The New Jersey Devils are preparing for the NHL Draft in a much different way this offseason. With no first-round pick, their scouting has been mostly about players who they hope will fall to them in the second and third rounds.
Some of that research might be a little rushed since the Devils just learned they had a third-round pick. Tom Fitzgerald was able to get this third-rounder from the Columbus Blue Jackets for the rights to unrestricted free agent Damon Severson. They might get more picks, with the rights to Yegor Sharangovich, Ryan Graves, Mackenzie Blackwood, and others still on the table.