Greatest New Jersey Devils player of all time: 36. Petr Statsny
Petr Statsny is one of those players who many forget played for the Devils. He surely didn’t earn his Hall of Fame induction in the Garden State, but he was still a star in New Jersey. He did all that with the Quebec Nordiques. However, before the deadline in 1989, the Devils traded for the star to add to a young team.
The Devils sent center Craig Wolanin to bring in Statsny. He never hit 100 points like he did seven times in Quebec. He was no longer a 40-goal scorer, but he was a significant part of a team that was trying to build something in NJ.
Statsny was the captain in Quebec, but he came to New Jersey with an even bigger leadership role. He was fluent in six different languages, which proved helpful as more players were defecting from Russia and Europe to the NHL.
Statsny never hit those offensive stats he did previously, but he did provide the necessary culture the team wanted. This was not a winning franchise that Statsny was coming to. However, the Devils made the playoffs every single year with Statsny on the roster. This was a changing of the guard, with the old Mickey Mouse Devils turning into a defensive powerhouse that put winning over everything. It all started with the acquisition of Statsny, who spent more than three seasons in New Jersey.