The 2023-24 New Jersey Devils season opens in just 53 days (at the time of the writing). At this time on October 4, the Devils will be fighting 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. Since we are 53 days away, the player we will focus on for this piece will be the defenseman who wore number 53: Vojtěch Mozík.
Mozík went undrafted during the 2011 NHL Draft, and for most of his career, he spent time in the Czech league known as the ELH, trying to build himself up to a roster spot in the NHL. In his final two seasons with the HC Škoda Plzeň, he averaged 18 points during the season.
On June 15th, he signed a two-year entry-level contract worth $1.36 million with the Devils. Mozík would spend 53 games with the Albany Devils, scoring 17 points during that season. Mozík would be called up to play for the New Jersey Devils during the last seven games of the 2015-16 season.
However, he would not find the scoreboard in any of his games. When he was brought back down to Albany for the following season, his shot improved, scoring 11 goals and having 22 points. However, he would never find a shot on the Devils roster and was released by the organization after the season. Afterwards, Mozík would spend some time recently in the KHL and the SHL, where he would have some decent seasons on HC Vityaz, Färjestad BK, Kunlun Red Star, and Admiral Vladivostok.
Lou Lamoriello famously had a rule about forwards wearing a number that was over 30. So, why was Mozik different? Well, he didn't play his first game until Ray Shero had already taken over as GM, changing how the Devils look at these intricacies.