2019 Devils All-Time Team

[Classic Devil]

So, I've been doing this (almost) every offseason for a long time. I think I started in the summer of 2006, which was the 23rd year in Devils history, the first year that allowed a full 23-man roster. It's the doldrums of summer so time again - although this year, I'm afraid, will be rather boring.

It's basically a puzzle challenge: make the best roster you can out of players in Devils' team history.

But there are a few rules to make this harder than it might immediately seem:

(1) You're selecting players by season. So, for instance, you can take Patrik Elias' 2000-2001 season. But you can only take one player per season. If you take Elias 2000-2001, you cannot take Mogilny 2000-2001; the 2000-2001 team only gets one player to represent it.

(2) You can only select a player once. So, if you take Elias 2000-2001, you can't have Elias 2005-2006 also.

(3) You cannot have two players wearing the same number. If you take Bruce Driver, you cannot also take Scott Gomez (each gets assigned #23). For players who wore more than one number in Devils history, they're assigned the one they wore for longer (so, if you're taking Rolston, he wears #14, which he wore for 7 seasons, and not #12, which he wore for 3 seasons).

You can otherwise make selections based on any criteria you want. You can choose players based off their regular season performances, or playoff performances; you can focus on choosing only long-time Devils or go for best single-season performances . Whatever feels right to you, go ahead and run with it.

Also choose a head coach and two assistant coaches. No restrictions on these, you can pick anyone from the team's history.

Once you have your team selected, assemble a lineup (lines and pairings, reserve forwards) and post!

Suggestions:

You can find all numbers worn in team history here, but you'll probably remember the numbers of everyone who qualifies for the team. Start by picking numbers which are going to be represented on basically every team: Brodeur, Stevens, Elias, Niedermayer have lots of good years to pick from and no competition for their numbers (Peter Stastny notwithstanding). Then pick between #9s (Parise/Muller/Hall), #23s (Gomez/Driver), #17s (Sykora/Kovalchuk/Sundstrom), #15s (Langenbrunner/MacLean), etc; these numbers are all also likely to get representation.

HockeyDB is your friend in this endeavour, you can look at all years here and click through to see season statistics. You're almost certain to take players from each of 1987-1988, 1993-1994, 1994-1995, 1999-2000, 2000-2001, 2002-2003, 2011-2012, as those seasons each featured deep playoff runs, so check through them and see which players pop out as potential additions. In general the mid-late 1990s and 2000s tend to be very well represented on these teams, but feel free to go back to the 1980s or use players from recent teams (a Schneider season will be most people's backup goalie, I think, but there are other options).

Click to read more...

 

[Classic Devil]

Unfortunately, given the poor year the Devils had last season, there really isn't much to choose from. Consequently, my 2019 team is identical to my 2018 team, which ought to make this thread even more boring than most years.

With that in mind, here's my team this year:

Classic Devil's 2019 All-Time Team

#26 Patrik Elias (A) (2005-2006) - #25 Jason Arnott (1999-2000) - #15 John MacLean (1990-1991)
#9 Taylor Hall (2017-2018) - #17 Patrik Sundstrom (1988-1989) - #89 Alexander Mogilny (2000-2001)
#10 Aaron Broten (1986-1987) - #19 Travis Zajac (2009-2010) - #22 Claude Lemieux (1992-1993)
#11 Brendan Shanahan (1989-1990) - #16 Bobby Holik (1998-1999) - #21 Randy McKay (A) (1997-1998)
#44 Stephane Richer (1994-1995), #93 Doug Gilmour (1996-1997)

#4 Scott Stevens (C) (1993-1994) - #28 Brian Rafalski (2006-2007)
#6 Andy Greene (2013-2014) - #27 Scott Niedermayer (2003-2004)
#3 Ken Daneyko (1991-1992) - #23 Bruce Driver (1987-1988)
#24 Bryce Salvador (2011-2012)

#30 Martin Brodeur (2007-2008)
#35 Corey Schneider (2014-2015)

Head Coach: Jacques Lemaire
Assistant Coach: Larry Robinson
Assistant Coach: Viaschlav Fetisov
​

The key decisions:

(1) Choosing Driver over Gomez. Driver in the lineup gives the team much better defensive depth than it does without him (though Kasatonov #8 would still be a good pick from 1991-1992 would be a good addition to the lineup).

