When Scott Wedgewood was announced as the starting goalie for the Colorado Avalanche for Sunday's night game against the New Jersey Devils, there was a collective groan amongst the fanbase. It seems as if Wedgewood always has the Devils' number. True to form, Wedgewood shut the Devils out in a 4-0 embarrassment for the black and red.
Stopping 26 out of 26 shots, Wedgewood was part of a massive concoction that doomed the Devils from the start. A home game against a former Devils goalie, a Chris Rooney-called game, and the Avalanche are playing on back-to-back nights. This was the least surprising result of the 2024-25 season since the Mackenzie Blackwood shutout earlier this year.
However, the fanbase has to be blowing the "former Devils goalie always gets the last laugh" trope out of proportion, right? Well, according to the statistics of the last half decade or so, adding the results of all former Devils goalies against them, it plays exactly into that trope.
Since the 2014-15 season, there have only been six goalies to leave the Devils organization to end up playing against them for a different team. On top of Wedgewood and Blackwood, the Devils have faced Jon Gillies, Eric Comrie, Keith Kinkaid, and Cory Schnieder. Between the six, they have played a combined 13 games, with nine of them being starts. Only Gillies has not started against his old team.
To go through the stats, we have to look at how the Devils got the goalie and how they left the organization.
The easiest would be Gillies. He was acquired from the Blues in the abysmal 2021-22 season where the team used seven different goalies. Three of the six goalies mentioned before were on this team, for the record. Gillies was acquired after a few others were injured and in turn rewarded the Devils with being one of the worst the franchise has seen in the 21st century.
Are previous New Jersey Devils goaltenders haunting their former employer? The data suggests that might be true.
With the Devils, he started 14 games and went 3-10-1, with a .885 save percentage and a 3.76 goals against. He was acquired for nothing and left for nothing in free agency. He appeared against the Devils with the Columbus Blue Jackets the next season in relief and allowed three goals on 12 shots in one period. He is the worst of the Former Six.
Keith Kinkaid was an undrafted free agent signing by former General Manager Lou Lamoriello back in 2011. He made his Devils debut in 2013. He was a key member of the 2017-18 Devils team that made the playoffs. He could not replicate his success and was gone from the organization via trade in 2019 to the Blue Jackets. His career with the Devils ended with 132 starts in 151 games, a 70-58-21 record, a .906 save percentage, and a 2.90 goals against.
His one and only appearance against the Devils was a start with the Montreal Canadiens in November of 2019. He allowed four goals on 43 shots in an overtime loss. That is the first victory against a former goalie for the Devils.
Next we will look at Cory Schneider. Famously acquired from the Vancouver Canucks during the 2013 NHL Draft in New Jersey, Schneider was one of the best goalies the Devils have ever seen put on a Devils logo. He should have had more wins as a Devil, however there was rarely goal support for him. He finished with a very deceiving 115-133-50 record as a Devil. His save percentage was .915 and had a 2.50 goals against.
Later in his Devils tenure, hip injuries and poor defense in front of him led to a massive decline. After the 2019-20 season, Schneider was bought out of his contract and only played one more game in the NHL. That's right, Cory Schneider only played one NHL game after leaving the Devils, and it was against the Devils.
He signed with the New York Islanders, reuniting with Lamoriello and mainly played in the AHL. On April 4th, 2022, Schneider allowed three goals in a victory. He stopped 27 of 30 shots, getting the last laugh against the team that gave up on him.
Eric Comrie was only on the Devils for a few weeks. During the 2020-21 Covid shortened season, Comrie was claimed off of waivers from the Winnipeg Jets. The Devils thought they had a tandem of Blackwood and Corey Crawford going into an uncertain time. Crawford abruptly retired, which left the Devils scrambling. They would also claim Aaron Dell, who would play along with Blackwood and Wedgewood.
Dell only played one game, allowing three goals in a victory over the Buffalo Sabres. Since then, he has played the Devils three times, starting all three. He started with the Jets, who had re-claimed him, against the Devils in 2021, winning that start and allowing a single goal.
