Ranking Every New Jersey Devils 1st-Round Draft Pick Part 3: Success Stories
By Mike Luci
No. 7: Scott Gomez
Center
27th Overall, 1998
Scott Gomez is New Jersey’s all-time leader among US-born players with 484 points in 606 games. New Jersey selected Gomez with their second of consecutive first-round picks they had in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft. Gomez won the 2000 Calder Trophy as NHL’s rookie of the year on top of winning the Stanley Cup. Quickly becoming a cornerstone on the Devil’s offense, Gomez won two championships and made an additional Stanley Cup Finals run over his first four seasons.
For a time, Gomez was one of the league’s top playmaking centers. He was instrumental in Brian Gionta’s 48-goal season (2005-2006), during which he had a career year of his own, netting 33 goals and 84 points. Gomez outraged Devils fans after signing a seven-year deal with the New York Rangers in 2007, where he only lasted for two seasons, before getting traded to the Montreal Canadiens. He had one decent season in Montreal, where his play subsequently declined.
After bouncing around the league for a few years, Gomez made New Jersey’s 2014-2015 team out of training camp and despite them missing the playoffs, posted redemptive numbers that season—seven goals and 34 points in 58 contests. Despite his career’s latter half largely resembling a fall from grace and never replicating the playoff success in New Jersey anywhere else, Gomez had a fulfilling NHL career. He respectively ranks third and second all-time in assists (361) among Devils players and forwards. It’s hard to say how things would have panned out if Gomez stayed, but despite the nature of his initial departure, seemed to make amends with Devils fans after his modestly successful second stint.