Greatest New Jersey Devils player of all time: 38. Brian Rolston
Brian Rolston is another player the Devils drafted after their 1988 playoff run, but before they really started making the playoffs on a yearly basis. They took him with the 11th overall pick. It was the Devils second pick, thanks to the Toronto Maple Leafs, who traded them a pick that ended up being the third overall. They took Scott Niedermayer with that pick. He’ll probably come up later.
Rolston didn’t make the Devils NHL roster until the 1994-95 season. As you may have heard, this is a significant season for the franchise. He played 40 games in the lockout-shortened season and had 18 points. He only played in six playoff games that season, but that didn’t stop him from making an impact. He scored twice against the Flyers in four games and even showed up in two Stanley Cup Final games against the Detroit Red Wings.
Over the next three seasons, he would play a more significant role with the Devils. Then, he would make his most pivotal contribution through a trade to the Colorado Avalanche. Before the deadline in 2000, the Devils traded Rolston and a first-round pick swap for Claude Lemieux. It helped the Devils eventually win another Stanley Cup.
If that was it for him in New Jersey, he probably wouldn’t make this list. However, he returned to the Devils near the end of his career. He ended up playing three more seasons with the Devils and added another 20-goal season in the latter years of his career.