3 teams talking possible blockbuster trade ahead of the draft
It's been reported by Patrick Lortie on Twitter that there may be a large scale trade involving three teams ahead of this years draft. The New Jersey Devils are currently scheduled to pick 2nd in the 2022 Entry Draft, and the Canadiens are picking 1st and 26th, while Columbus picks 6th and 12. There's been talk of teams wanting to swap picks, but not confirmed if these are the picks that will move.
The 2022 draft class, has some really great prospects, including Shane Wright, Juraj Slafkovsky, and Simon Nemec.
There are a lot of sleepers involved, but it would be interesting to see where New Jersey lands, given like all the other teams involved, are currently rebuilding. With Jack Hughes, Damon Severson, and Jesper Bratt they could afford to move lower to help fortify their center depth and pick Brad Lambert if Shane Wright doesn't fall in the draft.
Columbus, will be in year two of the quick re-tool, thanks to Jarmo who had an excellent draft in 2021, landing another Center, like Logan Cooley or Brad Lambert will help when guys like Jack Roslovic move on and fortifying the weak blueline with Simon Nemec or Juraj Slafkovsky would be a smart move after the excellent draft last year, to keep the prospect pipeline full of talent.
Montreal is currently under the Kent Hughes regime and is looking to undo the errors of Marc Bergevin.
The Habs would absolutely benefit from picking Slafkovsky or Wright, given they're the 1st pick, so would moving their picks make much sense given Hughes would like to move the rebuild along quickly? I don't see it happening, but Columbus' GM fleeced Chicago and got Cole Sillinger out of the deal last year. This draft will be a great watch to see who of these three, will move into contention quicker than the rest.
| POLL | ||
Which team will end up picking 1st Overall? | ||
| Montreal Canadiens | 186 | 70.2 % |
| New Jersey Devils | 26 | 9.8 % |
| Columbus Blue Jackets | 22 | 8.3 % |
| Other | 31 | 11.7 % |
| List of polls | ||
