Keep the First Rounder: After Years of Tom Fitzgerald’s Management, the Devils Need to Make More Picks, Not Fewer

The Future of Homegrown Devils Scorers is Already Bleak

The New Jersey Devils have a barren prospect pool. Byron Bader of Hockey Prospecting recently published his 32-team pool rankings, with the Devils dropping from 18th in July 2025 to 31st in May 2026. Hockey Prospecting’s NHLe system uses prospect production in various leagues and projects a percentage chance that those players turn into full-time NHLers (over 200 games played) or star producers (58 points per 82 games for forwards and 37 points per 82 for defensemen). Out of the *entire* Devils system, only Lenni Hameenaho and Seamus Casey have a “NHLer Probability” over 50%. Only Casey has a “Star Probability” over 10%. You may notice below that I had to cross out a prospect. That would be Herman Traff, who would have been the team’s fourth-best skater prospect under Bader’s prediction model if he were not traded by Tom Fitzgerald for a trade deadline rental.

It’s Been A Long Time Since the Devils Drafted an Impact Forward

If you think the Devils need to move this pick, ask yourself, do you want to go seven years the Devils without picking an NHL-bound forward in the first round? Dawson Mercer, picked 18th in 2020, was the last. In all of Tom Fitzgerald’s tenure as a General Manager of the New Jersey Devils, he has only drafted one true NHL forward. Alex Holtz looks like a bust. Chase Stillman is a bust. We can be hopeful about Lenni Hameenaho, but he’s not a certain factor yet. So, if you were looking for the last seven successful forward picks by the Devils, this would be that list:

• Dawson Mercer (18th, 2020) — Fitzgerald
• Arseny Gritsyuk (129th, 2019) — Shero
• Jack Hughes (1st, 2019) — Shero
• Yegor Sharangovich (141st, 2018) — Shero
• Fabian Zetterlund (63rd, 2017) — Shero
• Jesper Boqvist (36th, 2017) — Shero
• Nico Hischier (1st, 2017) — Shero It is pretty much unforgivable for a General Manager to have such a poor track record in the Draft for a team that only made the playoffs in two seasons under his tenure. Rather than continuing Fitzgerald’s poor roster building strategies of chasing the shortcut to victory, the Devils need to look for a better, different process. With Sunny Mehta at the helm — a guy who I perceive as a likely *good drafter* — the Devils should definitely make this pick, keeping in mind that **this might be the highest they make a selection over the next five or ten years**. Keeping this pick doesn’t mean that they won’t be able to package picks and prospects in the future for established high-level talent. But the Devils cannot chase the shiny object just yet: they need to build a team that will still be good in several years, and they cannot bet that just keeping a core of Hischier, Hughes, and Bratt with whatever smattering of free agents and veteran trade acquisitions is going to do it year in and year out. Sunny Mehta needs to find someone who will complement them for years and years, and he might not get a better chance to find one in the NHL Draft than right here and now. It’s not like true contending teams have been unable to move late firsts for high-impact players at trade deadlines. And, hey, you never know. Benjamin Kindel and Porter Martone looked pretty good this season for the Pennsylvanian teams, and neither were top-five picks in 2025.

Your Thoughts

What do you think about trading the 12th overall pick? Who would you be willing to trade it for? Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and thanks for reading.