The New Jersey Devils have an interesting history of draft picks. Some of their earliest picks became all-time greats. The Devils have drafted eighteen players who went on to play 1,000 games. Lou Lamoriello and Ray Shero have been great at the NHL Draft. It’s too early to tell with Tom Fitzgerald.
However, for every player who was a slam dunk, there is a huge bust. Now, many of the biggest busts get multiple opportunities to showcase their talents in the NHL. When a team uses a high draft pick on a player, the team will do everything in its power to make it work.
Then, there are players who get one small opportunity and then never get an opportunity again. The Devils have drafted seven players who played exactly one game in the NHL. The Colorado Rockies have others, as well. There are exactly five who were drafted by this franchise and played exactly one game for said franchise.
Daniil Misyul
2019 NHL Draft
Third Round, 70th overall
This one is the most recent and Daniil Misyul played his first game with the Devils this past season. And then, just like that, he’s no longer with the franchise.
Misyul got a chance early in the season with Luke Hughes and Brett Pesce on the shelf. He brought a defensive mindset after Simon Nemec and Seamus Casey were struggling to replace the injured Devils. Misyul was given a game to show what he could do.
He played a little over 12 minutes and was fine, but he was sent back down to the Utica Comets a few days later. Later that season, the Devils traded Misyul to the Boston Bruins for Marc McLaughlin.
We would say he has a shot to play more games with the Bruins, but Misyul actually left the NHL this offseason. He signed with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl on a one-year deal. He could return to the NHL/AHL later in his career, but for now, he’s a drafted Devils player who has one game under his belt and is no longer in the league.
Reilly Walsh
2017 NHL Draft
Third Round, 81st overall
In a strangely similar situation, Reilly Walsh was once a high-quality defensive prospect who had upside to become an NHLer one day. The Devils surprisingly signed him during the pandemic when Harvard’s season didn’t go as planned. He played his first season with the Binghamton Devils (who played in Newark that season) before following the AHL team to Utica.
Walsh was incredible in his second season for Utica, putting up 43 points in 70 games. That performance earned him a call up to the NHL. He jumped into the lineup after P.K. Subban got sick and had to miss a game. Walsh got an assist in that game, making him a point-per-game defenseman for his career.
The Devils couldn’t find a spot in the NHL for Walsh, so they traded him to the Boston Bruins for Shane Bowers. He didn’t play well with the Bruins, so he signed with the Los Angeles Kings and played for the Ontario Reign.
This offseason, Walsh signed with Barys Astana of the KHL. With the open ice, he has a chance to really excel there, and he could come back to the NHL one day. He’s an American player, so that seems likely, but for now, Walsh is playing outside the league.
Jeff Frazee
2005 NHL Draft
Second Round, 38th overall
Lou Lamoriello had the greatest goalie of all time in the crease for most of his tenure with the Devils. The Devils drafted Martin Brodeur with the 20th overall pick in the 1990 NHL Draft. One would think Lamoriello wouldn’t waste draft picks on a goalie, knowing he had that position secured for the long haul.
That’s not how it went. Lamoriello drafted 18 goalies after drafting Brodeur from 1990 to 2014. This includes drafting two other goalies in the 1990 draft (Mike Dunham and Corey Schwab). It also includes using a 2005 second-round pick on Jeff Frazee. It’s a particularly painful pick because former Devils great Peter Stastny’s son Paul Stastny was still on the board.
Frazee was always considered a decent prospect, playing really well for the Lowell Devils. He finally got his NHL shot after six seasons in the minors. He was called up after Broduer got hurt in 2013. He backed up Johan Hedberg alongside a young Keith Kinkaid.
Frazee played that game and then was back in the AHL later that year. He would sign in the Italian hockey league after that season and never came back to the NHL. He retired from hockey after playing his last year in Slovakia in 2016-17.
Stanislav Gron
1997 NHL Draft
Second Round, 38th overall
The Devils had the 38th-overall pick four times in franchise history. Once the player played zero games and twice the player played exactly one NHL game. The other player is Jon Merrill, who had a decent NHL career. Besides Frazee, Stanislav Gron was taken in the second round of the 1997 NHL Draft.
This year’s draft was particularly bad after the first 12 picks. Guys like Marian Hossa, Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Roberto Luongo, and Olli Jokinen were all off the board in the top 15. When the Devils were up in the first round (24th overall) they took a goalie for some reason. With their second-round pick, they selected Gron.
The Slovakian winger had a good first season in the AHL, putting up 19 goals for the Albany River Rats. He would get a chance to play in the NHL his next season, playing one game in the league.
Gron would play two more years in the NHL. He spent the next 10+ years playing in Czechia, Slovakia, Italy, and Germany.
Rick LaFerriere
1980 NHL Draft
Fourth Round, 64th overall
To get to the fifth player, we have to go all the way back to the Colorado Rockies. Rick LaFerriere was a fourth-round goalie who was drafted in 1980. In an unusual rush, LaFerriere made his NHL debut two years later. His one and only NHL appearance came in relief of Chico Resch in a game against the Detroit Red Wings.
Unlike the rest of the players on this list, LaFerriere only played on period before he was returned to the minors.
LaFerriere never made the move to New Jersey, only playing in the IHL and CHL. The former starting goalie for the 1980 World Juniors Canadian team just didn’t hit his stride and never made it back to the NHL.
He was out of hockey before he turned 30 years old. His lack of size was always going to make it hard to make it at the next level (he was 5’8). It's not a surprise he only got the one game.