The 2022 NHL Draft has come and gone, and the Devils got themselves a handful of rookies – including a recent Olympic medalist – and traded two picks to Washington for goaltender Vitek Vanecek and a second-round selection.
Here’s a look at the Devils’ draft picks:
Round 1 (No. 2 overall): D Simon Nemec, HK Nitra (Slovakia Extraliga)
Nemec, 18, helped Slovakia win a Bronze medal in the 2022 Olympic Games this past February, tallying one assist in seven games as one of only three teens on Team Slovakia, and led all Slovak defensemen with six points in eight games at the 2022 IIHF World Championship.
In his league year, Nemec had one goal and 25 assists in 39 games for Nitra in the regular season, then tallied five goals and 12 assists in 19 postseason games as Nitra reached the league championship finals.
Round 2 (No. 46 overall): D Seamus Casey, USHL/National Team Development Program
With the pick acquired along with Vanecek, the Devils grabbed Michigan commit Casey, a diminutive (5-foot-10, 172 pounds) 18-year-old Miami native.
Casey has spent the last two seasons in the Development Program, and tallied three goals and three assists in seven games to helping Team USA win silver at the 2022 World U18 Championships.
In league play, Casey had 10 goals and 23 assists in 48 games between the USHL and other development games, and he will honor his Michigan commitment next fall.
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Round 4 (No. 102 overall): G Tyler Brennan, Prince George (WHL)
After adding Vanecek in a trade, the Devils further addressed their troublesome situation in net by snagging Brennan, the first North American goalie selected in 2022. The 18-year-old from Winnipeg was 11-25-2 with a 3.58 GAA and .899 save percentage last season, and although he improved to a 1.88 GAA and .954 save percentage in the playoffs, he was 0-3-0 as Prince George was swept in the first round.
Round 4 (No. 110 overall): D Daniil Orlov, Sakhalinskie Akuly (MHL, Russia)
With the pick acquired last April from the Islander, the Devils went defense again with Orlov, who had nine goals and 21 assists for his Russian juniors team last season.
Round 4 (No. 126 overall): D Charles Leddy, USHL/National Team Development Program
Leddy, a Boston College commit from Fairfield, Connecticut, has spent the last two seasons with the USA National Junior teams. In 71 games last year between the USHL and other development games, he recorded 24 assists, 114 penalty minutes, and a plus-52 collective rating. He also played six games in the World Junior Championships, with two assists, two PIM, and a plus-seven rating.
Round 5 (No. 141 overall): RW Petr Hauser, HC Sparta Praha (Czech Republic Juniors)
The first forward chosen by the Devils had 25 goals and 34 assists in 41 games for Sparta, racking up a plus-41 rating as well. He was prepared to play for the Czech team in the World Junior Championships before that was sacked, and was selected 62nd overall by Saginaw of the Ontario Hockey League in the 2022 CHL Import Draft.
Round 6 (No. 166 overall): LW Josh Filmon, Swift Current (WHL)
The 6-foot-2, 160-pound winger had 23 goals and 22 assists in 67 games in the WHL this past season, and was ranked by TSN as the 75th-best prospect in the draft.
Round 7 (No. 198 overall): D Artem Barabosha, Krasnaya Armiya Moskva (MHL, Russia)
Barbosa had four goals and seven assists in 45 games in Russian juniors last season, amassing a plus-18 rating, and he had one goal and one assist in seven games with CSKA Moskva U18 as well. Per The Hockey Writers’ draft profile, Barabosha “plays a strong physical game as a stay-at-home defenseman whose style aligns with many successful NHL blueliners during previous eras of the league’s history and in the modern era.”
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