5 New Jersey Devils Legends Who Would Dominate Today’s NHL

Brian Rafalski

When it comes down to it, there might not be a more underrated, underappreciated player in NHL history than Brian Rafalski. And, it’s reasonable to assume it’s because A.) he did not play 1,000 games, and B.) he didn’t make his NHL debut until age 26 (!!!).

One of the best of his era, Brian Rafalski was everything a team could want out of a defenseman and more. Wildly productive and relatively ageless, Rafalski scored 40 or more points in all but two of his NHL seasons: his rookie year in 1999-00 and the 2003-04 season. The latter was the only season Rafalski played fewer than 70 games aside from his last, wherein he was 37 years old.

Brian Rafalski received Norris Trophy votes six times in his career but never came away with the prestigious award. Instead, Rafalski can take solace in his three Stanley Cup triumphs, two of which came with the New Jersey Devils.

Ironically, the Devils won a Stanley Cup in Rafalski’s rookie year, where the then-26-year-old stepped into the NHL for the first time, regularly ate up 20 or more minutes a night, and flat-out dominated in those minutes.

With another, say, five years under his belt in the NHL, Brian Rafalski could easily have four or five Stanley Cups. He missed the 1994-95 Cup, and it’s easy to imagine he could’ve helped the Devils secure another championship between that Cup and the 2000 Cup. Rafalski was truly a special, special defenseman from the very start of his career to the very end.

Rafalski left the New Jersey Devils in 2007 after seven years to join the Detroit Red Wings, with whom he won his third and final Stanley Cup. Rafalski retired sixth all-time in plus-minus as a Devil with a +100 rating; he never finished any season with a negative rating. Rafalski is 11th all-time in Devils assists with 267 and was on the ice for 252 power-play goals for the Devils.

Brian Rafalski was inducted into the USA Hockey Hall of Fame in 2014 but hasn’t been named to the Hockey Hall of Fame we all recognize today.

John MacLean

John MacLean faded into hockey obscurity after a failed stint as New Jersey Devils head coach, among other things, but New Jersey Devils fans remember MacLean as the team’s first elite player who helped bring the franchise into relevancy.

Widely considered the franchise’s second-best offensive player of all time, John MacLean is second in New Jersey Devils history in goals (347), fourth in assists (354), and second in points (701). Only Patrik Elias has scored more goals for the Devils, and only Elias, Niedermayer, and Scott Gomez have assisted on more goals.

Like Bruce Driver, MacLean was with the New Jersey Devils from their infancy through their first Stanley Cup victory. Although he would miss out on the Devils’ 2000 Cup win, MacLean would rejoin the organization as an assistant coach for the 2003 Cup win. In 2000, MacLean was busy playing for the New York Rangers – specialists in failure who prove the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.

At the peak of his abilities, John MacLean scored 40 goals in three consecutive seasons from 1988-89 to 1990-91. MacLean was a remarkably consistent finisher during his career, scoring 20 or more goals a whopping 11 times, including the aforementioned 40-goal years. MacLean also twice received Selke votes in 1995 and 1996. Imagine a guy like that on a line with Jack Hughes in today’s NHL.

After his retirement, John MacLean ventured into coaching with varied levels of success. He was an assistant on the 2003 Cup team, served as the Lowell Devils’ head coach in 2009-10, and was head coach of the New Jersey Devils for no more than six months in 2010. MacLean has also coached for the Carolina Hurricanes and Arizona Coyotes and was most recently an assistant with the San Jose Sharks in 2021.

Imagine the impact MacLean could have today? Put him on a line with any of the current Devils stars, and everyone would hit career highs.

The only member of this list not to begin his NHL playing career with the New Jersey Devils, Bobby Holik was drafted 10th overall by the Hartford Whalers in 1989 but made his name in Red and Black. Holik helped form the formidable, physically imposing ‘Crash’ line alongside wingers Mike Peluso and Randy McKay.

The Hartford Whalers traded Bobby Holik to the New Jersey Devils after just two years in the league, and the 6’4″ 240-pound Czech behemoth quickly became a fan favorite. His massive hits and physical style endeared him to the Devils’ faithful, but Holik was an underrated goal scorer for a big, tall grinder.

Over his 18-year NHL career, Bobby Holik scored 20 or more goals nine times. Six of those times were with the New Jersey Devils, two were with the Hartford Whalers, and the remaining one came with the New York Rangers. Impressively, two of those seasons with the New Jersey Devils saw Holik pot 20 or more goals just at even-strength.

Bobby Holik was an asset for the New Jersey Devils in all areas of the ice. He did the nasty work behind the net and along the boards, got to the net to finish off plays, and played excellent defense. Holik received Selke votes seven times in his career and finished as high as fifth in Selke voting in 1998. In that same season, Holik finished 20th in Hart voting, as he received one fifth-place vote. For reference, Steve Yzerman earned two fifth-place votes that year and Niklas Lidstrom earned two fourth-place votes and one fifth-place vote. Even as a grinder, Holik was immensely valuable to the New Jersey Devils.

Bobby Holik retired as a two-time Stanley Cup Champion, both with the Devils. Although he wasn’t the most skilled player in the world, Holik is 10th all-time on the New Jersey Devils in games played (786), third in goals (202, tied with Travis Zajac), 10th in assists (270), seventh in points (472), third in even-strength goals (158), third in game-winning goals (43), and tied for sixth in hat-tricks (3).

