50 Greatest New Jersey Devils Players of All Time: Numbers 30-21
The New Jersey Devils have an illustrious history that includes three Stanley Cups. Those wins came eight seasons apart, and in that time, there were a lot of role players who made it a point to help this team win. Wildly enough, despite there being 50 players on this list in total, this is where it becomes clear that players are missing.
Players 21 to 30 have some of the ultimate fan favorites. There is a clear line right here where they had incredible impacts on this franchise. Some had the highest of the highest, and others had long, prosperous careers. All of them brought memories for us fans that will last a lifetime.
For those who missed parts one and two, click on the following links: 50-41 and 40-31.
Greatest New Jersey Devils player of all time: 30. Jamie Langenbrunner
Jamie Langenbrunner was the “other guy” in the massive trade between the Dallas Stars and New Jersey Devils. Lou Lamoriello shocked the hockey world when he sent Jason Arnott, the same player that ended the Stars Stanley Cup dreams with an overtime winner in the 2000 Stanley Cup Final, Randy McKay, and a first-round pick for Joe Nieuwendyk and Langenbrunner.
Nieuwendyk is a future Hall of Famer. He was regularly a 30-goal scorer, and he had 23 goals at the time of the trade. Yet, he left less than two years later.
Meanwhile, Jamie Langenbrunner became the gem of the trade for either side. He spent nine years on the Devils, became their captain after Scott Stevens retired (and the Patrik Elias debacle), was a pivotal part of their 2003 Championship, and he even paid them dividends after he left. When he was traded back to the Stars in 2011, the Devils got a third-round pick in the deal. That third-round pick turned into Blake Coleman.
Langenbrunner finished his Devils career with 385 points in parts of nine seasons. He was regularly a 50-60 point player. Langenbrunner was clearly one of the best fits in Lou Lamoriello’s system and expectations.
Greatest New Jersey Devils player of all time: 29. Aaron Broten
Let’s take a trip back to the 80s when the Devils weren’t very good but the players were still pretty great. The forwards of the 80s had some amazing seasons. Aaron Broten was with the franchise on day one of their time in New Jersey. The Colorado Rockies drafted him in the sixth round of the 1980 NHL Draft. Two years later, he was moving across the country to play for a new franchise named after a mythical figure.
In the Devils’ first year in New Jersey, he was their leading scorer. He only had 55 points, as that team was bad, but he will always and forever be the player who had the most points in the franchise’s first year in its permanent home.
Broten was an outstanding two-way player from the day he joined the league. He eventually got the offense to catch up with the rest of the game. He hit his peak in 1987-88, with 83 points in 80 games. It was the Devils’ first playoff appearance in franchise history. He was crucial to that, and he continued that in the playoffs. He put up 16 points in 20 games as the Devils made a run to the Eastern Conference Finals.
His breakout performance came in Game 2 of the semi-finals against the Washington Capitals. It was one of the most insane playoff games you’ll ever see, with 162 penalty minutes combined between the two teams. Broten had a hat trick in this game, and the Devils took over the series as the underdogs. This was Broten’s career in a nutshell. He made the best of the situation.
Greatest New Jersey Devils player of all time: 28. Cory Schneider
This might be another controversial ranking. Cory Schneider’s time in New Jersey seemed brief, but he was actually the Devils netminder for seven seasons. He was dominant for three seasons. We’re talking about Vezina Trophy consideration-type of dominance. Despite the Devils being a pretty terrible team, he finished sixth in Vezina Trophy voting in 2016.
Schneider came over from the Vancouver Canucks in the famous NHL Draft-day trade in 2014. The draft was in New Jersey, and the Devils were about to pick ninth overall. Instead, Gary Bettman told the crowd they would be interested in his announcement. The Devils sent that pick to the Canucks straight up for Schneider. The pick ended up being Bo Horvat, and there are a lot of opinions about that.
However, Schneider was one of the best in the league in his first three years as the succession plan to Martin Brodeur. In his first season as the full-time Devils starter, Schneider played 69 games and was third in the league in goals saved above average.
Schneider slowly fell off in 2016-17, but he was still a fine starting goalie until 2017-18, when hip injuries caught up to him. Before that, Schneider had the best save percentage of all time. The Devils clearly made a mistake leaning on Schneider when the team wasn’t good. Still, we got to see him be that dominant Schneider one last time, doing his best to carry the Devils in the 2018 postseason. It was only a few games, but Schneider kept the Devils in games against a dominant Tampa Bay Lightning team. He never regained that form, and he was eventually bought out. Yet, we look back fondly on his time in New Jersey.
