10 Most Impactful Trades In New Jersey Devils History
In the 36 year history of the New Jersey Devils, almost every major player came over in some kind of trade, but what are some of the most impactful trades in team history.
Trades are one of the most fun and excruciating parts of being a sports. They are incredibly fun because we love to speculate about them until they happen, then we love to talk about them for years after they happen. They are excruciating because it could mean losing out on our favorite players.
The New Jersey Devils have been incredibly good at making trades in their history. Somehow, they very rarely find themselves on the wrong side of a trade. There are plenty of situations where they traded for a player who didn’t fit at all. Think Tuomo Ruutu a few seasons ago. That wasn’t a disaster because Andrei Loktionov didn’t do much with the Carolina Hurricane and that 3rd-round pick turned into Morgan Geekie.
There are literally dozens of examples around the league of teams making terrible trades that send superstars to other teams. Filip Forsberg went to the Nashville Predators so the Washington Capitals could get Martin Erat. Mark Messier was sent to the New York Rangers and showed he had a lot left in the tank. Wayne freaking Gretzky was traded at the age of 26! If he was traded in his prime, anyone could be traded.
The Devils have never given up a current or future star player in trade. They’ve traded some really good players like Jason Arnott and Petr Sykora. However, it never ended up being a player that changed the other franchise. That’s something that seems impossible in 35 years of play. Between Lou Lamoriello and Ray Shero, this team’s GMs have been incredibly good at trading.
This team has had it’s share of heartbreak through retirement and free agency, but the front office makes up for it in winning major trades constantly. Maybe it’s because New Jersey is thought as a “little brother” location, but after the trade many players want to stick around.
There are dozens of trades that changed this franchise in one way or another, but we took on the very hard task of choosing the 10 most impactful trades in team history. We chose the word impactful on purpose. You won’t see the Ben Lovejoy for 3rd-round pick and Connor Carrick on here, despite being a massive win for the Devils. We want to know how this worked out long term, so expect to take a trip down memory lane.
Honorable Mentions
Kyle Palmieri from Ducks to Devils for 2015 2nd-rounder and 2016 3rd-rounder.
This was a great deal for the Devils when it happened, and is an even better deal now. Kyle Palmieri has been a perfect player since joining the red and black. He already has a 30-goal season under his belt, and he could do it again this season despite multiple injuries and a depleted lineup. It’s still a little early to judge Ryan Gropp and Rem Pitlick, but both players ended up in other organizations.
Cory Schneider from Canucks to Devils for Bo Horvat
This was a franchise changing move at the time, but it’s hard to tell how this one will go down in history. Bo Horvat would be a very nice player on the Devils, but it’s not like he’s the best player on his team. As I say that he just scored an overtime goal (welp). Either way, the Devils traded for the heir apparent to Martin Brodeur, something they clearly didn’t have in house. He’s been the team’s top netminder ever since, but now finds himself as a likely very expensive backup next season.
Alexander Mogilny from Canucks to Devils for Brendan Morrison and Denis Pederson
The New Jersey Devils were going for it in the year 2000. They already had a stacked roster with the usual suspects in Scott Stevens, Scott Niedermayer, Martin Brodeur and Patrik Elias, but they had added support in Jason Arnott and a rookie Scott Gomez. Then, Lou went and got another superstar. He spent a season and a half with New Jersey, scoring a ridiculous 43 goals in 2000-01 en route to another Stanley Cup appearance. He was ho hum in his first year, and much better in that second year. because of such short length, he ends up here.
Peter Stastny from Nordiques to Devils for Craig Wolanin and Randy Velischek
It’s not everyday a franchise early in existence gets a future Hall of Famer. Well, at least that was the story before the Vegas Golden Knights. The Devils traded for Peter Stastny towards the end of his career. After years as one of the best forwards in the league, he was decent on New Jersey. Again, this was important because it was a Hall of Famer coming to the Devils as a household name. This was the same Devils team that was getting Mickey Mouse comparisons years earlier.