In all, a very productive career for Bobby Holik, who became a New Jersey Devils legend and a cult hero and proved that success comes in all different (large) shapes and sizes. He also proved that success sometimes unexpectedly and painfully rams you into the glass. If you think the Tkachuk brothers are a pain to play against in today’s NHL, you would hate Bobby Holik.

Is it even possible to say enough about Patrik Elias? Elias shouldn’t even be on this list, but because the Hockey Hall of Fame voting is farcical at best, here we are.

Patrik Elias was one of the greatest defensive forwards at his peak and retired as the New Jersey Devils’ greatest forward ever. Drafted 51st overall in the second round of the 1994 NHL Draft, Elias became an NHL regular three years later at the age of 21.

Patrik Elias was too young to be a member of the New Jersey Devils’ 1995 team that won the Stanley Cup, but the mild-mannered Czech winger would be the Devils’ leading scorer on both the 2000 and 2003 Cup-winning teams.

Patrik Elias set pretty much every franchise record imaginable for the New Jersey Devils, including points in a season (96) that stood for 22 years until Jack Hughes broke it (99) this past season. Elias leads the Devils franchise in goals (408), assists (617), points (1,025), even-strength goals (279), power-play goals (113), game-winning goals (80), hat-tricks (8), and total on-ice goals for (1,316). In addition, Elias is third in games played (1,240), and tied for second in plus-minus with Scott Niedermayer (+172).

Patrik Elias achieved everything as a New Jersey Devil and reached the pinnacle of hockey twice. He did so whilst playing for a team that preached defense and as the best forward on his team. He even moved from wing to center full-time on multiple occasions in his 30s to better accommodate the team. Still, Elias never won a single individual award in his career to get the recognition he deserved.

In a league that has had a growing emphasis on playing a responsible game at both ends of the ice, it’s easy to see why Patrik Elias would dominate today’s NHL.

If Elias had, for example, Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt as linemates during his prime years, there’s little doubt he would go for 100 points or better. He had the shot, he had the creativity, and he most certainly had the hockey IQ. He even made Pavel Zacha look like a beast in his final NHL game.

In fact, Patrik Elias would slot into the current New Jersey Devils team perfectly. He was great on offense, but he was elite defensively. Perhaps the best of his era. After losing valuable penalty killers like Yegor Sharangovich and Jesper Boqvist, today’s Devils would probably love to have a player so good at both ends of the ice. Even in his late 30s, Patrik Elias was comfortably one of the best defensive forwards in the NHL, despite the Devils being downright awful in the last few years of his career.

Bruce Driver, John MacLean, and Bobby Holik all played for the New York Rangers after leaving the New Jersey Devils, and their careers suffered for it. Patrik Elias nearly suffered the same fate in the summer of ’06, but the specialists-in-failure New York Rangers refused to insert a no-movement clause in Elias’ contract. As a result, Elias remained a Devil for the entirety of his career. Imagine how different things would be if Elias put pen to paper on July 1, 2006.

This John Madden wouldn’t give you a turkey leg after a game on Thanksgiving Day, but he would give you a lot of other things – mostly ones that help you win hockey games.

Undrafted from the college hockey powerhouse that is now the Michigan Wolverines, John Madden joined the New Jersey Devils as a free agent and spent the bulk of his first two years in the organization with the Albany River Rats in the AHL. After scoring 98 points in 75 games with the River Rats in the 1998-99 season, it became obvious that Madden was playing in a league far below his skill level.

John Madden was subsequently promoted to the New Jersey Devils the following year and was a key member of the Stanley Cup-winning squad that year alongside fellow rookie Brian Rafalski. Madden would also feature on the 2003 Cup-winning team, winning one more in 2010 as a member of the Chicago Blackhawks against the hated Devils rival Philadelphia Flyers.

John Madden was remarkably durable and consistent throughout his NHL career. As a New Jersey Devil, Madden never scored fewer than 12 goals in a season and finished with 30 or more points in eight of his 10 seasons in Red and Black. Madden also never played fewer than 74 games in any of his 10 seasons in New Jersey.

Madden won the Selke Trophy in the 2000-01 season and would finish in second place in Selke voting in 2002-03, 2003-04, and 2007-08. He also finished fifth in voting in 2005-06 and 10th in 2006-07. Madden retired as the Devils’ all-time leader in short-handed goals with 17.

If John Madden had some more juice offensively, Patrice Bergeron and his six Selke wins might be an afterthought. Sure, the Selke is given to the best defensive forward, but offensive production undeniably plays a huge factor, just like how Erik Karlsson won the Norris Trophy for the 2022-23 season by scoring 101 points on the third-worst defensive team in the NHL.

In today’s NHL, every team would want a John Madden. Truthfully, every team needs a John Madden. Madden’s defensive capabilities were so unprecedented that finding another player as consistent as he was would be rare. Even Anze Kopitar, who has won the Selke Trophy twice, has only finished in the top five of Selke voting four times outside of his two wins. In the past 15 years, Kopitar, Bergeron, and Pavel Datsyuk have been the only players to win the trophy multiple times.

In today’s NHL, they don’t really make guys like John Madden anymore.