DRAFT: Devils Focus Now Turns to 2020 Draft

With Tuesday's detailed announcement that the NHL is moving forward with its return to play plans, the Draft is slowly coming (back) into focus.
The Draft lottery will be held on June 26.
Devils fans need not be reminded how a lottery can change a team's perspective. New Jersey has won it twice, allowing the Devils to select Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes.

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More likely, the Devils will pick somewhere between sixth, the current position by points percentage, through ninth, if teams ahead of them by points percentage win one or more of the top three selections in the lottery.
In the sixth-to-ninth bracket there is a good chance that the Devils could pick another member of the Ottawa 67's. That's because center Marco Rossi and winger Jack Quinn both fall roughly within that range.
Rossi could go higher than six and will be off the board by nine. He recently was named the Ontario Hockey League's most outstanding player after winning its scoring title with 120 (39G, 81A) points in just 53 games. Rossi is just as good on the other side of the puck. That two-way ability and his late-birthday status (born 2001) all mean that Rossi is closer to turning pro than all but a few players in the Draft.
Quinn is a bubble top-10 prospect and could be a consideration if the lottery bumps the Devils down from sixth. A high-scoring winger, Quinn's skating needs work but he already scores pro-style goals. Another late-2001 birth, Quinn potted 52 goals when the season was paused (and later cancelled), mostly on a line with Devils prospect Mitchell Hoelscher in the middle.
Forward Graeme Clarke and defensemen Kevin Bahl and Nikita Okhotyuk were the other three New Jersey prospects on the 67's, a team that spent virtually all season at the top of the Canadian major junior rankings.
At the back end, the top two defensemen in the draft are Jamie Drysdale (Erie Otters) and Jake Sanderson (USNTDP). Drysdale, who helped Canada win gold at the World Juniors, is considered a nose ahead of Sanderson, who is one of the fastest risers in the entire class and is the son of retired NHLer Geoff Sanderson.
Drysdale will likely be available at six but will be gone by nine, while Sanderson could fall outside the top 10.
There are two other intriguing names that should be available when the Devils pick: Russian goaltender Yaroslav Askarov (SKA) and forward Cole Perfetti (Saginaw Spirit).
Askarov has a contradictory vibe surrounding him. No one seems to argue that he's one of the best goaltending prospects in years, perhaps a decade or more. And yet he's fallen considerably because he's been shaky at times this season, including struggling at the World Juniors.
Perfetti has unworldly hockey sense. He can play the wing and center and when he's on, he reminds some scouts of Mitch Marner at a similar age.
If any of the bottom eight "play-in" teams win any of the three lottery spots, it will trigger a second phase to determine the final draft order.
Such a development is especially important for the Devils because of the status of the Arizona Coyotes' and Vancouver Canucks' first round selections that New Jersey owns through the Taylor Hall and Blake Coleman trades.
Various scenarios remain possible, including the Devils retaining the Coyotes pick somewhere between eighth and 13th, where Askarov, Quinn, Perfetti and Sanderson remain distinct possibilities. Finn Anton Lundell also falls roughly in that range.
For the Devils to be able to use the Canucks pick for this year's Draft, it can be no higher than 17th overall and could be lower if Vancouver wins further playoff rounds. Otherwise, that selection moves to the Canucks first-round pick in 2021 (unprotected).
If Arizona and Vancouver win their play-in rounds and win at least another round in the conventional 16-team format, the Devils will get both selections later in the opening round.
If any of those two scenarios develop and the Devils gain multiple first-round picks, players such as forwards Seth Jarvis (Portland Winterhawks), Dawson Mercer (Chicoutimi Sags) and Connor Zary (Kamloops Blazers) all project somewhere in the mid-teens until the end of the first round.
After Drysdale and Sanderson, other defensemen who should get their names called in the opening round include Kaiden Guhle (Prince Albert Raiders), Braden Schneider (Brandon Wheat Kings) and Jeremie Poirier (Saint John Sea Dogs).