New Jersey Devils: Top 5 One Hit Wonders

4. Jeff Friesen

This one will turn some heads a little bit. Jeff Friesen was a huge part of the Devils winning the Stanley Cup in 2002-03. That cannot be denied. He scored the clinching goal in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Ottawa Senators and scoring two goals in the Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. He was a part of the trade that sent fan favorite Petr Sykora to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and it also brought Oleg Tverdovsky to the Devils. Friesen succeeded in his first year as a Devil even before the playoffs. In an era where individuals didn’t put up the highest number of points, scoring 51 points in 81 games was impressive.

The next year in 2003-04, his production went down scoring only 37 points in an equal amount of games from the year before. Friesen had cemented himself in Devils lore by his performance in the year beforehand, which led to the massively disappointing showing by the Devils in the 2004 playoffs.

Friesen didn’t put up a single point in the 1st-round loss to the Philadelphia Flyers. Things would not get any better for the Devils or the league because of the next season. Well, the season that never was rather. During the lockout, a salary cap was discussed and implemented.

Friesen and the Devils would learn that being a team with good players meant that you had to pay them, even if you are Lou Lamoriello. Friesen was one of the first salary cap casualties the Devils had to deal with. He was sent to the Washington Capitals for a 3rd-round pick. If you were wondering, that 3rd-round pick became Kirill Tulupov. Friesen never panned out in Washington and then was dealt back to the Ducks. Finishing the 2005-06 season with 11 points in 51 games, Friesen played the next year with the Calgary Flames and then out of hockey.