Photo by Dave Reginek/Getty Images

The New Jersey Devils have the top choice in the draft for the second time in three years and once again have a difficult decision to make with the pick.

While the 2017 choice between Nico Hischier and Nolan Patrick would see the player that is passed over (Patrick) go to one of the Devils rivals (Philadelphia), this choice is even more important to get right as the player that isn't selected will not only again go to a rival, it's a rival that is just miles away, shares the same market and if the choice is wrong, will haunt the franchise and its fans for years.
While Ray Shero and the Devils appear to have made the right decision thus far with Hischier over Patrick by a small edge, this one is even more important as the player passed over will become a New York Ranger.

Jack Hughes is the likely choice as a center and holding the all-time record for points for a member of the United States development team.
Kaapo Kakko of Finland is the bigger player and plays at right wing, which is the position that it is harder to find an elite player.
Kakko is considered to be more likely to make a difference immediately with experience from Finland's top league, while Hughes is considered to be a franchise type of player, although he may take longer to do so.



I don't claim to have the type of knowledge of the NHL draft prospects that I do of the other three sports, but I do know franchises and for as much as the Devils would claim this doesn't matter, they know that it does- If the Devils would pass over an American star like Jack Hughes and he proves to be a franchise-level star for the team across the river and beats them for a dozen years, Kaapo Kakko could be an excellent player, but unless he's Alex Ovechkin, the Devils would pay a huge price for that call.
Take Hughes and Kakko turns out to be the better player, considering all the factors available at the time, the fanbase would understand.
If you take Kakko and the above scenario happens even in the best case, they'll never forgive you for allowing their backyard rival to thrive with Hughes.
Hughes has to be the choice here for hockey reasons and others as well.

I'll be back tonight with some words on the likely choice of Jack Hughes or even the possible, but still surprising choice of Kaapo Kakko.

Sorry so short, but still have the boxing challenge before tonight's Golden Boy card on DAZN to finish up.

Devils win another lottery!

For the second time in three years, the New Jersey Devils managed to summon some luck and vault into the first overall selection in the NHL Draft in June.

The Devils, who finished with the league's third-worst record this past season, leaped over the Los Angeles Kings and the Colorado Avalanche, who holds the first rounder of the Ottawa Senators in June's draft, to grab the first pick.
These things always come down to luck, but this really came down to luck, but luck on the ice.
Rewind the tape a few days to Saturday and the final game of the regular season in Florida, where Travis Zajac scored the game-winning goal in overtime against the Florida Panthers.
Had the Devils lost that game in Florida, they would have finished with the same number of points as the Los Angeles Kings and after tie-breakers were decided, the Devils would have been considered the second team in the lottery rather than the third and it would have been the Kings selecting first.
Playing to win rather than lose, literally paid off this time for the New Jersey Devils and could pay off for a long time.

I've written before that I didn't watch a lot of hockey this past season and I think that will likely change next season as I wrote back in February, but I missed a lot of less than strong hockey in doing so, but it was that run of bad hockey that will allow the Devils to add what seems to be an impact player for the second time in three years.
Who will that player be? The talk of the hockey world had been that the top player would likely be American center, Jack Hughes.
The 5'10 Hughes has been noted for his top-level speed and rare ability to control the puck and make plays at top speed, which is an ability that is rarer for hockey players than one would suspect even from the best players in the world.
Hughes has been described as a generational talent by some, compared to Patrick Kane by others and by still others as comparable to Auston Matthews, who was tremendously hyped entering his draft year.
If Hughes is that type of player, he'll be a large linchpin of the Devils future and even if he's a little less than those comparisons, he's still going to be an All-Star for years to come.


The Jack Hughes hype has been going on for close to two seasons, but suddenly there is a contender on the horizon in Finland's Kaapo Kakko, who at the same age is playing against the top players in Finland in their Elite league.
Not only is the 6'2 Kakko scoring goals (22 in 45 games), he's doing it against men, which is a point in his favor.
Kakko has been compared to several players, but the one that I've seen most often have been with fellow Finn Patrik Laine, who scored 30 goals this season just two seasons after being selected by Winnipeg with the second pick in the draft.
A player like Kakko would appear to be a strong fit with Nico Hischier on a line eventually and would be quite a finisher for a team that wants to continue to change a still existing image as a dull team.


I've noted in the past that I usually don't know a ton about the players entering in the NHL draft, especially compared to the NFL and NBA drafts, but I'll be able to figure out a bit more than usual since I can narrow this down to two players, much as the choice two seasons ago between Nico Hischier and Nolan Patrick.
Most observers then looked at the choice as so close that the decision was a toss of the coin.
This one appears to be not quite as close, but not an easy choice either.
Kaapo Kakko is more NHL-ready right now and should get off to a faster start to his NHL career.
Jack Hughes is the more spectacular player
I do tend to follow the reports of others with younger players as they see the players more and can evaluate their competition level far better than I, so keep that in mind.

In the end, I cannot see the Devils passing on Jack Hughes, especially when one considers that the Rangers also had some good lottery fortune in order to select second.
Pass on Kaapo Kakko and if Hughes disappoints with Kakko becoming a star, the fans with the hockey media would understand why the choice was made, even through the disappointment.
If an exciting American standout with the reported star presence of Hughes is passed up and to see Hughes become that star across the river with the Rangers, that's the type of mistake that destroys franchises.
The Devils cannot afford to make that mistake.