10. Bryce Salvador from Blues to Devils for Cam Janssen
Listen, Cam Janssen is a really fun player to root for, and he’s an awesome follow on Twitter, but he brings a very specific form of hockey on the ice, and it’s similar to that of Kurtis Gabriel. At that point, he played close to 100 games with the New Jersey Devils and had one goal to his credit. He wasn’t there to score goals, but the NHL would soon be a league that passed him by.
In return, the Devils received defenseman Bryce Salvador. He spent the next six and a half seasons in the red and black, taking them to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2012, and taking over as captain when Zach Parise left in free agency. He took on the role when the Devils were in a bad way. It was probably one of the darkest times in Devils history, but he was still an important figure for the Devils.
This is why he broke into the list while players like Palmieri and Mogilny did not. Salvador was very important for his tenure with the Devils. In fact, some fans probably don’t even realize how long he was with the franchise. He made such an impression, he was given a job with the MSG Network.
All this for Cam Janssen, who ended up returning to the Devils a few years later. This was a great trade by Lou Lamoriello at the trade deadline in 2008.
9. Blake Coleman From Stars To Devils For Jamie Langenbrunner
This will be the only “seller” trade from this era of Devils hockey. It was significant for many reasons. For one, the Devils just traded their captain in a shocker trade in the middle of the 2011 season. They were well on their way to missing the playoffs for the first time since 1996, and Lou was looking to get some assets. Langenbrunner went back to his old team in the Stars, which hopefully helped ease the blow.
However, a random trade in a lost season does not make it onto this list. The reason this moves makes the list is who that 3rd-round pick became. With the 75th over pick, the Devils selected Blake Coleman in 2011.
It took Coleman a long time to really find his true potential, but now he’s one of the most valuable Devils on the team. He’s taken yet another step in the right direction. Every season he spends in the NHL, he becomes a better player.
Coleman looks like he’s going to be a great NHL player for years to come. He exists on this roster thanks to the Devils giving up on an era, and trading away its captain. At the end of the day, this won’t look like some trades on this list, but this sure was a monumental one.
8. Ilya Kovalchuk, Anssi Salmela and Jon Merrill from Thrashers to Devils for Johnny Oduya, Patrice Cormier, Nic Bergfors, Kevin Hayes and Justin Holl
Listen, we get it. This is an extremely sore spot. Ilya Kovalchuk did the New Jersey Devils and its fans dirtier than just about anyone else in the history of hockey. He left in the middle of a contract, and most of us hate him for it.
However, there’s literally no chance we talk about impactful trades without mentioning this one. This one was the reason the Devils went all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2012. Kovalchuk did this with a bad back. Obviously, there was help, but Kovy was on the ice when Adam Henrique scored the winning goal to beat the New York Rangers and go to the Stanley Cup Finals.
The Kovalchuk deal came with another deal that was one of the most controversial in league history. Once Kovalchuk’s contract ended at the end of the 2010 season, he signed a 17-year deal worth $101 million. The NHL was not feeling that deal, because it was clear salary cap circumvention. They were paying him $550,000 for the final five years of the deal.
He eventually signed a 15-year deal, one of which he would play just three seasons under. He left, and broke the Devils and its fans in the process. We can never understate the importance this deal had on the history of this franchise, but if he never leaves it no doubt would be much higher on the list.
7. Claude Lemieux from Canadiens to Devils for Sylvan Turgeon
This one is an interesting trade when looking at the impact over time. Claude Lemieux was coming to a young New Jersey Devils team that still didn’t learn how to win. They went to the Conference Finals in 1988, but missed the playoffs in 1989. After trading for Lemieux, they didn’t miss the playoffs with him on the roster.
Lemieux was a key contributor for the upstart Devils during their first Stanley Cup run in 1995. Actually, he was ridiculously good. He scored 13 goals in 20 games en route to demolishing the Detroit Red Wings in the Finals. Not only that, but every single goal game at 5v5 play.
Do the Devils win that first Stanley Cup, erasing the memory of Mark Messier’s guarantee from the year prior, if Lemieux wasn’t there to dominate? There is a reason he won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.
