Devils' Hot Weekend: Drafting Jack Hughes and Trading for PK Subban

These are the sorts of moves Lou Lamoriello would make back in the New Jersey Devils' glory days.

Now, it's Freddy the Fog's kid pulling the team's strings and setting it up to get the same sorta results.

In fact, Ray Shero's gotta be rather chuffed with himself after no-braining C Jack Hughes into the fold after New Jersey won the NHL Draft lottery and then damn near shoplifting PK Subban outta Nashville.

 

It's lookin' like it.

Assuming these additions meld well -- and do know Hughes will be on the roster from Day 1 -- Shero may have done enough to convince previous steal Taylor Hall to re-up with the club.

The Devils loaded up the Welcome Wagon for Hughes, including former first rounders Nico Hischier and Hall, who led off the congrats compilation:

 

It's no surprise Hughes is generating this sorta reception. He's been targeted as a special force since he was 16.

To date, the kid born in Orlando, raised in Mississauga, and intent on becoming the first player in the USA Hockey Development Program to make that jump straight to the NHL.

 

Meanwhile, the larger-than-life Subban will introduce himself to the fans in New Jersey, thank you very much:

There were rumors -- subtle and not publicly substantiated -- that dude was too large for the locker rooms in Montréal and Nashville, but at this point, the Devils could give a damn.

He's a positive-PR magnet:

 

Predators Prez of Hockey Ops and GM David Poile is nobody's fool, but he's got a salary cap to juggle.

After their Stanley Cup Final appearance two seasons ago, winning the Presidents Trophy one season ago, and then getting dumped by Dallas in the first round this past season, Poile figured it was time to change direction in the process.

He's looking for Matt Duchene in free agency, so Subban's cap hit was more important to him than Subban's ice time. Ergo, a deal with the Devils for a handful of magic beans.

 

Subban may not have lived up to his own expectations -- much less anyone else's -- this past season, but Shero saw enough to believe dude's still got it.

 

He was the headliner in a trio of veteran trades on the draft's second day.

The others:

• Toronto tossed Patrick Marleau to Carolina for the purpose of letting his career bleed out there, and
• Vancouver did the Lotusland version of Leafness by sending gifts to Tampa Bay for JT Miller.

Clearly, though, Shero and the Devils won the weekend. Put another way, they're on fire.