50 Greatest New Jersey Devils Players of All Time: Numbers 30-21

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.