Six former New Jersey Devils stars to watch in the playoffs

The New Jersey Devils certainly struck gold when they drafted Zach Parise with the 17th-overall pick in the 2003 NHL Draft. That class went on to be one of the best in NHL history and Parise was a big part of it. If it were redone, Parise probably would go in the top five if not top three. He was a brilliant player for the Devils for seven seasons. Most of his seasons with the Devils ended in the playoffs, including 2012 where they were defeated in the Stanley Cup Final.

A few weeks after that defeat in the Final, Parise inked a very long and very lucrative contract with the Minnesota Wild. It was a twin deal with former Nashville Predators defenseman Ryan Suter. Since then, the Wild have had some elite teams, but they were never able to overcome the Chicago Blackhawks to get to the Western Conference Finals.

The Wild might see things differently this year. They were fighting for playoff position at the time of the pause and are now going to have a chance in the play-in round against the Vancouver Canucks. Some Devils fans might want Parise to fail because they get Vancouver’s 1st-round pick if they move on. If Vancouver loses, the Devils get their 2021 1st-round pick. Parise isn’t the point-per-game player that he once was but he still scores a healthy amount of goals and should be fun to watch in the playoffs.