New Jersey Devils: Some Great Players Missed Winning Stanley Cup

Zach Parise:

Zach Parise is the “what could have been” type of player. He was well on his way to being one of the franchises’ all-time greatest players before leaving them to sign a crazy contract with the Minnesota Wild. He scored lots of goals with the Devils and was a key contributor on that 2012 team. They weren’t able to hold on against the Kings and thus Parise is cupless.

Ilya Kovalchuk

Ilya Kovalchuk is in a similar boat as Parise. They were both key contributors in that 2012 run but came up just short. The only difference between the two is that Kovalchuk wasn’t drafted and developed by the Devils. A lot of people resent Parise for leaving in free agency but what Kovalchuk did was way worse. He left them to go back to Russia in the middle of a contract that already cost the Devils plenty of headaches.

Taylor Hall

Taylor Hall’s time with New Jersey was shorter than we wanted but it sure left a mark. He didn’t win the Cup or even a playoff series with the team but he did do something remarkable. He was the league’s Hart Trophy winner in 2018 as the MVP. It was an incredible accomplishment for him and the team as he was the first in the history of the franchise, but he will go down as one of the team’s greatest players to never win the Cup.