Greatest New Jersey Devils Lineup Of All Time

The New Jersey Devils have had some great players pass through their locker room over close to four decades. If they could choose from any player that’s worn a Devils uniform, what would that team look like?

It’s the offseason, and we’re still waiting for that “big-game hunting” from Ray Shero and the New Jersey Devils.  So, we decided to make a little noise ourselves and go back into the history of “Jersey’s Team” to put together a lineup Shero and Devils fans could only dream of.

We want to put together the very best lineup that could ever step foot on the ice in Devils history. To do this, we had to go through all 37 seasons of Devils hockey.

The Devils have 22 playoff appearances, nine division titles, and three Stanley Cup Championships to their name. With that much success, especially most of it coming over a couple decades, there’s a lot of greats that wore the red and black (and red and green at one time).

The Devils have had Hall of Famers in the lineup before, but their best players were always known for their defense. Martin Brodeur is in everyone’s argument for best goalie of all time, and he played the crease for the Devils for 21 seasons. Scott Stevens is best known for his time in New Jersey where he put fear into every opponent, captaining the team to all three titles. Scott Niedermayer might be the best puck-moving defensemen in recent memory. All three went into the Hall of Fame with their best years as Devils.

None of them will be on this list today, because we are focusing on the four forward lines only. First, some ground rules. We are taking singular seasons from certain players. Their careers with the Devils have no credence. This is just one particular season, and that season alone. Also, we do our best to fit the lines as best possible. Finally, players can only appear on this list once. Patrik Elias will appear on this list, but we cannot take his 2000-01 season for one line and his pre-lockout year for the other. He can only show up once.

There are some great seasons not making the list. Most of them involve wingers. Brendan Shanahan‘s early career did not make the list, despite his first breakout season coming in red and black. Claude Lemieux‘s miraculous 1995 playoff run did not make the list, mostly because he had a pretty awful regular season thanks to injuries. No Bobby Holik season made the list. Nor did Brian Rolston or Sergei Brylin or Randy McKay.

There are more great Devils seasons than we know. Let’s jump into this.