(2) No Gomez means I'm short centers, leading me to decide to include both Sundstrom #17 and Gilmour #93 in the lineup. Sundstrom has the talent, skill, and speed to keep up with Hall, and Gilmour's acquisition season makes him a good depth center. (At some point in the future I hope Hischier will take a spot on this roster, letting me shift Sundstrom out and include Sykora more permanently.)

(3) Including Mogilny. Sundstrom in means no Sykora, which lets me pick someone else from the 2000-2001 season. Mogilny and Hall is a tantalizing combination of speed, skill, and scoring, and really that line is this team's 1st line probably. MacLean replaces Sykora on the A-line.

(4) Including Shanahan. I've always liked the Shanahan - Holik - McKay combination as a defensive, physical, and scoring line: it's the Crash Line but with a PPG Shanahan instead of Peluso. Shanahan means no Madden, which is a shame.

(5) Broten - Zajac - Lemieux is a nice shutdown line, giving the team good offensive and defensive depth.

(6) Choosing Elias' 2005-2006. Elias and Richer both have half-seasons (Elias due to illness, Richer due to strike), which means that Elias and Richer split that top-line LW spot.

(7) No one from 2002-2003!

(An alternative setup: take out Sundstrom, Driver, Mogilny and replace with Gomez 03-04, Sykora 00-01, Kasatonov 91-92.)

I hope next year offers a season I can use to add Hischier (or Hughes)!

 

[NJDevs26]

I'm not looking at what (if anything) I did last year so I might do something different now. To make it easier I'll first list the guys in inverse order of year, and I'm just automatically picking major regular season award winners (Hall in his Hart year, Nieds in his Norris year, Gomez in his Calder season) as well as picking someone from each Cup appearance season, and all the retired numbers at least once. Some personal bias choices too - mostly kept it to guys I've seen other than Burke and Kurvers.

LW 2017-18 #9 Taylor Hall (39-54-93) - Hart season
RW 2013-14 #68 Jaromir Jagr (24-43-67) - had to get Jagr on the team
LW 2011-12 #17 Ilya Kovalchuk (37-46-83) - not a huge fan but had to pick someone from that Cup Finals team and he had as much to do with it as anyone
C 2009-10 #19 Travis Zajac (25-42-67) - Travis being Travis plus questionable center history compelled me to pick his best statistical season too
RW 2008-09 #15 Jamie Langenbrunner (29-40-69) - Jamie deserves to be here, but I did pick his PZL peak over '02-03
RD 2006-07 #28 Brian Rafalski (8-47-55) - had to get Rafalski on the team
RW 2005-06 #14 Brian Gionta (48-41-89) - the all-time season goalscoring leader and got them when they mattered
RD 2003-04 #27 Scott Niedermayer (14-40-54) - won the Norris
C 2002-03 #11 John Madden (19-22-41) - had to get Madden somewhere
LW 2000-01 #26 Patrik Elias (40-56-96) - had to get Patty and '00-01 was a no-brainer, even over '05-06 cause I wanted Gionta from that season
C 1999-2000 #23 Scott Gomez (19-51-70) - won the Calder
C 1998-99 #16 Bobby Holik (27-37-64) - needed to fulfill the Crash Line quota so picked Holik in one of his better seasons, though technically he should be a third-line center on this team
RW 1997-98 #21 Randy McKay (24-24-48) - hated cutting Palm at the last minute but wanted the full Crash Line so...
G 1996-97 #30 Martin Brodeur (1.88 GAA, .927 Save, 10 SHO) - picked this over the 48-win season just on sheer dominance
LW 1994-95 #8 Mike Peluso (2-9-11-167 PIM's) - could have gone with Claude just on the Smythe but wanted the Crash Line and Peluso in the Cup year is more fitting since that was peak Crash Line and nobody dominated statistically anyway
LD 1993-94 #4 Scott Stevens (18-60-78-112 PIM's) - best all-around season as a Devil and should have won the Norris that year
LD 1990-91 #3 Ken Daneyko (20 points, 249 PIM's) - if I was gonna pick Dano, wanted one of his insane PIM seasons when he still had some hair and teeth
RD 1989-90 #2 Slava Fetisov (8-34-42) - peak Slava was his first season over here
LD 1988-89 #5 Tom Kurvers (16-50-66) - a bit of a stat play, plus I ran out of viable seasons for Greene putting in others
G 1987-88 #1 Sean Burke (10-1 down the stretch) - could have picked anyone, cause really who needs a backup with Marty? But figured I'd give a nod to Burke just on his role in the memorable first playoff run and because well, I just didn't want to pick Cory though he's the chalk play.

