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Centers, Centers, and More Centers: The New Jersey Devils Restocked the Forward Pipeline in the 2025 NHL Draft

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2025 NHL Draft
Ben Kevan seems seriously thrilled to be a New Jersey Devil. | Photo by Adam Pantozzi/NHLI via Getty Images

With seven picks in the NHL Draft, the Devils used five on forwards as they strongly targeted their needs.

As is tradition here at All About the Jersey, it is time to recap what the New Jersey Devils did in the NHL Draft. While I wrote short posts about each of the selections yesterday, the team cannot be evaluated on a single move. The team, unfortunately, did not have a first round selection, and were a bit at the mercy of what other teams left them at 50th overall. But while other teams seemed to put a premium on size in the 2025 NHL Draft, the Devils did not. You may be wondering how that is, considering the team’s repeatedly expressed desires to become “tougher to play against,” but the Devils’ scouting department did not go in that direction.

This is in strong contrast to last year’s Draft, when John wrote,

Throughout the NHL Network broadcast of the second day of the draft – and parts of the ESPN broadcast of the first round – was the theme of size. You cannot teach size. Big is back…The New Jersey Devils were very much a part of selecting large players. Their entire draft class stands at an official height of at least 74 inches. It would have been 75 if Matyas Melovsky, their final pick of the day, was an inch taller instead of a mere 6’2.”

In complete contrast to the 2024 NHL Draft, the largest players the New Jersey Devils selected yesterday, aside from the 6’8” goaltender Tristen Bennett, were Mason Moe and Gustav Hillström, who are both listed at 6’2”, though Moe has about 16 pounds on Hillström. However, I will also note that the Devils did not pick any small players, with their shortest selection being Conrad Fondrk, who is either 5’11” or 6’0”, depending on who you ask. Elite Prospects has him listed at 6’0” and 203 pounds. But, to their credit, Tom Fitzgerald’s crew did not fall into the copycat thinking like so many teams this year, who prioritized size over everything. With that said, these were the selections:

Being Patient

While I was not thrilled with the Devils’ selection of Conrad Fondrk, he is a New Jersey Devil, and I will root for him henceforth. There have been some things I have seen about him that have made me soften on the selection. First, I originally saw him listed at 192 pounds, and now see him at 203. While those 11 pounds might not seem like much, it is just one less thing that he needs to worry about at the next level — being NHL size before even hitting the rink at Boston University is a plus.

Additionally, Devils Chief Scout Mark Dennehy provided context to the pool of players they have, saying, “Because they’ve gone through Covid and had their experience stunted by upwards of 18 months, I think some of these guys will probably need a little bit more, and that’s okay.” This is true: this Draft class was in middle school when the pandemic struck. I am not sure which Draft class will ultimately be the most affected by Covid, but being 12 or 13 years old when that happened had to be extremely difficult for them. That is a turning point age, and they had to spend much of it socially isolated.

As second to sixth round picks, we will not be able to really dig into this Draft, most likely, until a couple years from now. Unless some guys skyrocket or plummet over the next season, these are the kinds of picks you make with the expectation that they will take two to five years to make an impact at the NHL level, if they ever do. This is not a slight on them — the odds are not in most prospects’ favors after the first round.

More Thoughts on Each Pick

Let’s run down each pick:

Conrad Fondrk: Your mileage may vary depending on who you ask about his two-way game, but the Devils hope they have a big-time shooter on their hands. Mark Dennehy praised Fondrk’s shot, including a one-timer he says can be fired well off of even poor passes. While I am trying to be soft on this pick — I am at least happy about his already-filled frame and his shot — I do not think I could give the selection higher than a C given the players who were still on the board at that time. To me, production profiles matter a lot, and he had a third or fourth round production profile: and his injury came in March, so it’s not like his season stats were hampered by his broken leg. He might have the skills to outplay that, though, and going to Boston University will help a lot. Jay Pandolfo seems like a great coach.

Ben Kevan: I loved this pick when it was made, and that has not changed. Kevan’s enthusiasm for joining the Devils is apparent, and he has the tools and hockey IQ to be an impact player in the NHL. He is a shoot-first winger who gets very involved in transition, while he can work on bulking up a bit and forechecking a little harder. I said in my reaction post that I would call Kevan an A-grade pick, and I stand by that here.

Mason Moe: In Mason Moe, the Devils have said they hope to be adding a two-way power forward. I am not sure I agree with calling him a power forward, as he is not much of a shooter and does not get a lot of netfront opportunities. I think that Moe is not going to be as high-end of a player as either of Fondrk or Kevan at full potential, but he may have a higher floor because of his strong physical game and defensive impact. I liked Moe from the time James wrote about him, so I would give the Devils a solid B+ for selecting him at 90.

Trenten Bennett: When NHL teams start picking goaltenders, they can grab just about anyone. Goaltenders are difficult to evaluate for a reason. You will have goalies with .880 save percentages in juniors being picked around the same time as goalies with .900 save percentages in overseas professional leagues. So if the team had Bennett in mind, I understand grabbing him before it got to be too late. But, coming from the CCHL, having played very few major juniors games, I can only give the Devils a B-/B for this one. I have high hopes for Bennett, though.

Gustav Hillström: I love the Hillström pick. He improved a lot in his second year in the J20 Nationell, and I expect him to play well in the SHL in 2025-26 after making 18 appearances there this season. With Hillström being a right-handed center and probably the tallest player taken by the Devils in the Draft, I have no problem giving the Devils an A+ for picking Hillström where they did. Hillström is also noted to be great in the dot as well as a strong possession player. James also said on Hillström in the comments to the Day Two Open Post:

Probably my favorite selection for value vs. where he was drafted. Hillstrom is a good defensive two-way centerman, the kind of guy who kills penalties and helps your team win and gets little credit for it. I think there’s more offense in his game given his High IQ and once he grows into his frame a bit more he has a chance to unlock it. I’m not saying he’s going to be a big offensive producer at the top level or anything, but I think he can be a capable producer if everything clicks to go along with his defensive talents.

David Rozsíval: As noted by the team, David is the nephew of Michal Rozsíval, the former New York Ranger and two-time Stanley Cup champion with the Chicago Blackhawks. Michal, of course, was a long-time defenseman in the NHL, who may have reached 1,000 games if not for a sucker punch from Nick Ritchie (who is finally out of the league, good riddance) in 2017. Now, David hopes to have a career as long and fruitful as his uncle, and he had a great season in Czech juniors this season, with 37 points in 30 regular season games. I hope he makes the big club for his team in 2025-26, but dominating juniors with top minutes would not be the worst thing for him. In Rozsíval, the Devils have a strong skating possession winger who can play on his off-hand, and I am happy they got someone with an NHL bloodline that late in the Draft.

Sigge Holmgren: Per the team’s release yesterday, they believe Sigge Holmgren would have been an early or mid-round pick as an overager if he went undrafted this year. Since he last played, mostly, in the J18 Region and Nationell for Brynäs IF, I assume that he will play through the J20 league before getting a chance to line up with Gustav Hillström in the SHL. Regardless, the Devils like how well Holmgren handles the puck, in addition to his size-mobility combination. They write on his defensive ability,

Defensively, Holmgren plays a structured game. He keeps good gaps, anticipates well, and doesn’t overcommit. While he’ll need to continue adding strength and refining his play without the puck, the foundation is solid. He already shows strong positioning and an understanding of how to close space without taking unnecessary risks—traits that often take young defensemen years to develop.

Of course, this was based on how Holmgren played when he was 16 and 17 years old. Having been out for the entire 2024-25 season, Holmgren has missed a lot of hockey in his lifetime, but has still apparently looked good almost every time he has been on the ice. Again, I get selecting Holmgren, but I can only give the choice a B- in terms of value because I imagine he would have been there in the seventh round, and it is usually pretty easy to acquire those picks. I understand why they did what they did, though, and it would be a great credit to this scouting department if they turned out to hit a home run here.

Final Thoughts

In all, I think the 2025 New Jersey Devils Draft Class was solid. It was not spectacular, since I think the Devils failed to pick the best player available on a couple occasions, but it was still solid. Even their picks that looked like a bit of a reach were not egregiously so, as the team tried to balance picking the best players with filling their needs. But, like I said last week: need is rather ephemeral when it comes to picking players who won’t be in Newark in October. These players will take years to develop, by which point the Devils might no longer have a need for a bunch of centers.

But I do appreciate the thought process. Per the Devils’ In the System page on Elite Prospects, Mason Moe (46 points in 24-25) is now the second-highest scoring center prospect in the Devils’ system behind Matyas Melovsky (83 points in 24-25). Before yesterday, Matyas Melovsky (21) and Samu Salminen (22) were the only centers in the Devils’ prospect pool under the age of 25, as a result of Artem Shlaine spurning the Devils after his college career to sign with the Texas Stars, after which he will presumably sign with Dallas this summer.

So, yes, there was a strong need for centers. And if you look through the prospects that the Devils have right now, you should see why they did not trade any of these picks away. The Devils did not have a lot left in their pipeline after the last few seasons, and it has been time to restock the cupboard for awhile. While some may argue that the best teams trade their draft picks for help, this is a double-edged sword, and I do not buy into bandwagoner thinking. Teams who draft well will always be competitive, and the Devils seem to have devoted a lot of manpower to these decisions.

Ultimately, the hope is that at least a couple of these players make the big stage. I have a lot of hopes for Kevan and Hillström, and I will be rooting for everyone to make improvements in their first year after being drafted. The Devils did well to avoid the copycat approach to draft for size, size, and size this year, so that gives me reason to think that they really believe in the prospects they have chosen. With Development Camp beginning today, I do not imagine any of their draftees will be there, but I hope to see them on the ice for the Devils in the Prospect Challenge in September.

Thanks and Looking Ahead

I would like to thank James and Jackson for helping out with the prospect profiles this year. it is never easy to cover a year where the team does not have a first round pick, so their dedication is greatly appreciated. As always, we are also grateful to the many sources of prospect information around hockey’s digital world, including:

  • Elite Prospects
  • The Hockey Writers
  • Dobber Prospects
  • Mitchell Brown and Lassi Alanen
  • Bryon Bader at Hockey Prospecting
  • Prospect Shifts on YouTube
  • HSD Prospects on YouTube
  • And all other writers who have profiled draft prospects over the years

And, of course, thanks to all of you readers who have followed along this Draft season. All the coverage at All About the Jersey is for the People Who Matter, and we are happy to continue this work into the future. And, speaking of future — free agency is in a couple days. Expect a final previewing post for free agency tomorrow, and we will be following along intently here on Tuesday.

And of course, be ready for the Top 25 Under 25. It is lurking around the corner.

Your Thoughts

On the whole, what did you think of the Devils at the 2025 NHL Draft? Do you think they did a good job? Do you see any of the picks yesterday factoring into a Stanley Cup team down the line? What do you hope to see from these prospects over the next year? Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and thanks for reading.

Have a great Sunday. It is beautiful outside in New Jersey.