The New Jersey Devils are thin on defense at the NHL level right now. They need to start adding some impact defenseman to their organization so they can maximize the years of Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier. The consensus top defenseman in this draft is Jamie Drysdale. He might get taken in the top five, and the Devils might take a forward with their own pick, but if they want to go defense with the Arizona pick, Jake Sanderson might be the play.
Jake Sanderson isn’t one of those offensive defensemen that usually go in the 1st round of the draft, but he is still a player who might provide tremendous value to an NHL team someday.