Setting the table for the New Jersey Devils on draft day

Will the Devils keep the 10th overall pick – or opt to trade it for more immediate help?

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Draft day is finally here and it should be an exciting one.

The New Jersey Devils begin the day armed with the 10th overall pick and, in all likelihood, it’s the highest selection they’ll own for a long time.

They can’t afford to waste the golden opportunity in front of them, which means Tom Fitzgerald has a big decision to make as the caretaker of the pick.

Is it in the team’s best interest to keep 10th overall and use it to try and land another potential impact player who’ll play his first few seasons making pennies?

That’s certainly an attractive proposition when you have high-salary stars like Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt, Timo Meier, and Dougie Hamilton on the roster.

On the flip side, Fitzgerald could use the choice as ammunition to land more of a sure-fire player who’d better fit with the timeline and help now and in the future.

Let’s take a look at how things could play out in the varying paths.

Keeping the pick

Should the Devils stand pat, I continue to believe Beckett Sennecke could be the apple of their eye.

He has so many different elements to his game. He possesses solid speed, has the skill to beat opponents one-on-one, gets to the dirty areas of the ice, has a motor, and he’s already 6’2’ with runway for further growth.

Sennecke is someone who brings a very nice mix of floor/upside and would help address Fitzgerald’s concern the team is ‘too’ vanilla up front.

I think Tij Iginla would be of real interest as well but I simply don’t see him slipping by the Flames at 9th overall.

If the Devils stand pat, and both Iginla and Sennecke are gone (I could see the Senators taking a swing on Sennecke), Michael Brandsegg-Nygard would check a lot of the boxes the Devils seem to be looking for.

Trading the pick