New Jersey Devils: Goaltenders Who Didn’t Quite Live Up To Expectations
Jeff Frazee
Jeff Frazee was the goalie of the future. That future never came.
Frazee had an all time great tenure in the United States National Team Development Program, posting a .932 sv%. The Devils drafted him in the second round with high expectations.
Frazee took his talents first to the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Through his first two seasons, he was solid. He’s best remembered for letting in a 195 foot goal on a misplayed clearing attempt. His third season in Minnesota was a mess that saw him lose his starting job, and he escaped the situation by signing a pro contract with the Devils in April 2008.
Frazee had a fantastic rookie season in 2008-09, playing in 58 games while sporting a .920 sv%. His play earned him on a spot in the 2009 AHL All Star Game. The Devils considered bringing him up as Brodeur’s backup for the 2009-10 NHL season. That all changed when he suffered a throat laceration during a minor league scrimmage in September of 2009. He was on the shelf for a month and never quite found his groove coming back.
His dreams of being an NHL backup in 2011-12 fizzled when the Devils signed Johan Hedberg. Frazee’s play deteriorated each season going forward. Hurting matters more was that he had to share the crease with new signees: Keith Kinkaid in 2011-12 and Scott Wedgewood in 2012-13. Both leapfrogged him in development and standing.
Frazee finally played in an NHL game on March 9, 2013. He appeared in relief of Hedberg for a period and stopped three shots against the Hurricanes. It was a great moment, but it felt too little, too late. He left North America at the end of the season and signed with Valpellice in Italy. He bounced around Europe for four seasons, including a turn with Esbjerg Energy where he helped them win the Danish Cup.
Frazee’s last pro season was with HDD Olimpija Ljubljana in Austria. After the season was over, in August 2017, Frazee sent an email to an Austrian newspaper claiming that someone from Czech club Orli Znojmo contacted him in February and offered him a bribe to throw a game. He reported it to his coach, and an internal investigation was launched before going silent. Orli Znojmo denied the accusations, but a probe was launched between Czech and Austrian authorities.
Frazee has been out of hockey since. According to his LinkedIn, he is now a loan coordinator for a mortgage company in Minnesota.
Scott Wedgewood
Wedgewood’s career in a nutshell: had a rough first few years in Albany and suffered a few injuries before finding his groove. Then he got injured again. Then he got traded.
Wedgewood had a decent junior career where he put up unspectacular numbers, but showed great potential. He worked his way through the ECHL before entering the carousel that was the Albany Devils’ goaltending crease. He played well but was often hurt. His injuries during this time including a broken ankle and an injured shoulder, both of which caused him to miss significant time. He had a shaky start but improved a bit each season.
He played in four games in 2015-16 season for New Jersey, which saw him win his debut against the Blue Jackets and shut out the Penguins. A shoulder injury stopped him mid season, but after missing 17 games, he returned to Albany and was the team’s starting goalie in the playoffs.
He looked tipped for big things in 2016-17, but he re-injured his shoulder a month into the season and miss the rest of the season.
Wedgewood had a cup of coffee with the newly minted Binghamton Devils before getting called up to New Jersey during Schneider’s injury. Wedgewood was traded to the Arizona Coyotes on October 28th, before the teams faced off at the Prudential Center that night.
He has since struggled in Arizona, despite a shutout win over the Devils. Not helping matters is that the Coyotes as a whole are awful. At least he has one notable fan.
Anthony Brodeur
Anthony Brodeur’s tenure with the New Jersey Devils peaked on draft day. It also ended on draft day.
Brodeur was picked towards the bottom of the 2013 draft, held in New Jersey. The Devils, who had no 7th round picks, swapped a future 7th rounder to draft Anthony, and his father – one Martin Broduer – made the pick. Though primarily a feel good moment, Anthony had a fair amount of upside outside the good bloodline.
Anthony had just wrapped up a stellar season with Shattuck-St Mary’s Prep and joined the Gatineau Olympiques of the QMJHL the following season. He had a decent first season in 2013-14, but his play deteriorated in 14-15 and he lost his starting job. Gatineau waived him, and claimed by the Drummondville Voltiguers, where he barely improved on his stats.
Unsigned by the Devils, he re-entered the 2015 Entry Draft but wasn’t redrafted. Upset with his game, he joined the Penticton Vees. There, Anthony had a successful season that returned his passion for the game.
He was given a tryout with the Toronto Maple Leafs in the summer of 2016 – now run by GM Lou Lamoriello, the same GM who drafted him – but didn’t make the team.
He currently plays goal for the University of Ottawa, where he also has a successful golf career.
Maxime Clermont
Claremont spent most of his career about fifth or sixth on the franchise’s goalie depth chart. He had a high ceiling, but he never quite for NHL ready…. nor AHL ready.
Though he had worse regular season numbers in juniors than any of the other Devils prospects, he got a lot of attentions for his solid playoff run with the Gatineau Olympiquies where he brought them to the Memorial Cup finals.
