The 2024-25 New Jersey Devils season opens very soon. On October 4, the Devils will fight the Buffalo Sabres in Prague, Czechia. To get ready for the season, we're doing a daily piece countdown of all the numbers of the Devils sweaters and moments in Devils franchise history. We’re in the top 20, so let’s look at some of the best players who wore 16-13, starting with #16 Bobby Holik.
Bobby Holik
When the 1991-92 season ended with the Devils getting eliminated by the New York Rangers in the first round, Lou Lamoriello knew that the left-wing position needed an upgrade. On August 28, 1992, he made a deal with the Hartford Whalers to trade for Bobby Holik.
Now, with new coach Herb Brooks, he put Holik on the left wing in the 1992-93 season, and while he did have 39 points, being in his natural position would’ve been the better move. Thankfully, the Devils moved on from Brooks and hired Jacques Lemaire as their new coach the following season. When Lemaire put Holik back at center, it took him some time, but by the 1996-97 season, his numbers and production exploded, making Holik the best scorer on the Devils for two straight seasons, with his highest being 65 points in the 1997-98 season.
However, during the second Stanley Cup run of the 1999-00 season, the numbers for Holik began to decline. Despite the declining numbers, he did have very productive seasons. By the end of the 2001-02 regular season, Holik was still 2nd in scoring.
After being eliminated by the Hurricanes in the first round going into the offseason, Lamoriello tried to keep Holik. However, Holik signed with the New York Rangers and was their best scorer in the 2003-04 season. When Holik returned from the lockout, however, he would be acquired by the Atlanta Thrashers for three seasons and did put up some good numbers. Before the 2008-09 season began, Holik would return to the Devils on a one-year deal and finished his final season with 9 points before retiring at age 38.
John MacLean
When it comes to who in Devils history was the first homegrown star, it would be John MacLean, the sixth-overall pick of the 1983 NHL Draft. In 14 seasons in New Jersey, he would score 408 goals and 701 points, which in both categories is 2nd in franchise history behind Patrik Elias. It would take a little while for MacLean to get going, but in the 1985-86 season, he scored 57 points, and the following season of 1986-87, he had a 67-point season.
He achieved a significant milestone on April 3rd, 1988, when, in overtime, in the last game of the season, he scored the overtime winner that sent the Devils to the playoffs for the very first time in franchise history. In the three rounds the Devils played in those playoffs, he scored 18 points as the Devils made a surprise run to the Eastern Conference Finals.
In the following season of 1988-89, MacLean would be the top scorer and have the most points ever in his career at 87. In the next two seasons, from 1989-1991, he would average 80-point seasons and be the team's top scorer in the 1990-91 season.
After winning his first Stanley Cup in 1995, his numbers declined slightly, but he still had respectable 50-point average seasons at 31 years old. In December 1997, MacLean would be traded to the San Jose Sharks for Doug Bodger and Dody Wood. MacLean would spend time with the New York Rangers and Dallas Stars before retiring after the 2001-02 season at age 37. With all these numbers and his legacy of being one of the best Devils in the franchise's early years, MacLean should soon have his numbers hanging off the rafters of the Prudential Center.
Brian Rolston
Brian Rolston was taken 11th overall in the 1991 NHL Draft, and his rookie season could not have come at a better time. Rolston scored 18 points in the 1994-95 shortened season, and for that short of a season, that’s pretty good stats for points. The next four seasons saw him improve, as in his 1998-99 season, Rolston scored 57 points.
Things began to change for Rolston on October 30, 1999, after a 5-3 loss to the Philadephia Flyers on the road. Despite being 7-4-1, Lamoriello needed an upgrade to the team quickly, so four days later, he traded Brian Rolston to the Colorado Avalanche to acquire Devils favorite Claude Lemieux.
After 50 games in Colorado, Rolston would become part of a trade that changed one franchise, as the Avalanche traded him to the Bruins, and the Avalanche, in the trade, got Dave Andreychuk and Ray Bourque. In the following seven years, Rolston spent time with the Bruins and the Minnesota Wild and scored his highest career total number in points in the 2005-06 season in his first year with the Wild, scoring 79 points. After his final season in Minnesota in 2008, Rolston, who was 35 years old, returned to the Devils, where his numbers remained solid, averaging 35 points each season. After his second tenure with the Devils ended, he would play for two more teams in the NHL in the same season; one was the New York Islanders, and the other was a return to the Boston Bruins. Rolston would retire after the 2011-12 season at age 38.
Nico Hischier
Can you believe it’s been seven years since the New Jersey Devils drafted Nico Hischier in the 2017 NHL Draft? It’s still wild they won that year's draft lottery and had the chance to pick Hischier when the other pick could’ve been Nolan Patrick. The organization made the right choice.
Hischier's rookie season started strong with a 52-point season, which was 2nd scoring on the team, and while he did not get into the Top 5 of the Calder nominations, he did well enough to improve. While Hischier would miss time towards the end of the season with an upper-body injury, he scored 47 points that year.
Of course, the Devils named Nico Hischier the captain in February 2021. At the time, he was the youngest captain in the NHL.
In the 2021-22 season, Nico saw a massive increase in points, with 60. When the 2022-23 season saw the Devils making the playoffs, a portion of it was thanks to their captain, who scored 80 points, still the highest in his career. Last season, Nico’s numbers decreased slightly with a 67-point season due to missing 12 games after getting checked in the head on October 27th in a game against the Sabres at home. For Nico to go right this season, he needs to stay healthy for most of the season because, without the Devils captain, the team numbers decrease significantly due to his incredible talent.