Devils Replenished Prospect Depth at 2025 NHL Draft

The New Jersey Devils added depth to a prospect pool that was lacking it prior to the 2025 NHL Draft.

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It's been two weeks since the NHL Draft took place, but we've yet to review the New Jersey Devils' draft picks. They did not have a first-round pick this year, but did still make seven selections from Rounds 2-7, including two picks in the second round.

Conrad Fondrk and Ben Kevan led the way, but there are some other intriguing prospects the Devils came away with over the two days in Los Angeles.

Fondrk & Kevan Add Some Skill to Devils' System

As we saw in some of the draft content the Devils posted to their social media accounts, the organization thought quite highly of Fondrk, with Chief Scout Mark Dennehy stating they believed Fondrk was a first-round talent.

That's not an outlandish thing to say, as it's possible Fondrk could have been a late first-round pick had he not missed significant time with a broken fibula this past season. He didn't light the scoresheet on fire, but the tools are there for him to become an NHLer.

Per Elite Prospects' Draft Guide:

Fondrk is a skilled forward with an arsenal of passing skills, and plenty of moves. Equally skilled as a shooter, he's a precise one-time shooter, he’s a scoring threat from the top of the circle and just inside the slot, and consistently finds openings between defenders for chances. He also hooks pucks through opponents for chances, deceives before passing, and occasionally dangles through traffic.

Fondrk was one of the younger players in this year's draft, having turned 18 in early June. The Devils' biggest weakness in their pipeline is at center, so it's not an accident they selected Fondrk with their first pick.

He'll be off to Boston University for the 2025-26 season, one of the best development programs in the NCAA. I wouldn't call Fondrk a high-upside prospect, but he could morph into a reliable middle-six forward if he hits his ceiling.

Meanwhile, Kevan adds something to the Devils' system they don't have much of outside of Lenni Hämeenaho and Arseniy Gritsyuk: a winger with some skill. Kevan doesn't have the upside of Hämeenaho and Gritsyuk (I don't think), but it's easy to see why the Devils selected him.

Kevan was one of the better skaters in the 2025 draft, and posted some impressive microstats data in Elite Prospects' tracked work for this past season.