27. Ilya Kovalchuk
“Kovalchuk” is a bad word in these parts. However, as bad as the end was, we can’t ignore how good it was when it was good. Ilya Kovalchuk came to the New Jersey Devils with a ton of fanfare. he was the most dominant scorer in the league when he was traded to the New Jersey Devils. Just to put some context to it, Kovalchuk had 328 goals with the Atlanta Thrashers, which is one goal behind what Claude Giroux has right now. The Devils were getting the Alex Ovechkin of that era (even though Ovechkin was in the league at this point).
After he joined the Devils, Kovalchuk was good, but he wasn’t good enough to make the top 20. He had two really good seasons in New Jersey, scoring north of 30 goals in 2010-11 and 2011-12. In the lockout-shortened 2013 season, he had 31 points in 37 games. Something was off. It wasn’t that he wasn’t giving 100 percent. He had a back injury that clearly lingered. Then, he devastated the Devils fanbase that offseason when he retired to play in the KHL.
Still, what Kovalchuk provided in 2012 was amazing. Despite playing with a list of injuries, he helped carry that Devils team past the Panthers, Flyers, and Rangers and into the Stanley Cup Final against the Kings. He scored eight goals, tied for the most of any player that playoffs. His five power-play goals also led all players.
It was a terrible end, but Kovalchuk was still great for a few seasons. Lamoriello swung for the fences to keep the end of Martin Brodeur’s career relevant. It almost worked.
Greatest New Jersey Devils player of all time: 26. Stephane Richer
This one will come as a surprise to many. Stephane Richer is not considered with the same lore as the previous three players. However, he had some amazing moments and consistent production during his six years in New Jersey. He was also crucial to the Devils’ ascent to the top of the standings, turning this team into a consistent playoff performer.
Richer joined the Devils in 1991. He was part of the superstar trade that sent Kirk Muller to the Montreal Canadiens. It was two great scorers who switched teams in the primes of their careers. Richer was fantastic for the Devils. He didn’t hit the 50 goals he had with Montreal, but he did score 36 and 38 goals in consecutive seasons in New Jersey.
Where Richer brought his best production was in the playoffs. Coming into New Jersey with a Stanley Cup ring to his name, he was great in both 1994 and 1995. He actually had two overtime goals in 1994 as the Devils made another run to the Eastern Conference Finals. He scored one against the Bruins in Game 4 (that made it 2-2 in the series), and he scored the 2OT winner in Game 1 of the Rangers series.
In 1995, Richer led the team with 21 points. He had a point in every Stanley Cup Final game, including goals in the first two games against the Detroit Red Wings. This was such an underrated player for this team, and the Devils might only have two Stanley Cups if the Richer trade never happens.
Greatest New Jersey Devils player of all time: 25. Alexander Mogilny
Future Hall of Famer (at least he better be) Alexander Mogilny was not with the Devils for very long, but he left a huge mark when he was here. In just three seasons, Mogilny had 114 points in 121 games. He was a huge reason the Devils made the 2000 and 2001 Stanley Cup Final. Those two runs are as important as any in the history of this franchise.
He has a certain lore with this franchise. Mogilny had more games with every other franchise he’s ever played with. The Devils stint probably felt complicated at first, but it was so monumental that he joined this franchise when he did.
In 2000-01, Mogilny and Patrik Elias were the Devils’ best players. Mogilny had 43 goals that season. He added five goals and 16 points in the playoffs.
Maybe this one is lore more than anything else. Mogilny’s second stint with the Devils was weird. He was sent to the minors so the Devils could save salary cap space. A major hip injury basically ended his career, and he couldn’t get clear for his fourth season with the Devils. If you told someone who wasn’t around during these years that Mogilny was a top-25 player in Devils history, they would scoff. However, anyone who was there knows what he was to this team.
![Randy McKay of the New Jersey Devils: (Tom Copeland/ALLSPORT)[/caption]](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/w_480/shape/cover/sport/f84106e8959787ad6f6163788ee753bd33ab10bed1e5e1de2f2c809b6f01925e.jpg)
Greatest New Jersey Devils player of all time: 24. Randy McKay
Randy McKay was the heart-and-soul player of those great Devils teams. He didn’t light the lamp like Richer or Elias, he didn’t gain the headlines of Scott Stevens, Martin Brodeur, or even Bobby Holik, and he isn’t always the name that comes up when we talk about fan favorites. However, Randy McKay was a vital part of two Stanley Cup teams.
McKay came to the Devils as compensation for the Detroit Red Wings signing Troy Crowder. It was a terrible deal for the Wings, as Crowder played just seven games in the Motor City before suffering a serious injury. McKay went on to play 760 games with the Devils. He was a physical presence who had some big offensive moments.
