Three more second-round targets for the New Jersey Devils
JP Gambatese highlights three more players who should appeal to the Devils at pick 44.
By JP Gambatese (@JP_Gambatese)
The 2026 NHL Draft is less than a week away, with the second day of the endeavor being exactly seven days out.
I already covered three second-round possibilities for New Jersey, with Victor Plante, Tommy Bleyl, and Maksim Sokolovskii being named, but I have to admit that the latter two have been rising up into first-round projections in recent days and no longer seem feasible.
With that in mind, let’s chat about a few more options the Devils can choose from with their second-round pick, which ended up being the 44th overall selection.
Lars Steiner
I certainly have a soft spot for undersized forwards with high motors and projectable skillsets. After all, we saw what the likes of Logan Stankoven, Jackson Blake, and Zach Benson were able to do this past postseason.
Enter 5’10’ Lars Steiner, a Swiss-born 18-year-old who is coming off of a 30-goal, 55-point campaign in the QMJHL.
The projected second-to-third-round right winger’s best attribute is his work ethic, bar none.
Steiner has a completely bottomless tank of energy and high explosiveness in his stride, allowing him to be a loose puck hound and unrelenting nuisance on the forecheck.
He is fully comfortable taking hits and cross checks from players who have six-plus inches on him and generally comes out with the puck in board battles against them anyway.
Beyond his motor, Steiner possesses an excellent shot. He can pick his corners from distance and has the ability to get pucks through multiple layers of traffic, making his volume shooting habits reasonable.
Perhaps he shoots too much, a la Timo Meier, but that intrinsically keeps goaltenders and defensemen on constant alert, which is never a bad thing.
From a playmaking perspective, Steiner is a bit underrated, though I certainly don’t think he’s a world-beater.
His game is predicated around accessing the inner slot, and this shows up in his attempted plays (ones that can be hit or miss at times), where he certainly does all he can to try and get the puck to a teammate in a high-danger area.
Steiner’s two-way game is mature, his shot is certainly above-average, and his work ethic is nonstop. He reminds me quite a bit of Conor Garland and Yanni Gourde.
