The New Jersey Devils have a long history with the New York Rangers. That rivalry has plenty of characters, including those who spurned Jersey’s team to sign with the Hudson River rivals. Here are five who left the red and black and it just didn’t work out.
This season marks the 35th anniversary of the New Jersey Devils. Looking back, it’s been a crazy 35 years. There have been some of the most memorable runs to the Stanley Cup in recent memory. This team boasted some of the best players of the past two generations. The Devils, for all the heck they get from the national media, boast some of the most interesting plays in hockey history.
When looking at that history, a lot of it is directly tied to their Hudson River rivals, the New York Rangers.
Recent history includes overtime winners to send a team to the Stanley Cup Finals or full line brawls where the coaches are yelling at each other across the glass. The past includes the teams going through each other in epic fashion on the way to championships to players leaving one team to another.
Let’s focus on the latter there. There are dozens of players that played for both the Devils and Rangers over the years. There are some very specific cases where Devils players took big money in New York and flamed out. Here are five that stick out.