He wasn’t the top goalie in the organization, but he still took longer to develop than expected. He seldom made headlines outside of the local papers for his ECHL team. His play was so unremarkable it’s difficult to find stories about him outside the occasional Devils prospect roundup.
Claremont never found much stability in the ECHL, usually posting a save percentage below .900%. He did well enough in his call-ups to Albany but never stuck around.
He had surgery to repair his labrum in both hips in the 2013 offseason, but it didn’t improve his game.
Claremont’s contract ended after the 2014-15 season. He has been out of hockey since then.
Scott Clemmensen
Clemmensen is best remembered for his stint as starting goalie during the 2009-10 season, where he filled in admirably for an injured Martin Broduer. Unlike the rest of the goalies on this list, he found success in the NHL – just mostly outside the state of New Jersey.
Clemmensen had a successful college career, where he backstopped Boston College to an NCAA Championship. He turned pro after college and spent four seasons in Albany. Clemmensen finally became Brodeur’s backup in the 2005-06 season for 16 games. He left the organization a couple seasons later and had a brief stint with the Toronto Maple Leafs that fans remain a bit salty about before returning to New Jersey. Clemmensen was third on the depth chart, below Brodeur and Kevin Weekes. He was called up to New Jersey after Brodeur tore his bicep, mostly as a warm body.
After splitting starts with Weekes, Clemmensen emerged as the Devils’ interim number one goalie. He held that position until Brodeur’s return. Clemmensen finished the season with a .917 sv% in 40 games. He even had a New York Times piece written about him.
Clemmensen was sent back to Lowell, and immediately started weighing his options for playing in the NHL again. His teammates voted him the Devils’ Unsung Hero after the season ended.
His play during Brodeur’s absence turned heads around the league, and he parlayed that success into a contract with the Florida Panthers. Though New Jersey wanted him back, he knew he’d have a bigger role with the Panthers.
During his time in Sunrise, he played backup to Tomas Vokoun, Jose Theodore, Tim Thomas, and Roberto Luongo. He briefly took over as starter in 2012, including a couple games against the Devils in the playoffs.
After five seasons in Florida, Clemmensen returned to the Devils organization. He battled Kinkaid for the backup spot, which Kinkaid handily won. Clemmensen returned to Albany and retired at season’s end.
Clemmensen is currently the goaltending development coach for the Binghamton Devils.
Jordan Parise
Jordan Parise is primarily remembered for playing in the Devils’ farm system alongside two important Devils siblings. In 2006, the Lowell Devils had Mike Pandolfo, Stephen Gionta, and Jordan Parise. The New Jersey Devils had their brothers, Jay Pandolfo, Brian Gionta, and Zach Parise.
Jordan went undrafted, but had a stellar collegiate career – where he, no joke, was in a band with current Devil Drew Stafford -and left the University of North Dakota as one of the better goalies in program history. He signed with the New Jersey Devils in July 2006. Zach Parise advocated for brother and would occasionally fantasize about Jordan either backing up Brodeur one day or being his replacement.
It never came to pass.
In September 2007, Jordan injured his leg while making a routine save. Team doctors misdiagnosed his injury for months until an MRI revealed, as stated in Sports Illustrated, “a labrum so torn it had to be re-anchored to the bone in three places.” The injury hampered his game and Jordan had to go overseas for a season. He returned to America for the 2009-10 season, playing backup for the ECHL’s Wheeling Nailers. Jordan went overseas again to finish the season.
Jordan had a try-out with the New York Rangers during the 2010 pre-season. He was hoping for a minor league contract but didn’t make the team and yet again returned overseas. He bounced between several leagues and countries, playing in Austria, Germany, and Italy, never sticking around more than one season.
Jordan retired from hockey in 2013. According to his LinkedIn, he is now a sales representative for a medical technology company in Minnesota.
Ari Ahonen
Ari Ahonen went 27th overall in the famously awful1999 NHL Entry draft, one spot below future Devil Martin Havlat. He had a strong showing at the IIHF World U18 Championship, where he backstopped Finland to first place and named the tournament’s best goaltender. The Devils signed him to a contract in 2001.
Next: New Jersey Devils Players That Flamed Out With New York Rangers
Ahonen spent five seasons with the Albany River Rats, sharing the crease with Clemmensen. Ahonen made a few trips to New Jersey to back up Brodeur, but never got any NHL icetime. The organization was high on him and remained patient, but was a bit inconsistent – made worse by the fact that the River Rats that good a team.
He returned to Finland in 2006 and has bounced around the region ever since. He’s been part of teams in Finland, Sweden, and Russia. He is currently playing for Herning Blue Fox in the Danish league.
His true legacy is being sneaky good in NHL 06. His high Potential makes him solid pick when playing Dynasty Mode. He’ll be great a couple virtual years down the line.