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2024-25 New Jersey Devils Season Opener Countdown: Jersey Numbers #20-17

We now look at players #20-17, as we look at two contributors to our 3 cups in Jay Pandolfo, and Sergei Brylin, and Bobby Carpenter who played and won a cup towards the end of his career with the Devils, and current defenseman, and #2 overall pick of the 2022 NHL Draft, Simon Nemec.

By Luke Garrison

New Jersey Devils v Toronto Maple Leafs
New Jersey Devils v Toronto Maple Leafs / Graig Abel/GettyImages
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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 whore 20-16, starting with #20 Jay Pandolfo.

Jay Pandolfo

Jay Pandolo has played almost 900 games in the NHL in his career. He spent 13 of his 15 years in the NHL with the Devils. In his 1998-99 season, Pandolfo hit his career high at age 24 with a 27-point season. After winning his first Cup in 2000, Pandolfo consistently improved every year, and in the 2002-03 Playoffs, he scored 12 points.

After winning his second and last Cup, he would continue to be a strong player for the Devils, and in the 2006-07 season, he would tie his highest career season in points with 27. However, in the coming years, his numbers began to decline, but he still helped the Devils in any way he could. On February 5th, 2010, he scored the game-winning goal with 25 seconds left after being down 3-0 to the Maple Leafs at home. Pandolofo would spend two more seasons in the NHL with the Boston Bruins and New York Islanders before retiring in 2013 at age 38.

Bobby Carpenter

Bobby Carpenter was an 11-year veteran with the Washington Capitals, Los Angeles Kings, New York Rangers, and Boston Bruins. Before the 1993-94 season began, he would sign with the Devils at age 30. In his first Devils season, he scored 33 points, and in the 1995 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Carpenter did help the Devils in game 5 of the 1995 Eastern Conference Finals against the Flyers, scoring the goal to give the Devils a 2-1 lead, and in the Stanley Cup Finals. In the final three seasons of his career, he would score an average of 19 points, and in his final season, Devil scored 10 points. Carpenter would retire at 35 after the 1998-99 season.

Sergei Brylin

One of the best Devils players ever who isn’t hanging in the rafters of the Prudential Center is Sergei Brylin. Brylin was essential to the Devils from the mid to late 90s to the early 2000s, and he's one of the only players who was on all three Stanley Cup winners.

Brylin began his rookie season in the 1994-95, scoring 14 points. In his first of 3 Stanley Cups, he got one goal in those entire playoffs, and it was the most important one, as he scored insurance in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final to put the Devils up 4-2, helping this franchise win its first Stanley Cup with a sweep of the Red Wings.

Despite the next few seasons being about improvement, his second Stanley Cup-winning season saw him score 20 points in the regular season. He would contribute eight points in the playoffs and be part of the seven goals that helped the Devils win Game 1 of the 2000 Stanley Cup Finals.

In the following season, he would finally branch out to be one of the best players on the Devils with a 52-point season. In the playoffs, he would help the Devils in the 2001 Stanley Cup Finals in game five by scoring to extend their lead to 3-1. Despite not winning the Cup the following season, Brylin stayed strong with a 44-point season. Brylin would miss time with a broken wrist in the 2002-03 season but would go on to win his 3rd Stanley Cup. Brylin remained strong points-wise the next three seasons, with a 40-point season in the 2006-07 season. Brylin would retire a Devil after the 2007-08 season at age 34. Brylin’s longtime commitment to the Devils has continued, as in 2022, he would be hired by the Devils coaching staff to be an assisted coach.

Simon Nemec

When the Montreal Canadiens drafted Juraj Slafkovsky with the first-overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, some Devils fans were salivating at the fact they could draft Shane Wright. They instead drafted defenseman Simon Nemec, and it looks like Tom Fitzgerald has this whole thing figured out.

Nemec was a great defenseman in that class. In his first entire season, Nemec looked excellent, scoring three goals and 16 assists for a 19-point season. What made him a valuable player for the team was his zone presence, being able to locate the puck, and always finding a way to get it to his teammates. Nemec had a good shot as well. Nemec blocked 105 shots and 22 hits, so he was also very physical. While we may not know the effect of Nemec’s shoulder injury that he suffered in the Olympic qualifier last month, we hope it’s good news and that he doesn’t miss much time because he is an integral part of this Devil defense, which is now finding itself to be good, even great.

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