5 Best New Jersey Devils Rookie Seasons Of All Time

The New Jersey Devils have had some of the best rookie seasons in the NHL.

Right now, the New Jersey Devils are being driven largely by rookies. Yegor Sharangovich has burst on the scene after a big start to his rookie campaign. He’s earned his way onto the top line with Jack Hughes and Kyle Palmieri. He’s been really good over the first two games, and that hit a fever pitch on Saturday. He took the puck with mere seconds remaining in overtime against the Boston Bruins, and he scored to give the Devils their first win in 10 months.

Ty Smith, Janne Kuokkanen, and Nathan Bastian are all expected to play big roles in their rookie seasons this year. Rookies are going to be a part of this team’s future for a while with Alexander Holtz, Dawson Mercer, Reilly Walsh, Nolan Foote, Shakir Mukhamadullin, Tyce Thompson, and Kevin Bahl still in the pipeline. Rookies are going to be important now and for a long time on this roster.

The Devils have had some great rookies in the past. A Devils has made won the Calder Trophy twice. Devils players have also made the All-Rookie team 11 times. Some of the Devils’ best rookies didn’t even make the team, like Nico Hischier and Travis Zajac.

There have been some rookies that made a huge impact, but only a select few can be considered the best. If Sharangovich keeps this up throughout the year, maybe he can break this list. However, for now, these are the five best rookie seasons in New Jersey Devils history.

5. Scott Niedermayer 1992-93

Lou Lamoriello made a lot of great moves over his close to three decades leading the Devils as general manager. He drafted Martin Brodeur, he demanded Scott Stevens as compensation for Brendan Shanahan, he signed Brian Rafalski and John Madden after they weren’t even drafted, and he took a chance on Patrik Elias in the 2nd round of the draft. Still, his greatest move of all time was the move that got him Scott Niedermayer.

The Devils traded Tom Kurvers to the Maple Leafs for a 1st-round draft pick two years later. The Maple Leafs were terrible that season, and the pick was third overall. The Devils watched Niedermayer fall to them, and Lou pounced.

One year later, a 19-year-old Niedermayer was a regular on the Devils’ roster. Almost immediately, he made an impact on a young roster. The Devils were still a couple of years away from being a true contender, but the building blocks were there.

Niedermayer ended up being one of the most important blocks to the Devils’ dynasty. The offensive-minded defenseman had one of the better rookie years for a defenseman in team history. He probably would have gotten more consideration for the Calder Trophy if a young Finn named Teemu Selanne didn’t light the league on fire (it’s hard to compete with 76 goals from a rookie).

Niedermayer finished the season with 40 points. He helped the Devils reach the playoffs, and even put up three points in a five-game loss in the first round against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Niedermayer obviously went on to have a phenomenal career that eventually led him to the Hall of Fame.

4. Kirk Muller 1984-85

Kirk Muller had a tall hill to climb to live up to any hype for the New Jersey Devils. He was taken second overall behind a guy named Mario Lemieux. He would continue to fall behind him for his entire career. It started his rookie season, but that shouldn’t take away from the fact he was really good that year.

Muller put up 17 goals and 34 assists for an absolutely putrid Devils team. The team finished the season with 22 wins, good for third worst in the league. Muller was fourth on the Devils in scoring, despite it being the 80s where teams constantly had 100-point scorers. 16 players had 100 points that season, including a teenage Lemieux.

Muller’s season was all about scoring. His paltry -31 (still a terrible stat, but we don’t have much else to go off in 1985) showed that the Devils were allowing too many goals. However, Muller was putting together a foundation that would eventually lead to a very nice career.

Muller made the All-Star Game in his first season as the Devils lone representative. He ended up assisting a Lemieux goal on the way to a Wales Conference win. He got better as the season went on, kept scoring, and even added a defensive side to his game. Muller’s season isn’t going to get him in any Hall of Fames, but it was memorable for those who were watching at the time.

3. Adam Henrique 2011-12

Adam Henrique is still a fan favorite to this day. The Devils traded the center in the same season they drafted Nico Hischier in order to obtain Sami Vatanen. It helped the Devils make the playoffs in 2012, so most accept it was a necessary expense. However, it hurts to see him thriving in Anaheim.

Looking at that rookie season, Henrique was electric. After playing one game at the end of the previous season, Henrique hit the ground running in 2011-12. After a slow start to October, Henrique started putting up points in November. In the first four games of the month, he had six points including four goals. He eventually played his way on the top line after Travis Zajac suffered a major injury.

This put him in-between Zach Parise and Ilya Kovalchuk, two of the biggest stars in hockey. Parise had 131 career goals going into the season and Kovalchuk had a ridiculous 369 goals. Henrique had a very important role of putting the puck on the stick of two of the sport’s greats. He ended up being a finalist for the Calder Trophy, which went to Colorado’s Gabriel Landeskog.

However, it was not the regular season where Henrique really made his mark. Playoff heroics are part of Henrique’s luster, even though he’s only gone there twice. His 2012 playoff performance physically changed the Devils fortunes. They almost lost in the first round to the Florida Panthers. Instead, they made an improbable run to the Stanley Cup Final.

We all know about the “Henrique, It’s Over” goal call from the legend Doc Emrick. That goal came in overtime of Game 6 in the Eastern Conference Finals against the hated New York Rangers. He also scored a goal in double overtime against the Panthers in Game 7 of the first round. Henrique had ice in his veins that season, and it might be the most memorable rookie season in Devils history. Scoring two goals as important as that will always keep him in the memories of all Devils fans.

2. Scott Gomez 1999-00

Scott Gomez won the second Calder Trophy in the history of the New Jersey Devils. It’s remarkable how few times the Devils were in the running for rookie of the year when there were so many great rookie seasons in team history. Nico Hischier’s great 2017-18 campaign only netted him a 7th-place finish. Meanwhile, Gomez came out of nowhere to take the 2000 Calder on his way to a Stanley Cup Championship.

It was quite the rookie campaign for the Alaska native. He scored 70 points for a powerhouse Devils team that included the “A” line and a decent core of scorers down the middle. Gomez didn’t play on the “A” line, but he was the best scorer outside of it. Patrik Elias was the only player on the team to score more points than he did.

In the playoffs, Gomez was once again scoring points, although not at the clip he was during the season. He had ten points over 23 games. The points in the playoffs came in spurts, as Gomez scored multiple points in three games.

Gomez’s rookie season was a ton of fun, as he jumped right from juniors to the NHL and dominated. He never really hit the heights his rookie season suggested, beating his 70-point mark just once in his career, but Gomez still put together a nice career with the Devils overall. The Calder Trophy-Stanley Cup combo makes it one of the more decorated rookie years in team history.