Ranking Every New Jersey Devils 1st-Round Draft Pick Part 3: Success Stories
By Mike Luci
No. 8: Petr Sykora
Right Wing
18th Overall, 1995
It was hard putting Petr Sykora ahead of Zach Parise and even Brian Rolston, but his playoff resume put him over the top. Remembered for his role on the infamous A-Line, where he played alongside Jason Arnott and Patrik Elias, the trifecta guided New Jersey in 2000 and 2001 to consecutive Stanley Cup Finals appearances. Although their line would score the timeless cup-clinching goal in double overtime of game six of the 2000 Stanley Cup Finals, they did so without Sykora, who was taken out of the game after receiving a vicious hit from Dallas Stars defenseman Darien Hatcher.
New Jersey traded Sykora to the Anaheim Ducks in 2002 for forward Jeff Friesen and defenseman Oleg Tdervovsky. With Anaheim, Sykora would face his former team in the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals, losing to them in seven games. Between his two stints with the New Jersey Devils, Sykora played for five teams—Anaheim Ducks, New York Rangers, Edmonton Oilers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Minnesota Wild. After a down year in 2009-2010, Sykora spent the following season in Europe, and it appeared his NHL career had concluded. He made the Devil’s 2011-2012 team out of training camp as a tryout, where he appeared in all 82 games and scored 21 goals.
Remarkably, Sykora played in six Stanley Cup Finals over his NHL career—the most of anyone on this list—including a pair of consecutive appearances with New Jersey (2000, 2001) and Pittsburgh (2008, 2009). Sykora’s 394 points and 166 goals with New Jersey respectively put him second and third all-time among Devils right wings. He had 10 consecutive seasons where he scored 21+ goals from 1999-2009 and netted at least that many in 11 of his 15 NHL seasons.