F:
Hall-Zajac-Gionta
Kovalchuk-Gomez-Jagr
Elias-Madden-Langenbrunner
Crash Line

D:
'93-94 Stevens-'03-04 Nieds
'88-89 Kurvers-'06-07 Rafalski
'90-91 Daneyko-'89-90 Fetisov

G:
'96-97 Brodeur, '87-88 Burke

Coach: Lemaire

Alternates: 2014-15 #35 Cory Schneider, 2015-16 #21 Kyle Palmieri and 2018-19 #28 Damon Severson

 

[SJinNewJersey]

That's too much work...think I'll have another beer.

 

[njdevils1982]

@Classic Devil

thanks for doing this every year.

 

[NJDevs26]

And just in a micro sense I think the only two absolute have to haves on any team are '93-94 Stevens and '03-04 Nieds. Those were clearly their best/most meaningful seasons and the best seasons of that particular year. Everyone else you can make an argument for or against, or players that are must haves you can make the case for multiple seasons...Parise over Hall, '01 Mogilny over '01 Elias, you could pick a number of Marty seasons, etc

 

[Better Call Sal]

I always love this every year. I’m gonna give it an honest shot one of these days.

 

[My3Sons]

I'm not looking at what (if anything) I did last year so I might do something different now. To make it easier I'll first list the guys in inverse order of year, and I'm just automatically picking major regular season award winners (Hall in his Hart year, Nieds in his Norris year, Gomez in his Calder season) as well as picking someone from each Cup appearance season, and all the retired numbers at least once. Some personal bias choices too - mostly kept it to guys I've seen other than Burke and Kurvers.

