5 Worst New Jersey Devils 1st-Round Draft Picks Of All Time

4.

Ari Ahonen – 27th overall in 1999 NHL Draft

The New Jersey Devils were spending very important picks on goaltending when they had one of the best of all time in between the pipes and still in his prime. It was a weird move by Lou when Martin Brodeur was nowhere near slowing down, but the Devils general manager took Ari Ahonen with the 27th pick in 99.

There’s obviously more reason to draft a goalie other than to replace Brodeur. He’d be a nice injury backup, and playing Brodeur 70+ games every season shouldn’t have lasted as long as it did. However, it’s not like the 1999 draft was full of talent at the back end. Between the Devils 1st and 2nd-round picks, there was only one player that played more than 100 games. However, we can’t ignore a 1st-round draft pick that never even appeared in the NHL except as an emergency backup to Brodeur.

His progression was really thrown for a loop in 2003-04 when he dealt with some injuries while playing in Albany. Then, to make matters worse, Devils backup Corey Schwab kept hurting his groin, forcing the Devils to call up Ahonen something like five times during their attempted defense of their third Stanley Cup Championship.

His numbers were getting worse and worse in the AHL and eventually went back to Liiga to revive his career. He actually just finished up his career in 2018 based on what we could find, so he held on as long as he possibly could. Ahonen spent time in the U.S., Sweden, Finland, Russia, and Denmark. It was quite the run, but nothing he did for the Devils really made a dent. Still, he’s not the worst goalie draft pick in Devils history….