Cool, he's all yours. Congrats.

To say that GMs have to call their shot...why have there been so few moves in the top 10 in the last 20 years?

Okay but that's my whole point. The Devils /do not care enough/ about who you pick to take back a bad player/contract lmao. They'll happily take who you won't and improve their team in other ways.

I think it's a fair point. But you have to keep in mind that most seasons you don't have a team who is planning to make a deep playoff push the next season pickup at number 2. Normally you have teams that planning to be bad for 3-5 years as the Habs are.

The NJD current scouting staff will probably never get another chance to pick top 2 as this team will be good for the next 10 years provided they manage their young stars well. This is going to be their swan song... You think they want to leave it to chance?

The Devils have cap room. They are not in a position where they cannot accept an overpaid winger who can contribute. Unless you are one of the ones who thinks none of those wingers has anything to offer? The Devils getting their choice pick that they feel fits into their core for the next 10 years is totally worth it. It's pretty arrogant to say that any player in the top 5 will do. It's simply not the case.

I don't think the Devils are planning a "deep" run. This isn't TB from a few years ago drafting early or NYR after they got Laf. The Devils should be improving, but around a deep core. If they go Hughes, Hischier, Wright down the middle, it'll be about finding the right fit wings around them. Don't need to overthink it.

Rofl click bait, Anderson's.not worth a first yet alone.moving from.7th to 15th, if Ott moves 7th it is for a player who has score more than 20g more than once in his career

I don't think it's arrogant when it's not one weakness that can cure the team. The Devils have no great RHD in the system, they could use a LW with size, but great centers aren't a weakness when they have wingers coming up.

In terms of Elite Talent to win a cup you generally need 1 Center, 1 Winger, 1 Defenseman, 1 Goalie

Then you need another great Center (not Elite necessarily) and some good peripheral players who can be acquired through trade.

You have your Elite Center in Hughes
You could have your Elite winger in Slafkovsky
You can argue that have an Elite defenseman in Hamilton
Blackwood may be Elite... But if not you can always trade for an Elite Goalie. It happens every 2 years.

The Devils are gonna be set for a long time if they put the right structure in place around Hughes/Hischier. You may think it doesn't matter but look at the Oilers.

Okay man.

TBH I think the Habs should stop trying to play games with the rest of the league and start focusing on our team. Take Wright and try to move up in the top 10 if possible but stop playing games, it did not work out so well when MB tried it, why do we expect it to work any differently for KH?

You are just trying to talk yourself into the Devils giving you something when you want Wright anyway. Slaf is not a lock to be elite. He could be, but not worth trading up. Cooley could be a top end RW too.

Being able to roll out three strong lines is winning hockey ... creates great match up opportunities for the bench to play with ... Wright being strong on both ends of the ice takes pressure off Hischier, as they can share matching up against #1 opposing center & complements / frees up Hughes, to be Hughes. I'd have zero issue with Wright in NJ.

Yea we would have to add CGY 1st or MTL 2nd to make it work I think

Lol I wouldn’t read anything into even if that were true. They knew Wright a lot better heading into the year. Even today, Hughes mentioned that he has been tracking Wright for years.