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The good news is we may have an NHL draft in June, which would provide a much needed distraction from COVID-19.
The bad news is an early draft would come with consequences. At least from the perspective of the New Jersey Devils.
While nothing is yet finalized,
the NHL reportedly suggested using the lottery for just one pick this year. The winner of said lottery would move up a maximum of four slots.
That would be a stinger for the Devils. If no more regular season games are played, and the current standings hold up, they would finish 26th. That means even if they get lucky, and win again, they could not pick higher than 2nd overall.
In other words, no Alexis Lafreniere (Quinton Byfield would still be amazing).
Nobody would feel sorry for the Devils – understandably so given their recent lottery luck – but the prior *possibility* of getting their hands on Lafreniere, and pairing him with either Nico Hischier or Jack Hughes for the next decade, was mouth watering.
Now it might not exist. That is the big story, however, the change in lottery plans doesn’t exactly spell disaster.
Since only one team could win the opportunity to move up, there is no chance of the Devils dropping multiple slots. They’d likely still get two top-10 picks.
If I’m not mistaken, the five possibilities would be as follows:
2nd overall (Byfield) and 10th overall (Alexander Holtz)
6th overall (Marco Rossi) and 10th overall (Holtz)
6th overall (Rossi) and 7th overall (Anton Lundell)
7th overall (Lundell) and 10th overall (Holtz)
7th overall (Lundell) and 11th overall (Noel Gunler/Yaroslav Askarov)
Those aren’t necessarily my ideal picks in every slot, but rather a look at some of the prospect duos New Jersey could come away with in each situation.
Yeah...a June draft might not be the worst thing.
I better get tracking.
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