The Devils traded Lemieux that offseason, and immediately missed the playoffs the next season. Correlation does not always imply causation, but it’s hard to argue with the facts here. Lemieux was extremely important to those teams that eventually became a juggernaut.
6. Bobby Holik and Jay Pandolfo from Whalers to Devils for Sean Burke and Eric Weinrich
It’s right before the season in 1992. The Devils was dealing with a very disgruntled goaltender in Sean Burke, who sat out the previous season to play with Team Canada in the Olympics. He was upset he lost his starting job to Chris Terreri during the 1990-91 season. The Devils really wanted a Czech prospect named Bobby Holik, but to get what they wanted, they were forced to part ways with talented defenseman Eric Weinrich.
Holik ended up becoming one of the grittiest players in the league. This was back in the day where having a hard-nosed player who could score was crucial in winning Stanley Cups. He spent the next 10 years with the Devils, winning two Stanley Cups in the process. Did he truly hit his potential? Maybe not, but that’s because he bought into his role in the biggest way and that may have evened out his scoring potential.
They also got a 2nd-round pick in the deal who ended up being a pretty good player for the Devils. Jay Pandolfo was selected with the 32nd overall pick in the 1993 NHL Draft. He spent 13 seasons with New Jersey. He was a crucial part of the team’s fourth line. He was charged with shutting down the opposing team’s best players, and even got some Selke Trophy love a few seasons. In his best season, 2006-07, he was in the top three for the prestigious award.
This is actually a very underrated win for the Devils. Losing two players who didn’t exactly dominate for the rest of their careers for two decade-long Devils was monumental for a franchise looking to establish itself.
5. Taylor Hall from Oilers to Devils for Adam Larsson
What more can be said that hasn’t already been said about the “one-for-one” trade? The New Jersey Devils sent Adam Larsson, who is now a second-line defenseman for the Edmonton Oilers, for Taylor Hall, who just won the league’s MVP in 2018.
This trade will likely eventually be higher on the list if Hall re-signs long term with the Devils. It could possibly find itself all the way to number two if he’s able to win Stanley Cups with this franchise.
The reason it’s where it is now is this was truly a changing of the guard for the Devils. Gone was the team looking to add veteran presence and win with older teams. They were dressing players like Jaromir Jagr and Marek Zidlicky for years, and would constantly ignore youth to gain a more reliable production, even if the upside was much less.
Ray Shero made this trade, and things immediately changed. A youth movement of sorts started thanks to the Devils getting their superstar. Sure, Hall’s been injured this season and everyone is losing their minds thinking he’s going to leave in free agency next season, but we’ve seen nothing but positive notes that they can get a deal done. If they do, this trade will become an all-time great for this franchise.
4. Travis Zajac from Stars to Devils for Lukas Kaspar and Clayton Barthel
This draft-day trade moved the New Jersey Devils up from the 22nd pick to the 20th pick. It cost the Devils a 3rd-round pick. However, it brought Travis Zajac to the Devils.
This is an extremely underrated trade, because it helped the Devils leapfrog the Colorado Avalanche, securing the fact they would get their center of the future. Zajac will always be a Devils player leaving something to be desired. However, he’s now in his 13th season in New Jersey, and if this trade never happens the Devils could now be stuck with Rob Schremp.
Zajac just missed the Stanley Cup winning Devils, but he still came into a winning culture and continued that for years. He joined the Devils in 2006, and was a regular in the lineup from there on. This is a player that has 502 points and counting. He’s going to play more than 1,000 games in a Devils uniform. Those numbers almost never happened. He could be playing on the third line of the Avalanche if Lou Lamoriello didn’t make this move.
On paper, it’s just two spots in the draft, and sure it’s possible he may have fallen to them anyway, but there’s a reason Lou made this move. He heard something that says if he waited he wasn’t going to get Zajac at all.
Jamie Langenbrunner and Joe Nieuwendyk from Stars for Jason Arnott, Randy McKay and David Paille
It is hard to explain the magnitude of this trade for the New Jersey Devils. Lou Lamoriello wanted to shake the foundation of this franchise. Was this a trade Lou was looking to win? Well, of course he wants to get the better of the trade, but that wasn’t the entire point.
