2024-25 New Jersey Devils Season Opener Countdown: John Madden, Neal Broten, and more

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 12-9, starting with #12 Sergei Nemchinov.

Sergei Nemchinov

After losing to the Toronto Maple Leafs on March 20, 1999, the Devils were 38-22 and held a three-point lead at the top of the Atlantic Division. Despite that, the Devils needed to upgrade at the left wing position. At the 1999 trade deadline, Lou Lamoriello would pick up eight-year veteran left-wing Sergei Nemchinov, who was currently with the Islanders at the time of the trade.

Nemchinov would join at the right time, as he would score in his Devils debut a day later against the Sabres at home. When he returned for his first season in 1999-00, he scored 26 points in 53 games. However, Nemchinov’s 2000-01 season at age 36 would be his best season in New Jersey, as he scored 30 points in 65 games. Nemchinov would retire at the end of the 2001-02 season at 38 but scored 10 points in his final season.

John Madden

If you think about all the rookies who came into the Devils organization and made a fantastic impact immediately, John Madden would be one of the few you would think of. Madden scored 25 points in the 1999-00 regular season. While doing very little in the first three rounds, Madden made a big play in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final when the Devils were shorthanded in the third period, scoring the game-winning goal on a 2-on-1. In Madden’s second full year, he probably was among the most underrated players that season, scoring 38 points. Madden had a lot of memorable moments in the 2000-01 season, including a four-goal performance on October 28, 2000, on the road against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Madden would earn his only Selke Trophy when the season was over. In the 2000-01 playoffs, Madden was arguably one of the top guys who helped guide the Devils to the Stanley Cup Finals against the Colorado Avalanche. In Game 5 of that Stanley Cup Final, Madden scored a big insurance goal with 1:57 left. Madden would have had a great 2002-03 season, where he scored 41 points and almost earned his second Selke Trophy, but unfortunately, he lost it to Dallas Stars LW Jere Lehtinen. In the playoffs, Madden was the top-scoring center for the Devils, scoring 16 points. Madden would stay for the Devils for another five seasons, with his highest scoring season being in the 2007-08 season with 43 points. After the 2009 first-round loss to the Hurricanes, Madden left the Devils and would win another Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks, and would spend time with the Minnesota Wild and Florida Panthers before retiring at age 38 after the 2012 season ended with his former team in the Devils eliminated the Panthers in 7 games.

Corey Millen

So Corey Millen has a fascinating story for the Devils. Millen would spend a year and a half in New Jersey. Millen came in the 1993-94 season with New Jersey and would score 50 points. However, when the 1994-95 shortened season began, the Devils were off to an alarming 6-7 start. Millen, who had only five points in the 17 games of the season, clearly was nowhere as good as the previous season, so to change the roster, Lamoriello traded him away to the Dallas Stars for Neal Broten on February 27, 1995, who we’ll get to in a bit. Millen would continue his career with the Dallas Stars and Calgary Flames before retiring at the end of the 1996-97 season at 32.

Neal Broten

Before being traded, Broten was part of the Minnesota North Stars and Dallas Stars for 16 years. Thanks to Broten, the Devils improved, and he scored 28 points in his final 30 games of the season. Broten, however, made a big impression for the Devils in the 1994-95 playoffs, scoring 19 points, the second-highest on the team behind Claude Lemieux. Where Broten shined bright most for the playoffs was the Stanley Cup Final, specifically in Game 4, where he would start the scoring for the Devils, as well as get the game-winning goal in the 2nd period where, thanks to a little flip by Broten, the Devils won their first Stanley Cup.

While Broten would return for the next season and scored 20 points, he would end up being traded to the Kings for the following season and would end his career with the Dallas Stars in the same season, retiring at the age of 37 at the end of the 1996-97 season.