New Jersey Devils: Devils win the Draft lottery again, here are three initial thoughts

An expedited rebuild.

Prior to winning the lottery, the Devils might have just been a few injuries away from at least contending for a playoff spot if not making the playoffs this year. However, the cards aligned as the season progressed and the Devils made the decision to acquire draft picks for aging assets.

All the tides began pointing to a rebuild, even if it meant keeping Hall around. Things go dark, it felt to me like they had taken more steps back this year then step their playoff run put them forward. Either way, whatever the plan is, this draft is important.

Also, I would like to add that perhaps no general manager in the NHL is luckier than Devils GM Ray Shero. Not only did he execute perhaps the most lopsided to his favor one for one trade of all time to get Hall, he will now also have another first overall pick. He also just got tagged with an extension so he has job security that we all love.

Either way, the Devils have nine picks other than the one first overall. Now, it could be argued they only need about half of them to still build a great team. The first overall pick is likely to be a player who can come in right away or at least in the near future. It is rare other picks in the NHL Draft provide that.

So, that makes the other nine picks the Devils have easier to give up should they choose to. Could they package them together to move up again in the draft and get even more win-now talent? Could they package the rest of the picks together to make a trade and get a player from another team?

I’ve already brushed into this, but that was well before the hockey gods shined down on the Devils. The Devils now have the current MVP and the greatest asset in hockey, the top pick in the draft.

Ray Shero has the choice to either continue to rebuild, take his assets and run, or he can use this draft to expedite the process and get more talent that could help.

Either way, this needs to be the offseason of his life. He has so many choices as to what to do now because he has the only pick that is a sure thing.

The possibilities for the rest of the 2019 Draft are now endless, the Devils are already on the clock, after all.