Greatest New Jersey Devils player of all time: 50. Jaromir Jagr
There’s not much to celebrate for this franchise over the last 10 years. One thing that was surprisingly fun was Jaromir Jagr’s time with the Devils. He signed with the team after one of its lowest points, the retirement of Ilya Kovalchuk. He said that was one of the reasons he signed there. In reality, Jagr and the Devils both desperately needed a reset.
Jagr’s return to the NHL had been uninspiring at best. He spent two seasons with three teams. He signed with the Philadelphia Flyers, spent less than a season with the Dallas Stars, and he had an interesting playoff run with the Boston Bruins. He was being doubted for the first time in his career, but the Devils seemed to get the most out of him.
Jagr’s time with the Devils was short, but oh was it fun. He had 96 points in 139 games. He spent the majority of his time on the first line alongside Travis Zajac. Someone even threw him a Hart Trophy vote for his first season in New Jersey, where he did his best to bring the Devils towards a playoff run. They came within five points of making it, and a putrid overtime record kept them out.
Jagr is a top-ten player of all time. He is on everyone’s list when it comes to the impact on the game of hockey. When it comes to the Devils franchise, Jagr’s impact might be small, but he deserves to be on the list. His 139 games were all that got us through a tough time, and it was that impact that means more than a lot of other players in this franchise’s history.