VANCOUVER, British Columbia — After months of speculation, the Devils went stock. And they likely couldn’t be happier.
General manager Ray Shero chose 18-year-old American center Jack Hughes with the No. 1-overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft here on Friday night, selecting the player that had been considered the best in this draft class for years. The pick allowed the Rangers the opportunity to take big-bodied Finnish winger Kaapo Kakko at No. 2 overall, as the two players will be indelibly linked across the Hudson River for years to come.
Hughes is now hoping to become the first player to go straight from the U.S. Development Program to the NHL. That certainly was the plan from the Devils’ perspective, even before they declared if it would be Hughes are Kakko as the top choice.
“Both players should be able to step in and play,” Shero said on Thursday. “But speaking for us, he will need to make the hockey team and earn his spot. That’s a given. I’m expecting the player we draft to play next season, but there are no guarantees and no promises.”
Hughes isn’t the biggest player, standing 5-foot-11 and weighing about 170 pounds. But he models his game after Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane, who is about the same size and has carved out one of the best careers in league history. The two became friendly over the past few years, and even more so when they were teammates at the World Championships in Slovakia in May.
This was Shero’s second No. 1-overall pick in the past three years, as he took Swiss center Nico Hischier with the top choice in 2017. The club missed the playoffs this past season, the sixth time they haven’t qualified in the past seven years since losing in the 2012 Stanley Cup finals.
Full List of Devils 2019 NHL Draft Picks
Total picks: 10
Round 1, No. 1 overall
JACK HUGHES, C, USNTDP (USHL)
5-10, 170, 18
Skinny: A dynamic, offensively gifted left-handed center from Orlando who has been described as a “generational” talent. He’s considered a ‘game changing’ type of player who has an elite hockey IQ and endless potential to be a franchise player. Known for having a tremendous, quick first step with explosiveness in his skating. What sets him apart from the rest of the fast skaters this 2019 Draft will have to offer is his ability to control his play at the speedy, consistent pace he maintains on the ice. Recorded three assists for team USA at this year’s World Championship while playing amongst NHL stars like Patrick Kane, James van Riemsdyk and Jack Eichel.
— Mollie Walker
Round 2, No. 34 overall
Round 2, No. 55 overall (via NSH)
Round 2, No. 62 overall (via BOS)
Round 3, No. 70 overall (via ANA)
Round 3, No. 80 overall (via DAL)
Round 4, No. 96 overall
Round 5, No. 127 overall
Round 6, No. 158 overall
Round 7, No. 189 overall