This would be a good year for the Devils to forfeit their first-round draft pick

When the NHL punished the New Jersey Devils back in 2010 for trying to circumvent the salary cap with their mega-contract for Ilya Kovalchuk, they had to give up one of their next four first-round draft picks. This would be a good year to give it up.

When the New Jersey Devils initially tried to sign forward Ilya Kovalchuk to his mega-contract in the summer of 2010, the NHL punished the franchise for trying to circumvent the salary cap.

The first attempted contract was a 17-year pact that would have been worth $102 million. When the NHL rejected that, the two sides agreed to his current contract which is worth $100 million over 15 years.

The Devils were fined $3 million and lost two draft picks: a 2010 third-round selection, and a future first-round pick that the Devils had to forfeit within four years. They still have to forfeit that pick at some point, and with this year's selection guaranteed to be at the very end of the draft (either 29th or 30th) it seems like a good year to complete the punishment.

And why wouldn't they? Unless they make a return trip to the Stanley Cup Final over the next couple of years (and recent NHL history suggests that isn't likely to happen) any future pick will almost surely be higher in the round, and have a greater chance of producing a better player.

General manager Lou Lamiorello was asked about whether or not this will be the year and said, via Devils beat writer Rich Chere, that he hasn't decided yet, adding "we'll see."

In the end, isn't it still a relatively small price for the Devils to pay given the impact Kovalchuk has made on the ice?

He's become their franchise player and enters the Stanley Cup Final as the leading scorer in the NHL this postseason. His game has evolved to the point that he's no longer just a threat offensively, but is also being used in big situations as a penalty killer, and is even being called on to play the final minutes of games as the Devils protect leads. He has to be one of the front-runners for the Conn Smythe Trophy.

And it's not like the success rate for late first-round picks is all that high. Take for example the players that were selected with the 29th and 30th picks between 1995 and 2008.

Players selected 29th and 30th overall between 1995 and 2008
Year	29th Pick	30th Pick
2008	Daultan Levelle	Thomas McCollum
2007	Jim O'Brien	Nick Ross
2006	Chris Summers	Matthieu Corrente
2005	Steve Downie	Vladimir Mihalik
2004	Mike Green	Andy Rogers
2003	Patrick Eaves	Shawn Belle
2002	Hannu Toivonen	Jim Slater
2001	Adam Munro	Dave Steckel
2000	Niklas Kronwall	Jeff Taffe
1999	Michal Sivek	Luke Sellars
1998	Jonathan Cheechoo	Kyle Rossiter
1997	Scott Barney	Jean-Marc Pelletier
1996	Dan LaCouture	Josh Green
1995	Brian Wesenberg	Mike McBain

(Players in bold are guys that actually made a noticeable impact in the NHL. There's only four of them. The others, at best, turned out to be role players or never made a significant impact in the league.)

Everything about the Devils acquisition of Kovalchuk at the 2010 trade deadline, and their attempt to sign him long-term the following summer, had its share of criticism. From the number of assets they sent to Atlanta, to the length and term of the contract. With the Devils now just four wins away from what would be the fourth Stanley Cup in franchise history, it all seems pretty worth it.

Especially when the trade failed so miserably for Atlanta.

Just as a quick reminder, the Devils sent Johnny Oduya, Niclas Bergfors, Patrice Cormier, and a first-and second-round draft pick (both of which Atlanta later traded to Chicago for Dustin Byfuglien) to the Thrashers for Kovalchuk, Anssi Salmela and a second-round pick.

Add in the two picks they had to forfeit, and it still seems like it's been worth it. Especially if they complete this postseason run with championship.

None of the players that went the other way are -- or ever will be -- anywhere close to the value of Kovalchuk.

Other than the picks that were used to acquire Byfuglien, that was a horrible return for Atlanta. It's also a pretty good reminder as to why the Thrashers were so bad during their existence, and perhaps why they no longer exist. They had assets like Kovalchuk, Marian Hossa, Braydon Coburn, Marc Savard and Kari Lehtonen and had no idea how to manage them or how to get a worthwhile return for them.

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