The Hockey Hall of Fame has 294 NHL players representing more than 100 years of the greatest sport on ice. The New Jersey Devils 40+ year history is relatively small compared to the sport as a whole. That's how we get a museum to claim the greatest that the game has ever seen filled with enough people to fill the Esso Great Hall to capacity (which is inside the Hall ironically).
There are currently 11 former Devils in the Hall of Fame. Martin Brodeur is the most famous, as one of the greatest goalies of all time, his spot was guarantee. Scott Stevens and Scott Niedermayer formed one of the great defensive duos in hockey history. Brendan Shanahan started and finished his fantastic career in Jersey. Peter Stastny gave those early Devils teams star power. Most of the others had a cup of coffee in New Jersey.
There are a few very interesting cases for who could make the Hall of Fame next. One player we don't expect to make it is Patrik Elias. It's not because he's not deserving. Quite the opposite actually, but the voting committee doesn't make a lot of sense, and we don't think that changes anytime soon. Elias is a Hall of Fame player, but because he was a great offensive player on a defensive team, he will be overlooked. However, one travesty will eventually be rectified.
Who will be the next former Devils to make the Hockey Hall of Fame?
Alexander Mogilny
We’ve talked about Alexander Mogilny’s candidacy almost every single year. Here’s our article from July on the topic. Here’s one from 2022. And then another one from 2020. There are others, but y’all get the point. Mogilny needs to be in the Hockey Hall of Fame, and whatever reason, whether political or statistical, that he’s not needs to end.
Mogliny has everything one looks for in a Hall of Fame. He had some of the best seasons we’ve ever seen, including his 76-goal 92-93 season. He joined the Devils near the end of the 99-00 season, and it took some time for him to make a huge impact.
He had just six points in the final 12 games of the season, and he had just seven points in the 2000 playoffs. The Devils still won the Stanley Cup, so he’s already a legend. He had another year on his contract, and he was immensely better in 2000-01. On that star-studded Devils team, he had 43 goals and 83 points. He went on to have 16 points in the postseason before signing with the Maple Leafs in the offseason.
Mogilny finished his career with 473 goals and just under 1,000 games. This is a player that always seemed to get ignored by the hockey men. However, with more unique voices joining voting committees, Mogilny will get his day.