On the next two occasions, he would appear as a Sabre in 2023. In the first game, he allowed two goals before being pulled midway through the second period due to injury. The next start he allowed four goals, being pulled after the first period this time due to poor play. He is the first of the six goalies to appear in more than one game against the Devils. He has a 1-1-0 record, the first regulation loss of the six, a .899 save percentage, and a 3.84 goals against.
Mackenzie Blackwood, at one point, was the future of the New Jersey Devils in goal. In some discussions, he was also the future goalie of Team Canada. He came onto the scene red hot, providing a bright spot in a place the Devils had not had hope in quite some time. Then, Covid happened.
Blackwood's play dropped slightly in the bubble. The first season of being somewhat normal, Blackwood famously was not vaccinated and caused a major distraction to the team. His play fell even further as he was hurt throughout the year, his stats falling well above what was expected. His reputation soured with the fanbase and he was borderline unplayable towards the end of his Devils tenure.
His very last start for the Devils, he was pulled against the Washington Capitals, a game the Devils would win in overtime. His first three years with the Devils, he was 46-41-12 with a .911 save percentage and a 2.83 goals against. His final two years he was 19-16-6 with a .893 save percentage and a 3.30 goals against.
As a restricted free agent Blackwood was then traded to the San Jose Sharks, surprising people that the Devils were able to get anything in return. He has played the Devils twice as a member of the Sharks, although he left early in the first one due to injury. In both games, Blackwood has not allowed a goal on 57 shots in just over 77 minutes combined.
That brings us to the man of the hour, Scott Wedgewood. Once a Devils draft pick back in 2010, he made his NHL debut in 2016 beginning his career on a high note. His second start was a shutout against future Stanley Cup Champion the Pittsburgh Penguins. He would become the third string goalie as time would go on.
Cory Schneider got hurt during the 2017-18 season, and the Devils brought Wedgewood up. He did not play for the Devils that season and would then be traded to the Arizona Coyotes when Schneider became healthy. He played one game against the Devils as a member of the Coyotes, shutting the Devils out.
He came back to the Devils in 2021, once again as the third string, this time behind Blackwood and Crawford. With Crawford retiring, Wedgewood became the number two. His play slipped in the bubble, along with every other Devils goalie, as mentioned before.
The next season, Wedgewood returned as the third string behind Blackwood and new acquisition Jonathan Bernier. Bernier had been hurt during training camp and seemingly came back too early. Blackwood was also hurt during this period. While knowing both goalies were not playing 100%, Tom Fitzgerald waived Wedgewood after three apperances in the 2021-22 season. He was claimed by the Coyotes.
With the Coyotes, he became a serviceable backup. He became something the Devils needed desperately, as they would cycle through six other goalies this season. While the Devils let Wedgewood go for nothing, the Coyotes were able to flip Wedgewood to the Dallas Stars for a fourth round pick. This became a prime example of how not to manage your assets.
In 2022-23, he would start against the Devils as a member of the Stars, winning the start and allowing only one goal. He started another game in 2023-24, winning that while allowing two goals. He came in relief of Jake Oettinger later in the season, allowing two goals in that apperance.
This season, as a member of the Nashville Predators, he would replace Jusse Saros, not allowing a goal on 15 shots. He was traded to the Avalanche, where we all know this is going. After the shutout on Sunday, Wedgewood is now 4-0-0 in 6 appearances with a .967 save percentage and a
So, adding all of these games up, what are the totals? Well, between the six goalies, their record is 7-1-1 in 14 games played. The total save percentage is .938 and the goals against adds up to 2.12 with three shutouts. The numbers, undeniably, prove that the Devils cannot beat their former goalies.
The Devils play the Sharks and Avalanche again this season, giving Blackwood or perhaps Vitek Vanecek a chance to throw his hat into this frustrating ring. They also play the Avalanche later this season again, another opportunity to finally solve Wedgewood, a player the Devils gave up on twice. Comrie, a current member of the Jets, could be seen later in the year when the Devils play the Jets twice.
We have to wait and see if the Devils can finally solve their former teammates. If the Devils want to be taken seriously, solving these guys would be a start.