New Jersey Devils 2012 Stanley Cup Team: Where are they now?
![Ilya Kovalchuk #17 of the New Jersey Devils (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) Ilya Kovalchuk #17 of the New Jersey Devils (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/67bcfac251f13ff7af9ea9087e1f9680370d8c69084f4244a7869fccdf637374.jpg)
It’s not often you see a team put together an entirely new line in one year, but that’s exactly what the New Jersey Devils did with Ryan Carter and their fourth line in the 2011-12 season. Carter, alongside Steve Bernier and Stephen Gionta, formed a fun fourth line for the Devils for a couple of years.
Like several of his Devils teammates, Carter was acquired by New Jersey during the 2011-12 season and would wind up playing a prominent role with the team as time passed. Carter played the penalty kill, excelled in the faceoff dot, and threw hits. He was a prototypical Devils player for that era.
In the 2011-12 regular season, Ryan Carter scored a modest four goals and four assists across 65 games but served as the team’s Energizer bunny in the playoffs. Carter missed one playoff game, but scored five goals and two assists in the other 23 that he did play in. All five goals came at even strength, and two were game-winners. Carter’s game-winners were in Game One against the Florida Panthers and Game Five against the New York Rangers. He also scored the opening goal in Game Six against the Rangers and the game-tying goal in Game Two against the Rangers.
Ryan Carter played the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons with the New Jersey Devils before the team let him walk. After spending three years with the team, Carter was offered a try-out in 2014, but the Devils did not offer him any type of NHL contract, so he instead signed with the Minnesota Wild. Carter played the next two years with the Wild and spent 2016-17 with the Iowa Wild.
Ryan Carter officially retired in 2017 and has since worked with the Minnesota Wild as a color commentator, and digital content producer, among other things. He’s also been an analyst for Fox Sports North.