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The New Jersey Devils just missed the playoffs for the sixth time in seven years. They didn't even come close, falling short by *checks notes* 28 points.
They were compensated for the disaster that was the 2018-19 season in the best way possible: with the 1st overall pick.
Having never drafted 1st prior to 2017, this marks the second time in three years the Devils will get the pick of the litter.
Ray Shero and co. certainly made the most of their last opportunity, smartly going with Nico Hischier over Nolan Patrick.
To date, Hischier has tallied 99 points and been worth 28 Goals Above Replacement. Patrick's mustered up 61 points and posted a GAR of 5.2, according to Evolving-Hockey.com's model.
Shero once again has a luxury other GMs would kill for, choosing between Jack Hughes and Kaapo Kakko.
Hughes is a high-end skater with elite vision, puck skills, and dynamic offensive ability. He is an absolute wizard with the puck and routinely pulls off plays most wouldn't even consider attempting. Hughes is also a big-time play driver and zone entry machine – much like Hischier.
Kakko is a much different style of player. While not physical in that he runs opponents, he has a very strong build and knows how to position himself to body guys off the puck in battles. He kind of reminds me of his countryman, Sasha Barkov, in that regard.
Kakko has the power and release to score from a distance but he plays a very north-south game and loves to drive to and crash the net. His skating isn't high-end but he's well above average in pretty much every other aspect of the game.
Having tracked games for each player, and taken notes in the process, I agree with the consensus in taking Hughes atop the draft – although I am going to track a little more in order to increase the sample size of data on hand just to reaffirm that.
For the many that have asked: neither player is a Sidney Crosby or Connor McDavid-like generational talent, however, both have the potential to be among the top-10/15 at their position and will provide massive boosts to the teams they're chosen by.
I'll have much more on Hughes, and Kakko, in the coming days, weeks, and months.
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