LW 2017-18 #9 Taylor Hall (39-54-93) - Hart season
RW 2013-14 #68 Jaromir Jagr (24-43-67) - had to get Jagr on the team
LW 2011-12 #17 Ilya Kovalchuk (37-46-83) - not a huge fan but had to pick someone from that Cup team and he had as much to do with it as anyone
C 2009-10 #19 Travis Zajac (25-42-67) - Travis being Travis plus questionable center history compelled me to pick his best statistical season too
RW 2008-09 #15 Jamie Langenbrunner (29-40-69) - Jamie deserves to be here, but I did pick his PZL peak over '02-03
RD 2006-07 #28 Brian Rafalski (8-47-55) - had to get Rafalski on the team
RW 2005-06 #14 Brian Gionta (48-41-89) - the all-time season goalscoring leader and got them when they mattered
RD 2003-04 #27 Scott Niedermayer (14-40-54) - won the Norris
C 2002-03 #11 John Madden (19-22-41) - had to get Madden somewhere
LW 2000-01 #26 Patrik Elias (40-56-96) - had to get Patty and '00-01 was a no-brainer, even over '05-06 cause I wanted Gionta from that season
C 1999-2000 #23 Scott Gomez (19-51-70) - won the Calder
C 1998-99 #16 Bobby Holik (27-37-64) - needed to fulfill the Crash Line quota so picked Holik in one of his better seasons, though technically he should be a third-line center on this team
RW 1997-98 #21 Randy McKay (24-24-48) - hated cutting Palm at the last minute but wanted the full Crash Line so...
G 1996-97 #30 Martin Brodeur (1.88 GAA, .927 Save, 10 SHO) - picked this over the 48-win season just on sheer dominance
LW 1994-95 #8 Mike Peluso (2-9-11-167 PIM's) - could have gone with Claude just on the Smythe but wanted the Crash Line and Peluso in the Cup year is more fitting since that was peak Crash Line and nobody dominated statistically anyway
LD 1993-94 #4 Scott Stevens (18-60-78-112 PIM's) - best all-around season as a Devil and should have won the Norris that year
LD 1990-91 #3 Ken Daneyko (20 points, 249 PIM's) - if I was gonna pick Dano, wanted one of his insane PIM seasons when he still had some hair and teeth
RD 1989-90 #2 Slava Fetisov (8-34-42) - peak Slava was his first season over here
LD 1988-89 #5 Tom Kurvers (16-50-66) - a bit of a stat play, plus I ran out of viable seasons for Greene putting in others
G 1987-88 #1 Sean Burke (10-1 down the stretch) - could have picked anyone, cause really who needs a backup with Marty? But figured I'd give a nod to Burke just on his role in the memorable first playoff run and because well, I just didn't want to pick Cory though he's the chalk play.

F:
Hall-Zajac-Gionta
Kovalchuk-Gomez-Jagr
Elias-Madden-Langenbrunner
Crash Line

D:
'93-94 Stevens-'03-04 Nieds
'88-89 Kurvers-'06-07 Rafalski
'90-91 Daneyko-'89-90 Fetisov

G:
'96-97 Brodeur, '87-88 Burke

Coach: Lemaire

Alternates: 2014-15 #35 Cory Schneider, 2015-16 #21 Kyle Palmieri and 2018-19 #28 Damon Severson

Not enough Lovejoy

 

[Blackjack]

86, 13, 76, 63, and maybe 97 are going to make this a whole lot easier in a few years. The Lou years make it really hard because everyone was always wearing the same numbers.

 

[Bowzer55]

#9 Taylor Hall(2017-2018)-#21 Scott Gomez(2005-2006)-#16 Pat Verbeek(1987-1988)
#26 Patrik Elias(2000-2001)-#25 Jason Arnott(1999-2000)-#15 John MacLean(1988-1989)
#17 Ilya Kovalchuk (2011-2012)- #16 Bobby Holik (1998-1999) -#22 Claude Lemieux (1992-1993)
#14 Brian Rolston(1996-1997)-#11 John Madden(2007-2008)-#12 Bill Guerin(1995-1996)
#19 Travis Zajac(2013-2014), #21 Randy McKay(1997-1998)

#4 Scott Stevens(1993-1994)- #27 Scott Niedermayer(2003-2004)
#6 Andy Greene(2009-2010)-#28 Brian Rafalski(2006-2007)
#3 Ken Daneyko(1989-1990)-#2 Viacheslav Fetisov(1991-1992)
#5 Colin White(2010-2011)


#30 Martin Brodeur(2002-2003)
#35 Cory Schneider(2015-2016)

Head-Jacques Lemaire
Assistant-Pat Burns
Assistant-Larry Robinson

Captain- Scott Stevens
Assistant Captain- Scott Niedermayer
Assistant Captain- Patrik Elias

 

[Classic Devil]

86, 13, 76, 63, and maybe 97 are going to make this a whole lot easier in a few years. The Lou years make it really hard because everyone was always wearing the same numbers.

Honestly that was kind of the point. I liked the added difficulty of it.

