Devils Land Sixth Pick In Upcoming NHL Draft

Just like 13 other NHL teams, the New Jersey Devils had dreams of landing the number one pick in the draft in order to select Connor McDavid. Unfortunately for the Devils their name did not come up gold for that pick — they instead retained their sixth overall pick.

The Edmonton Oilers won the first overall pick followed by the Buffalo Sabres picking second and the Arizona Coyotes picking third. This puts the Devils in an interesting position. Sixth is still a very good spot, but with them not being able to get one of the big time players at one or two perhaps they are considering trading their pick to acquire some NHL-ready talent.

One team desperate to move assets and rebuild through the draft is the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Leafs currently have a very good goal scorer by the name of Phil Kessel. The Devils are no strangers to making big trades on draft day — they traded the ninth overall pick for Cory Schneider in 2013.

Kessel, at age 27, is a goal scoring machine and exactly what the Devils would need to help supplement their very strong goaltending. Kessel has had five 30 goal seasons and two 80 points years. On a struggling Leafs team this past season he still managed to put up 25 goals and 36 assists. He’d be a terrific add and someone who would help ease the pressure off of Mike Cammalleri, who was far and away the Devils best goal scorer this season.