The New Jersey Devils and the NHL announced their quarter-century team for the only team to claim the Garden State in the four major sports. Many fans have been waiting for this, as a majority of the other NHL teams have been named already. The Devils were well represented on this list, with three Hall of Famers on their team, and hopefully a future Hall of Famer in Patrik Elias.
The Men. The Myths. The Legends.
— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) January 23, 2025
Our Quarter Century Teams are here.#NJDevils | #MadeInJersey pic.twitter.com/GBN2rb2u1S
As you can see, the Devils had some of the more obvious players on the first team. Scott Stevens and Scott Niedermayer ended their Devils careers at the NHL Lockout, but they were so impactful in their first few years that it would be impossible to keep them off the team. Zach Parise is also a superstar, even if the end of his Devils' career wasn't exactly fun for any Devils fan. Martin Brodeur is the most obvious pick ever.
On the second team, the Devils and the league picked Scott Gomez and Travis Zajac at forward, which makes a lot of sense. Gomez won the Calder Trophy to start the century off, and Zajac was one of the greats of this franchise. Andy Greene, Brian Rafalski, and Cory Schneider were the obvious picks for the backline.
Two names that stood out were Jack Hughes and Jamie Langenbrunner. Hughes isn't exactly a surprise because the league wants to give reason to talk about the best players, and Hughes already beat the Devils' franchise record for points in a season (99 in 2022-23). The bigger surprise is the Devils' current captain Nico Hischier was not on the team.
Hischier is 14th in points all time for the Devils, leading Hughes by more than 50 points in his career. Yes, he's had two more seasons, but he was also playing a serious defensive role. Hischier finished second in Selke Trophy voting in 2023, losing to Patrice Bergeron's swan song.
Nico Hischier should be on the New Jersey Devils Quarter Century Team.
Hischier was also given a lot of credit for the Devils' run in 2017-18, which ended a five-year playoff drought. Of course, we remember the Hart Trophy run by Taylor Hall, but that doesn't happen without Hischier, who as a rookie took over for Travis Zajac on the first line when he suffered a major injury before the season started. Pavel Zacha was expected to take that spot, but the then-reigning number-one overall pick was too good to be denied. He was second on that team in points with 52.
Some injuries and the Covid-19 pandemic impacted Hischier’s numbers for the next few seasons, but he’s not hitting his prime, and he looks great. He looks like an automatic 60 points on the score sheet every year, but he hit a ceiling of 80 points in 2022-23. This season, prior to Wednesday night’s game, the Devils’ captain has 22 goals and 17 assists in 49 games.
The Devils are a team that has had trouble finishing, and Hischier has stepped up in that area. He’s on pace for 36-37 goals. That’s exactly what this team needs, and that’s why he should be on this team. The Devils have asked Hischier to fit into whatever hole that’s on this roster. He’s done that. Hughes has been great, and he’s a marketable star (which is why he’s probably already on this list), and Langenbrunner is a great captain, but Hischier is all of those things. He should be named on this list.