The New Jersey Devils franchise has been part of the National Hockey League (NHL) since the 1974–75 season when it was known as the Kansas City Scouts. The team relocated to Colorado two seasons later and has been in the Garden State since 1982. While the Devils have only made the playoffs once in the past eight seasons, they were models of consistency from 1987–88 to 2011–12. The team won three Stanley Cups in this time and only missed the playoffs in three seasons.
Goaltender Martin Brodeur is unquestionably the team’s all-time best player. The Hockey Hall of Fame inductee was the team’s starting goaltender for all three of its Stanley Cup victories and is a four-time winner of the Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goaltender. However, the team has also had some talented forwards throughout its history. Below are its five all-time leading scorers:
Patrik Elias
A native of Trebic, Czech Republic, Patrik Elias is the Devils all-time leading scorer with 1,025 points through 1,240 career regular season games. Selected by the team in the second round of the 1994 NHL Entry Draft, he played his entire 20-year career in New Jersey and was part of Stanley Cup teams in 1999–00 and 2002–03. He recorded 20 and 13 points, respectively, in the playoffs those years and accumulated 125 points in 162 career playoff games.
Elias made the All-Rookie team in 1997–98 after producing 37 points in 74 games. He was an All-Star three seasons later and finished that year with a career-best 96 points in 82 games. He recorded at least 45 points in all but one season from 1998–99 to 2013–14. In addition to being the team’s all-time leader in points, he ranks first in goals (408), assists (617), game-winning goals (80), and several other categories. Elias’ №26 was retired by the Devils on February 24, 2018.
John MacLean
Selected sixth overall by the Devils in the 1983 NHL Entry Draft, John MacLean spent 14 seasons with the team from 1983–84 to 1997–98, when he was traded to the San Jose Sharks along with Ken Sutton in exchange for Dody Wood and Doug Bodger. He later played with the New York Rangers and Dallas Stars before retiring in 2002.
Through 934 career regular season games in New Jersey, MacLean scored 347 goals, 92 of which were on the power-play, and added 354 assists for 701 points. He also accumulated 1,168 penalty minutes. He joined the team just prior to its first season in New Jersey and was a key contributor in helping the Devils win its first-ever Stanley Cup in 1995. MacLean registered 18 points in 20 playoff games that year. He worked as an assistant coach with the Devils upon retiring and was the team’s head coach for a period in 2010.
Travis Zajac
Entering his 15th season with the Devils, Travis Zajac has accumulated 532 points through 991 career regular season games. The 35-year-old native of Winnipeg, Manitoba, was selected 20th overall by the Devils in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft and recorded 42 points in his rookie season two years later.
A relatively consistent point producer, he has only topped 50 points twice in an individual season but has recorded at least 40 points in eight of his 14 seasons; he played only 15 and 48 games, respectively, in 2011–12 and 2012–13. In 2019–20, Zajac was the Devils’ nominee for the Masterton Trophy, which is awarded annually to the player who “best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey.”
Kirk Muller
A 54-year-old native of Kingston, Ontario, Kirk Muller was selected by the Devils second overall in the 1984 NHL Entry Draft and played seven seasons with the team, during which time he accumulated 520 points in 556 regular season games. He scored a career-best 37 goals in the 1987–88 season and finished eighth in Hart Trophy voting as the league’s MVP that season. He played with five other teams including the Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Dallas Stars before retiring in 2003.
Since retiring, Muller has held assistant and head coach roles with the Canadiens, St. Louis Blues, and Carolina Hurricanes. He registered a combined 80–80–27 record through three seasons as head coach of the Hurricanes.
Scott Gomez
A two-time Stanley Cup winner, Scott Gomez recorded 484 points through 606 regular season games with the Devils. He also had 65 points in 97 playoff games. Selected 27th overall in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft, he won the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie in 1999–00 with 19 goals and 51 assists for 70 points in 82 games. He produced a career-best 84 points with the team in the 2005–06 season. Gomez signed with the New York Rangers prior to the 2007–08 season and later played for five additional teams. He returned to the Devils for one season in 2014–15.
