New Jersey Devils: Five Players With Successful Second Stints
One lesser-known, but well-documented trend the New Jersey Devils were known for during the Lou Lamoriello era was his tendency to reacquire players that were previously with the organization. From members of the infamous A-Line to individuals that have become household names among Devils fans, a multitude of players had second stints with the organization.
A lot of players Lamoriello reacquired possessed a few notable overlapping aspects—they were in the twilight of their careers, typically in their mid-late-30s, and their second stints mostly lasted no longer than a season, if they weren’t brought in as mid-year rentals. For the most part, players Lamoriello reacquired weren’t as effective like they were during their first bout in New Jersey (see Steve Sullivan, Brian Rolston, Bobby Holik), but there were a select few whose returns wound up having positive impacts.
Among the array of players who found themselves back with the New Jersey Devils, these five had the best second stints.
Claude Lemieux
The four-time Stanley Cup winner was initially acquired by the New Jersey Devils in 1990 for winger (and former second overall pick) Sylvain Turgeon. In addition to his agitative antics, Claude Lemieux is largely remembered by Devils fans for his Conn Smythe Award-winning playoff performance in 1995, during which the organization captured their first Stanley Cup championship. Lemieux was shipped off to the New York Islanders prior to starting the 1995-1996 season for forward Steve Thomas, who then dealt him to the Colorado Avalanche.
Four years later, Lemieux was reacquired by New Jersey from Colorado a few weeks into the 1999-00 season in exchange for forward Brian Rolston and a few other conditional pieces. Despite being in his mid-30s, Lemieux had a respectable year, collecting 20 goals and 47 points in 83 contests (17 goals and 38 points in 70 games with New Jersey). He finished seventh in scoring among New Jersey Devils players that season, and was one of five forwards on the roster to hit the 20-goal threshold.
Although he won a second Stanley Cup with the Devils, Lemieux wasn’t as impactful in the postseason like he was in 1995, only netting four goals and 10 points in 23 playoff contests. Lemieux’s second stint with the Devils spanned for one season, after which he signed with the Phoenix Coyotes.
Tommy Albelin
Like Lemieux, Tommy Albelin is the only other player (besides Lemieux) on this list to have won a Stanley Cup in each of his two stints with the New Jersey Devils. He first came to the organization in a mid-year trade with the Quebec Nordiques, and would go on to spend parts of the next eight seasons in New Jersey. After winning a Stanley Cup with the team in 1995, Albelin was involved in a five-player swap with the Calgary Flames, in which the Devils acquired star defenseman Phil Housley.
The New Jersey Devils signed Albelin as a free agent in 2001, whose 160 games (despite spanning over four seasons) mark the lengthiest second stint of the five players featured in this piece. While he was largely used as a depth player during this time, New Jersey won their third Stanley Cup in 2003, during which Albelin appeared in 16 postseason contests. Despite appearing in no more than 45 games over the final four seasons he spent in New Jersey, Albelin was very serviceable in the role he was brought in to play, despite being in the twilight of his lengthy career.
Scott Clemmensen
The only New Jersey Devils player on this list to have not two, but three stints with the organization throughout his career, Scott Clemmensen is largely remembered for his instrumental role in saving the team’s 2008-09 season when Martin Brodeur was sidelined for months with a crippling injury. In his first Devils stint, Clemmensen only appeared in 25 NHL contests from 2001-2007, spending most of those years in the AHL.
After spending one year with the Toronto Maple Leafs and their AHL affiliate the Toronto Marlies, Clemmensen returned to the Garden State in 2008-09. He initially started the season in Lowell (AHL), but was called up after Brodeur’s lengthy sidelining. The Devils were 6-3-2 when Brodeur was injured, prior to which they lost three games in a row. They would lose five of their first six contests without Brodeur, until Clemmensen snapped the team’s slide. That started a five-game winning streak. Over 39 starts in 2008-2009, Clemmensen went 25-13-1 with a 2.39 GAA and .917 save percentage.
The New Jersey Devils had one of the Eastern Conference’s best records during Clemmensen’s temporary tenure as their starting goaltender, whose outstanding play is primarily credited to saving the team’s season that year. After being returned to Lowell upon Brodeur’s return, Clemmensen signed with the Florida Panthers that summer, where he spent the next five seasons before returning to New Jersey for a third time in 2014 (although he only appeared in three games that season).
Petr Sykora
Best remembered as one of the infamous “A-Line” members, Petr Sykora is one of two players on this list whose second stint started as a tryout in training camp. He spent the first seven seasons of his career with the New Jersey Devils, during which he won a Stanley Cup in 2000 and returned to the Finals in 2001. Sykora was traded to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in the summer of 2002 in a six-player deal, in which New Jersey acquired forward Jeff Friesen and defenseman Oleg Tverdovsky.
Sykora went on to win another Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009, and made a fourth Stanley Cup Finals appearance the prior year. After an extremely subpar bout with the Minnesota Wild in 2009-10, Sykora played 2010-11 in Europe, and it appeared his NHL career was finished.
After being invited to Devils training camp as a tryout in the summer of 2011, Sykora wound up making the team, tallying 21 goals and 44 points, being one of five players on the team to reach the 20-goal plateau. The Devils would go on their magical 2012 playoff run, during which Sykora had two goals and five points in 18 postseason contests. Sykora’s redemptive 2011-12 season helped New Jersey reach the playoffs, spending most of the year reunited on a line with fellow Czech Patrik Elias. Sykora was never re-signed by the Devils that summer, and returned to Europe the following season.
Scott Gomez
Like Sykora, Scott Gomez’s second New Jersey Devils stint started as a tryout. However, Gomez is also the only player on this list who was on a non-playoff Devils team during his second bout with the organization. Currently the organization’s all-time leading US-born player in points (484), Gomez played the first seven years of his NHL career in New Jersey. He won the Calder Memorial Trophy in 1999-2000, along with his first Stanley Cup, winning a second championship with the team in 2003 and had another run to the finals in 2001. Gomez was an effective playmaker, who had some of the best years in his NHL career with the Devils during his initial tenure in the Garden State.
Gomez outraged Devils fans when he signed a lucrative contract with the New York Rangers in 2007, after which he bounced around the league for a couple years, playing for the Montreal Canadiens, San Jose Sharks, and Florida Panthers. Over his last three seasons before returning to New Jersey, Gomez collected meager totals of six goals and 38 points in 123 contests. Although he only netted seven goals with the Devils in 2014-2015, Gomez had 34 points in 58 contests, which equates to about nine goals and 48 points over an 82-game season.
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While his numbers weren’t flashy and he played on a New Jersey Devils team, which finished 12th in the Eastern Conference that year, Gomez’s second stint with the organization was largely a success because of how strongly he rebounded when his career appeared finished. He almost collected 30 assists playing under 60 games, and the 34 points he had in 2014-2015 nearly eclipsed his total number of goals and assists he attained in the three previous seasons. Although Gomez’s NHL career concluded the following season, he was able to go out on a respectable high note with the team where he first started.