Ranking New Jersey Devils Top Line Against The A Line

The New Jersey Devils have never had a player like Taylor Hall on their roster, but they have had a collection of players that produced a similar output. So, is the current top line better than the A line, which was the best in team history?

Looking back at the New Jersey Devils history, most of their best years were surrounded by some of the best defensive players in history. There was Scott Stevens, who could be the best hitter in the history of the NHL. They had Scott Niedermayer, who was one of the best puck-moving defenseman in history. Then there’s Martin Broduer, who is the best goaltender in history.

As you can see, it’s all defense when it comes to the history of this franchise. Sure, there’s been Ilya Kovalchuk, Zach Parise and Patrik Elias, but they don’t touch the surface when it comes to the best players to ever wear a Devils sweater.

However, the Devils did have one line that should be put among the league’s best, especially when it comes to late 90s, early 2000s scoring. The A line was possibly the best in the league. Jason Arnott, Elias and Petr Sykora led the Devils to having the best offense in the NHL in 1999-00.

That’s right, the Devils led the NHL in goals scored. Remember all those rival fans who complained about the trap and the Devils killing hockey? Well, their second Stanley Cup came because of an offense that scored more than every single other team in the league.

This trio combined for 428 points in the 99-00 season and the 00-01 season. That’s pretty great during a time when scoring wasn’t exactly Wayne Gretzky type highs.

This line is always considered the best line in Devils history. The only one coming close to it may be the Parise-Adam Henrique-Kovalchuk line from 2012, at least offensively.

However, the Devils may finally have a line that compares to the A line.

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Led by Taylor Hall, the Devils first line may not have a fancy name yet, but they sure put up stats. Hall came close to 100 points this past season with a rookie center who will only get better. Their usual right wing, Kyle Palmieri, missed a big chunk of time and was forced to the second line for part of the year during a red-hot start from Jesper Bratt.

Now, if Palmieri can stay healthy and Nico can make a jump, will this line surpass the A line?

It will be very tough to make that argument this season. The trio of Hall-Hischier-Palmieri scored 189 points last year, even if they weren’t all together. That means they’d need 239 points this season to equal the two-season output of the A line.

That means Hall would need to increase his points to 100, Hischier would have to score at least 70, and Palmieri would have to pull off 70 himself. Palmieri never scored more than 48 points in his career, so that seems very unlikely.

The Devils have a very good first line, led by the team’s best superstar, but the A line will continue to reign supreme, at least for now.

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