McKay is most known for two very different games. He scored the game-winning goal in Game 6 of the 1995 Eastern Conference Finals against the Philadelphia Flyers. That goal sent the Devils to the Stanley Cup Final, where they swept the Red Wings. He also scored four goals in a game in 2000. John Madden also scored four goals, making it the first time since the 1920s two teammates scored four goals in a game.
McKay’s most famous contributions came as a member of the Crash Line. Paired with Holik and Mike Peluso, these three grinders turned defense into offense. It was a driver for the Devils lore. Call it the Trap, call it a defensive strategy, but they were insanely effective together. McKay was a huge reason for that.
Greatest New Jersey Devils player of all time: 23. Pat Verbeek
Pat Verbeek was another one of the young Devils who helped them in the early going. He was a second-round pick of the 1982 NHL Draft, the first draft the Devils had after moving to New Jersey. He ended up being a great pick, making the league in that very same season, playing six games. He became a full-time contributor the next season, putting up 47 points in his first campaign.
Verbeek went from good to great as he entered his prime. He went from 15 to 25 to 35 to 46 goals in consecutive seasons, with his best campaign coming in the Devils first playoff performance. Being the superstar scorer on a team that needed to outscore the opponents in the insane 80s was incredibly important.
This player was ironically very close to what we think of the Devils of Yore. He was a tough-nosed player (2,500 career penalty minutes) who could score with the top players in the league.
The Devils traded Verbeek for Sylvain Turgeon in what was a huge disappointment. Verbeek went on to have more very productive seasons, while Turgeon was largely terrible in the Garden State. If Verbeek stuck with New Jersey, he might have made the top ten of this list.
Greatest New Jersey Devils player of all time: 22. Adam Henrique
“Henrique, it’s over” will live in the ears of Devils and Rangers fans alike. The then-rookie Adam Henrique was in the right place at the right time, waiting past the legendary Henrik Lundqvist as the puck trickled past him in 2OT. Henrique ended Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals with a goal and a sprint to the boards. The goal ended the Rangers’ season, sending the Devils to their fifth Stanley Cup Final.
That was just the beginning of the Adam Henrique lore. He wasn’t even supposed to be in this position. Travis Zajac got hurt in the preseason, an injury most thought would tank the Devils’ season. Henrique stepped in between Zach Parise and Ilya Kovalchuk, and he fed the two superstars all year. He matched up with them in the playoffs, even when Zajac came back into the lineup. Henrique showed his knack for heroics when he scored the Game 7 winner in the first round against the Florida Panthers.
To be honest, those goals might have inflated Henrique’s ranking, but he’s more than that. He had a 30-goal season in 2015-16. He was constantly an offensive center who could fill in any role the team needed. He was also a fantastic penalty killer, leading the NHL in shorthanded goals in 2011-12.
Still, everything comes down to those two iconic moments, one more iconic than the next. The Rangers goal will never be matched. It might be more important than the goal that won the Devils the 2000 Stanley Cup. That might sound preposterous, but this was a franchise hoping to get one more moment for Martin Brodeur, and the rookie delivered. Henrique speaks highly of his time in New Jersey after he was traded to the Anaheim Ducks. Who knows. Maybe this partnership isn’t completely over.
Greatest New Jersey Devils player of all time: 21. Bruce Driver
Bruce Driver is a very hard player to rank because it seems like he was stuck in the wrong era. He was a defenseman who could skate, which is a priority in today’s game. He looked a lot like Quinn Hughes looks in today’s game. That just wasn’t what was needed in the 1980s and 90s. They wanted defensemen who prioritized defense. Driver
He was with the Devils for 11 seasons and was even named captain for the 1991-92 season. Driver topped 50 points three different times, hitting a career-high 55 in the 1987-88 season. That would be the first time the Devils ever made it to the playoffs, and Driver’s contributions were key that season. He was fourth on that team in points, and then in the playoffs, he recorded three goals and seven assists in games.
Driver ranks eighth all-time in assists, and he was an underrated driver of offense. He was on the ice for 1,000 goals scored in a Devils uniform. Only Patrik Elias, Scott Stevens, Scott Niedermayer, and John MacLean can say that.
Of course, like too many Devils, Driver broke the hearts of Devils’ fans by signing with the Rangers after the 1995 Stanley Cup win. He signed a three-year deal worth a total of $3.9 million. While that left a bad taste in some Devils’ fans’ mouths, Driver has been a Devils legend and has been around the team ever since his retirement in 1998 as soon as his Rangers contract ended.
Next. 5 Surprising Hall of Fame Ties. dark