Luke Hughes

The New Jersey Devils still boast a strong farm system that contains a couple of untouchable prospects and some bordering on that status.

Later in the third period, with a Devils power play coming to a close, Holtz received a crisp pass from Wood as he was gaining the offensive zone and sniped one past Husso for a 4-0 Devils lead. In the Devils’ case, Hughes and Nemec seem to be locked in that category, while Gritsyuk and Holtz would have to fetch the Devils a premium if they were to trade them. Alex Chauvancy is a New Jersey Devils writer for The Hockey Writers who has a penchant for advanced stats, prospects, signings and trades. He picked up the puck and then made a quick saucer pass to Michael McLeod, who had an open net for the goal and a 3-0 Devils lead. He has ten points in his last ten games and has eight goals and 27 points in 46 contests for Avangard Omsk. With the Devils sitting in second place in the Metropolitan Division, for the time being, Hughes has the potential to be what Cale Makar was for the Colorado Avalanche when they broke a playoff drought in 2017-18. That’s not to say Luke will be as good as Makar, but he could join the Devils for a playoff run whenever Michigan’s season ends during the spring, as Makar did in 2018 for the Avalanche. The next potential NHLer from Castron’s late-round picks seems to be Gritsyuk, a fifth-round selection in the 2019 draft. Yegor Sharangovich, a fifth-round pick in 2018, has produced at 20-goal paces in each of his two NHL seasons and is on pace for 21 in 2022-23. With Luke Hughes on the way up, the Devils likely envision him and Nemec anchoring their top-four for many years to come once they hit their primes. He only has three goals for Michigan, but he still had 18 points in 20 games before heading to Halifax and Moncton for the 2023 WJC. At the WJC, he had three goals and four points in six games, and his offensive abilities were on full display: