DRAFT: Fitzgerald and Devils Add Strong Prospects to Franchise

After two days of virtually drafting players from a war room in Newark, Devils General Manager Tom Fitzgerald and his franchise walked away with eight new prospects and a 2021 7th round pick from the 2020 NHL Draft.
Fitzgerald and VP of Amateur Scouting Paul Castron discussed the team's acquisitions following the seventh and final round of the draft.
"Some guys are going to be ready quicker than others and that's always the case in this league," said Castron. "But we drafted some high end players early on and maybe they still need time to develop, and they're going to get that time. We took a couple of kids today, they're going to go to college and we can bank down for a few years and let them develop as well."

The Devils first pick on day two was in the third round at 84th overall. The team selected Nicolas Daws, the top-ranked North American goaltender on the NHL's Central Scouting list.
"We were extremely happy that Nico dropped to us. The number one goalie on North America's Central Scouting list. To add a 6'4 goalie to the pipeline, you do that all day," said Fitzgerald on the Daws with their third round pick at 84th overall. "He answered the bell when he got the chance to be in a starting role."
"[Daws] took charge, took the starting position, won a job on Team Canada. Worked hard to get himself in the best shape possible and ran with it," said Castron on Daws success over the past year. "We're excited to get him. As [Fitzgerald] said he's the top rated goalie in North America, so he's only going to add to our depth."

With their first of two fourth round picks, the Devils selected Jaromir Pytlik at 99th overall.
"He's a guy that's played World Juniors, had a lot of international experience with Czech Republic," said Castron on what the Devils liked about Pytlik. "We had him in a good spot and we're very fortunate to get him where we did."
Fitzgerald and the Devils got the seal of approval for picking Pytlik from a special retired Czech player, Patrik Elias. The former Devils legend coached Pytlik at the World Junior Championships and sent Fitzgerald the thumbs up emoji for the selection.

With their second fourth round pick the Devils picked defenseman Ethan Edward at 120th overall. In the fifth round, the team selected center Artem Shlaine (130th overall). The team's final pick of the night came in at 161st overall in the sixth round when the Devils picked center Ben Baumgartner. New Jersey traded their 7th round, 192nd overall pick to the Arizona Coyotes for a 2021 seventh round pick.

Although the Draft just ended, the Devils will quickly switch gears. The NHL's Free Agency period begins on Friday, October 9th at 12 p.m. ET and Fitzgerald says he's remaining patient ahead of Friday.
"Just being patient. However you can acquire players, whatever they are. We'll evaluate the situation and if that player makes sense for us, and if it's giving up an asset, then you do that. We want to get better. We're not looking to take steps back," said Fitzgerald. "We've got some holes and we've been putting into that and what makes sense for us."