VANCOUVER, British Columbia — There was no misdirection this time.
Instead, Devils general manager Ray Shero did what most thought he was going to do and took American center Jack Hughes with the No. 1-overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft on Friday night. The most recent time Shero had the top pick was just three years ago, when he surprised quite a few people by taking Nico Hischier.
This time, there had been some speculation that maybe Finnish winger Kaapo Kakko had closed the gap on Hughes as the consensus top pick. But despite never tipping his hand, Shero went with the stock pick — and Hughes himself was never fazed.