2017 NHL Draft: Devils win lottery, will have No. 1 pick

The New Jersey Devils have won the 2017 NHL Draft lottery, giving them the top pick in the draft. 

Going into the 2017 NHL Draft lottery, nobody expected the New Jersey Devils to win. Everyone thought it would be the Colorado Avalanche or Vegas Golden Knights. However, being the underdog is something New Jersey isn’t unfamiliar with. Throughout their history, they’ve triumphed against all odds. New Jersey has done it again by winning the 2017 draft lottery.

With the first pick, the Devils will likely select Nolan Patrick. He is a potential franchise center, something they’ve long needed. They haven’t really had more than one dynamic forward ever since their days of Zach Parise and Ilya Kovalchuk.

Nolan, along with fellow first overall pick Taylor Hall, should give New Jersey a strong base for their future. Adam Henrique no longer has to be a No. 1 center, something he’s never been and never will be.

Nolan should excite their fan base. He might not be of the same caliber as recent top picks Connor McDavid or Auston Matthews, but to be fair, the NHL has been spoiled a bit by having both in consecutive drafts.

Nolan had a bit of a rough year in 2016-17, putting up just 46 points in 33 games. However, he battled through numerous injuries and still finished at well over a point per game, which is pretty darn impressive. In 2015-16, Nolan got 102 points, including 41 goals, in 72 games. He has spent his junior career with the Brandon Wheat Kings.

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With Canada’s under-18 team, Nolan put up five points in four games. His size is impressive, at 6-foot-3 and 198 pounds. That’s what people love to see in a franchise center. Nolan can be very deadly in the face-off circle, though he’ll have to improve his skills in the NHL. In juniors, he gets away with a lot because he’s bigger than a lot of his peers. That won’t be the case in the NHL.