The 2022-23 training camp for the New Jersey Devils is underway. The training camp roster was announced on Thursday, and there are only two Professional Tryouts that have been made public. Forward Zach Senyshyn and defenseman Thomas Hickey are coming to camp to see if they can win a job with the big club, or at the very least earn an AHL contract with the Utica Comets. PTO’s have had varying results for the Devils over the years. From the senior outcasts that Lou Lamoriello would bring in to the former Penguins that would come in during Ray Shero’s tenure, there have been multiple PTO’s that worked out during the post-lockout era.
Five of them stick out amongst the rest, however. A few contributed to the 2012 Stanley Cup run, while a few others came in and won the fans hearts as well as turned some heads. The likes of Ruslan Fedotenko and Mathieu Darche will not be on this list as they never earned a contract. However, the best player the Devils had on a PTO also never earned a contract with the Devils. He went on to do bigger and better things with a certain rival. But we will get to that. Here are the top five players the Devils had on a PTO.
5. Jordin Tootoo
Okay, this writer is pretty biased when it comes to their favorite player in Jordin Tootoo. However, with all that being said, having a player come in on a PTO and last more than a season with the team is pretty impressive. During the 2014 off-season Tootoo was announced as a PTO for a team that was already stock full of veterans. Along with Tootoo, Fedotenko, Mike Komisarek, Tomas Kaberle, Ryan Carter, and another player who is next on this list were offered PTO’s. There was a lot of competition in camp, however Tootoo set himself above the rest of the group. His tenacity and heavy play gave the Devils something they did not have at the time.
Tootoo would play 134 games with the Devils, scoring 14 goals and had 24 points in those games. It was not his scoring touch that then general manager Lou Lamoriello was seeking, he also accumulated 174 penalty minutes in his tenure. Tootoo kept his reputation from Nashville as a teammate protecting speedster that would drop the gloves at any point for his team. There were two different things that stick out for Tootoo’s time.
First, he did not always wear his patented #22 on his jersey. His first year with the Devils, he would wear the number 20 as then defenseman Eric Gelinas had the aforementioned 22. It was the first time he would not wear 22 as a full time NHLer. When Lamoriello left for the Maple Leafs the following season, new GM Ray Shero gave Tootoo a one year extension and his usual number. The second instance that stood out while Tootoo played for the Devils was the amount of power play time then coach John Hynes gave him.
Towards the end of his Devils career, fans started to clamor for him to not see special teams time as it did not work out the way players and fans would have hoped for. He did score two power play goals. Tootoo’s time in New Jersey was short lived during a time where the team would like for you to forget about what happened to them. Tootoo played one more year in the NHL with the Chicago Blackhawks before retiring at the age of 34.
4. Scott Gomez
Scott Gomez was the last player offered a PTO during the 2014 offseason. He impressed during training camp and earned himself a contract. Well, at least not right away. Gomez had to wait a little bit until Lamoriello offered him a deal with the big club. Gomez was a Devil from 1999 to 2007 before leaving in free agency to the New York Rangers, who will come up again later in this list.
Gomez became public enemy number one for Devils fans, so when it was announced he would be coming to camp on a PTO, it was met with somewhat mixed reactions. Some thought he could reconcile and perform with the Devils while others never wanted him to suit up in red and black again.
When injuries piled up, Lamoriello signed Gomez. On December 1st, Gomez signed a contract for the rest of the season, and it did not take him long to make fans question why he was not signed sooner. Gomez would play 58 games in 2014-15, his most amount of games played in a season since 2010-11. He was never known as a goal scorer and more of an assist machine. He regained his touch and had seven goals and 27 assists for 34 points in those 58 games. Gomez was 35 at the time and did not bring the average age down of the team by any means.
Along with Gomez, Jaromir Jagr, Patrik Elias, and Marek Zidlicky, the Devils had the oldest team in the league. However, without the elder statesmen, the Devils would have finished lower in the standings than they actually did. The season did not start off well. Pete DeBoer was fired later on in December and the weird Adam Oates/Scott Stevens combo took over. It was Gomez’s play among other things that turned the season around. Gomez redeemed himself in the eyes of the fans and bought himself another year in the NHL.
