James Nichols
The New Jersey Devils should aggressively trade their 12th overall pick rather than use it to select a player at the 2026 NHL Draft.
Tuesday night’s draft lottery brought a few surprises. The Toronto Maple Leafs moved up to first overall. The San Jose Sharks jumped eight positions at number two.
However, the Devils were unaffected.
They’re now locked in at 12 after their 2.5% chance of moving up to No.2 didn’t materialize.
At least they didn’t drop.
Now, new Devils general manager Sunny Mehta knows the value he holds in his first round draft pick. He won’t have the opportunity at a Gavin McKenna or an Ivar Stenberg. However, he should give himself an opportunity at a top-six forward to finally round out Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt‘s line.
When the Devils fired Tom Fitzgerald, it was to make the point that New Jersey needed change.
Fitzgerald’s tenure as Devils GM is a mixed bag. One major factor that contributed to his departure in New Jersey was his patience to a fault.
At the 2026 NHL Trade Deadline, he stood pat. Not one single trade after making the puzzling decision to bring in Nick Bjugstad for an unlikely push for the playoffs.
Still, at the deadline, players like Nicolas Roy were fetching first round picks, and the Devils have Cody Glass—who could have retrieved them a lot more futures to flip for a more pressing need.
Suffice to say, Fitzgerald displayed too much patience and it ultimately hurt the organization.
Mehta needs to be different. Part of the reason he was brought to New Jersey is due to the success he contributed to with the Florida Panthers. He helped facilitate the trade that brought them Matthew Tkachuk. He assisted in plucking Gustav Forsling off waivers. And he was part of the decision to flip Spencer Knight for Seth Jones.
Now, the Devils need that kind of aggressive action to improve their top-six. After all, Mehta said it himself. There needs to be change.
“I see a lot of similarities because when I got to Florida, they had some recent tough times,” Mehta said when he was introduced as Devils GM. “But they had some very, very talented players. There are some things we needed to keep and some things we needed to change.”
Despite recent results, the Devils’ window is open now. They have the top talent to win, but it’s an incomplete puzzle.
Mehta has many decisions to make this summer, one of them being what to do with their first round pick. Whoever they take at 12 would be of no help for the next two-to-three seasons. The Devils don’t have time to wait any longer.
The Devils’ most pressing need will be scoring. Package the pick and move it for help now.
Status quo would signal complacency. That absolutely cannot happen.
