NHL Rumors: New Jersey Willing to Move #2 Draft Pick

The New Jersey Devils were the big winners from the 2022 NHL Draft Lottery. The team moved up to the #2 selection, and now general manager Tom Fitzgerald can get creative. The Devils are looking to be active this offseason and expect to see the team listen to trade offers on the draft pick.

Fitzgerald wouldn't commit either way once the ping pong balls fell into place, but it's obvious all he's trying to do is improve his hockey club and if that means trading away the pick for some instant NHL-ready talent, he's willing to listen. He met with Catherine Bogart of NewJerseyDevils.com and had this to say:

For sure it's exciting, I'm excited for our fan base. Adding another core piece to our group down the road is everything every team wants to continue to do, and this will allow us to do that. So who that player may be, no idea right now, but we're excited that we hit the lottery. My job is to improve this hockey club. Not just in the near future, but for the long term to become a Stanley Cup contending team year after year. So we're dealt all kinds of assets, whether it's a player that's developed in our system, whether it's a free agent that we signed, whether it's a draft pick, whether it's a pick itself. My job is to improve the club as best as I possibly can, using the assets the League has given us.

The Devils enter the offseason with the #2 selection, along with over $25 million in salary cap space. They would love to find a young scoring winger who can play a power forward type of game and they would love to find some goaltending help for Mackenzie Blackwood. With the #2 pick in hand, and a young forward like Pavel Zacha who isn't likely back with the hockey club, Fitzgerald has a couple of assets to consider moving to upgrade his hockey club. The Devils trade rumors are starting to heat up!