3. Petr Sykora
Old fan favorite Petr Sykora was in hockey limbo after the 2009-10 season. He spent that year with the Minnesota Wild and had an injury-plagued season. He did not sign an NHL contract for the 2010-11 season and signed in the KHL. Trying to give it one last shot, Lamoriello gave the player he drafted back in 1995 a call. Sykora came to camp on a PTO hoping to rekindle his NHL talent and his chemistry with fellow countryman Patrik Elias. It worked out, and then some.
Sykora would play all 82 games in the regular season, something he only accomplished twice before in his 15-year career. 21 goals and 44 points later, Sykora was a mainstay in the Devils lineup come postseason time. However, Sykora found himself on the bad side of then coach Peter DeBoer and was a healthy scratch during a few games of the postseason run. With Sykora’s help, the Devils went all the way to the Stanley Cup Final, scoring two goals in 18 playoff games.
This would be the last stop in Sykora’s NHL career. He would try one more time with HC Bern of the NLA in Switzerland, but only played 5 games for the team and promptly retired. Sykora would return to New Jersey during the 2000 Stanley Cup 20th anniversary celebration where he finally got to take a lap with the Cup in front of the home crowd. Sykora finished his career with 527 career games played with the Devils.
2. Steve Bernier
Steve Bernier was a first-round pick in the famed 2003 draft class but never reached his full potential. He bounced around four different teams before earning a PTO with the Devils during the 2011-12 season. He earned a roster spot out of camp, but like Gomez he had to wait a little bit. Bernier did not sign a contract with the Devils until January of 2012. While with the Devils that first season, Bernier would become part of the infamous ‘CBGB’ fourth line that would propel the Devils in the 2012 playoffs.
With that being said, Bernier’s Devils tenure could be summarized by the one hit he made on Los Angeles Kings’ defenseman Rob Scuderi. The major penalty led to the Kings taking over in Game 6 and capturing their first Stanley Cup in franchise history. The series loss was not Bernier’s fault at all. He was just the last piece of the jenga puzzle that crashed the Devils’ Cinderella playoff run. Bernier’s penalty left him as the most hated Devil for the next few seasons.
Bernier played three more seasons with the Devils and played 224 games for the franchise. It was not until his last season in New Jersey where he broke out offensively. He tied his career high for goals in a season with 16 and points with 32 in 2014-15. He walked in the offseason and went to the New York Islanders in 2015-16 and his career fizzled out after that. Bernier retired around 2019 after his last few years in Bridgeport with the Islanders affiliate in the AHL, staying loyal to Lamoriello.
1. Anton Stralman
This is somewhat cheating. Most people do not remember that Anton Stralman came into the 2011-12 offseason as a PTO with the New Jersey Devils. Stralman did not have an overly stellar camp but then again did not have a bad one either. Stralman came into camp as a 24 year old right handed defenseman coming from the Columbus Blue Jackets as they did not qualify him as a restricted free agent. The defensive corps were crowded as is for the Devils. The right side consisted of Adam Larsson, Mark Fayne, while the left had future captains Andy Greene, Bryce Salvador, Anton Volchenkov, and Henrik Tallinder. The defensive room was just too crowded for Stralman to earn a spot.
If the Devils held onto Stralman, the Devils would have had a right side of Larsson, Stralman, and Fayne for years to come. The addition of Marek Zidlicky might not have been needed. Looking back on it, Stralman as a Devil would have been a luxury for a franchise that would have problems on defense for the next decade or so. Stralman obviously would not sign a contract with the Devils and end up signing with the New York Rangers. Stralman ended up playing 182 games for the Rangers in the next three seasons for the blueshirts. He solidified himself as a top four defenseman, but it was when he moved to the Tampa Bay Lightning that further cemented him as one of the best defensemen in the league.
While with the Lightning, Stralman played 355 games over five seasons. He did not get to win the Stanley Cup with the Lightning, as he left the season before the Lightning won back to back championships. Stralman has played 930 career games, 292 points, which includes 63 career goals. His first two seasons with Tampa Bay he received Norris Trophy votes and has had a more than respectable career. The Devils defense would have looked vastly different with Stralman in the fold. He is currently a free agent and given his age, he might be in need of a PTO. The Devils need a spot filled for depth on defense. Will things come full circle? Anything is a possibility.