We just learned that Kent Hughes really hurt the New Jersey Devils

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Jeff Drouin
July 9, 2022 (4:12 PM)

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The 2022 NHL Draft is now officially behind us and we finally got the answer we've been waiting for.

Kent Hughes and the Montreal Canadiens drafted young Juraj Slafkovsky with the first overall pick.

Prior to the draft, there were many rumors that the New Jersey Devils wanted Slafkovsky badly, not Shane Wright or Logan Cooley, because of their already loaded center line. (with Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier, among others)

Well, this information has just been confirmed by none other than the very famous Pierre LeBrun:

Pierre LeBrun on TSN1050: "A Devils source told me last night that their guy was really Slafkovsky and once the Canadiens took him, New Jersey really tried to trade the pick, but obviously in that very short amount of time, they didn't have time to do that, so they took their next guy on their roster.

- NHL Watcher

We also just learned that Kent Hughes and the Devils' GM did have discussions to flip the #1 and #2 picks, via trade, but they were unable to find common ground.

So you can guess that with the selection of Slafkovsky, the Habs GM really hurt the Devils. They really wanted him.

If Montreal drafted Shane Wright (and the Devils thought they would), New Jersey executives would have immediately jumped at the opportunity to draft the young Slovak, Juraj Slafkovsky.

That's probably why the trade didn't happen (reversing the #1 and #2 picks). The Devils didn't want to pay, because they really believed that Kent Hughes would select Shane Wright (and let them have Juraj).

That would have been a big blow anyway! In the end, are you satisfied with the outcome?