Jason Arnott was hurting his production, and the production of his teammates. He was part of one of the best lines in hockey alongside Petr Sykora and Patrik Elias. They were literally called the “A” line. He scored the Stanley-Cup winning goal against the Stars just two seasons earlier. Now, he was heading there after the Devils couldn’t handle Arnott anymore.
Randy McKay was thrown in because he was getting near the end of his career, and the Devils were looking to play other players in that position. He was a throw in on the deal, despite how long he’s been a Devil at that point.
Jamie Langenbrunner ended up become the Devils captain for years. He played a crucial role in the Devils Stanley Cup winning season in 2003. He led the playoffs with 11 goals en route to beating the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in seven games.
Joe Nieuwendyk would eventually become an NHL Hall of Famer, but not for his time with the Devils. He was already near the twilight of his career at the time of the deal. He was fine for the Devils in a season and a half, and has a Stanley Cup to his name for it, but the big parts of this trade were the Devils getting Langenbrunner and shaking up this team to eventually win the 2003 Cup, the last this franchise has seen.
2. Scott Niedermayer from Maple Leafs to Devils for Tom Kurvers
The rule to not ruining your franchise is never trade future 1st-round picks in any sport. It’s the move that really hurt the rebuild of the Brooklyn Nets in basketball. One may point out that Lou Lamoriello traded his fair share of 1st rounders, but he didn’t send them years in advanced.
That’s what the Toronto Maple Leafs did in 1989. They sent the Devils a 1st-round pick two years later for a defenseman to take them over the top. Well, spoiler alert, it didn’t work. In fact, it was so bad, the Maple Leafs ended up with the 3rd-overall pick in the 1991 NHL Draft.
With that pick, the Devils took defenseman Scott Niedermayer. Imagine what those mid-90s Maple Leafs teams would look like with a Hall of Fame defenseman on that team. Well, we don’t have to because he was ours, and led our team to three Stanley Cup Championships.
Niedermayer was one of the most crucial members of those Devils teams. His number will forever be in the Prudential Center rafters. While Kurvers played a season and a half in Toronto. Yeah, that was a pretty impactful trades. It’s moves like that which is why it’s been more than 16,000 days since a Maple Leafs player lifted Lord Stanley’s Cup.
1. Martin Brodeur, David Harlock and Chris Gotziaman from Flames to Devils for Trevor Kidd and Vesa Viitakoski
It couldn’t be anything else. The New Jersey Devils got the greatest goaltender in history of the NHL by trading DOWN in the NHL Draft. The Calgary Flames were enamored with Trevor Kidd, who was the highest ranked goalie coming into the draft. They moved up from 20 to 11 to take the Canadian.
The Devils, meanwhile, got one 2nd-round pick outright, and moved up with another 2nd rounder to go to the 20th pick. With that pick, the Devils selected Martin Brodeur.
He spent 25 years in the Devils organization. During those years, he won 688 games, more than anyone else in history. He shutout opponents 124 times, again more than anyone in history. He has all the major records in history. He dominated opponents in two different eras.
Sure, blame the trap for his success. Well, he won two Vezina Trophies and took the Devils to the 2012 Stanley Cup Finals after the 2004 NHL Lockout. That’s when the Devils lost Scott Stevens, Scott Niedermayer and other major players. He won with whoever was in front of him. He didn’t need the Scotts to shine. He did it with Paul Martin, Colin White, Brian Rafalski, Marek Zidlicky and a laundry list of others.
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This is the greatest player to ever wear leg pads. He was a member of the Devils because the Calgary Flames really wanted a player named Trevor Kidd. He only lasted four seasons in Calgary before he was traded for Jean-Sebastien Giguere to the Carolina Hurricanes. Brodeur won this Devils team three Stanley Cups. Hell, he’s the reason the Devils are still in New Jersey. They are likely a relocation candidate multiple times if they don’t have the Brodeur legacy. If a player is so good, he keeps a franchise inside its state, he’s the most important trade of all time.