But I've learned not to take anything for granted. I figured Larsson would end up being a staple someday and that never happened. Still, Hischier and Hughes should help a lot with the team's relatively weak center depth.

 

[Stephen Gionta]

#9 Taylor Hall(2017-2018)-#21 Scott Gomez(2005-2006)-#16 Pat Verbeek(1987-1988)
#26 Patrik Elias(2000-2001)-#25 Jason Arnott(1999-2000)-#15 John MacLean(1988-1989)
#17 Ilya Kovalchuk (2011-2012)- #16 Bobby Holik (1998-1999) -#22 Claude Lemieux (1992-1993)
#14 Brian Rolston(1996-1997)-#11 John Madden(2007-2008)-#12 Bill Guerin(1995-1996)
#19 Travis Zajac(2013-2014), #21 Randy McKay(1997-1998)

#4 Scott Stevens(1993-1994)- #27 Scott Niedermayer(2003-2004)
#6 Andy Greene(2009-2010)-#28 Brian Rafalski(2006-2007)
#3 Ken Daneyko(1989-1990)-#2 Viacheslav Fetisov(1991-1992)
#5 Colin White(2010-2011)


#30 Martin Brodeur(2002-2003)
#35 Cory Schneider(2015-2016)

Head-Jacques Lemaire
Assistant-Pat Burns
Assistant-Larry Robinson

Captain- Scott Stevens
Assistant Captain- Scott Niedermayer
Assistant Captain- Patrik Elias

Replace 1996-1997 Brian Rolston with 2008-2009 Zach Parise and that's a pretty damn good team.

 

[Blackjack]

Replace 1996-1997 Brian Rolston with 2008-2009 Zach Parise and that's a pretty damn good team.

That costs you Taylor Hall

 

[Stephen Gionta]

That costs you Taylor Hall

Shoot forgot that rule.

 

[njdevils1982]

Shoot forgot that rule.

no '95 cup wining neal broten either

 

[Blackjack]

Sometimes I think about the fact that Zach Parise is the 4th best LW the team has had.

Elias
Hall
Kovalchuk
Parise

Unreal

 

[Classic Devil]

Sometimes I think about the fact that Zach Parise is the 4th best LW the team has had.

Elias
Hall
Kovalchuk
Parise

Unreal

Our center depth is not great, but our LW depth is spectacular.

And remember - in 2012, we had Elias, Kovalchuk, and Parise all on the team at the same time putting up top seasons!

 

[Classic Devil]

This coming season should be exciting. I hope that I'm torn in a dozen different directions about who I'm adding to the lineup at the end of the year. If Subban has a great season I might push Driver out of the lineup and bring Gomez back...

 

[billingtons ghost]

Sometimes I think about the fact that Zach Parise is the 4th best LW the team has had.

Elias
Hall
Kovalchuk
Parise

Unreal

Don't know if I can satisfactorily put those guys in any semblance of order that couldn't be argued. Kovy is the best player fo the bunch, Elias did it for the longest time most consistently, Parise is criminally underrated and probably had the least help in putting up those 94 and 82 point seasons, and we're just getting started with hall.

 

[njd118]

#26 Elias (99-00) - #25 Arnott (98-99) - #17 Sykora (00-01)
#9 Parise (08-09) - #19 Zajac (09-10) - #15 Langenbrunner (05-06)
#22 Lemieux (92-93) - #23 Gomez (06-07) - #68 Jagr (13-14)
#11 Madden (07-08) - #16 Holik (96-97) - #21 McKay (97-98)

#4 Stevens (93-94) - #28 Rafalski (01-02)
#3 Daneyko (90-91) - #27 Niedermayer (03-04)
#6 Greene (14-15) - #2 Fetisov (89-90)

#30 Brodeur (02-03)
#35 Schneider (15-16)

Captain: Stevens
Alternate: Niedermayer
Alternate: Elias

Head coach: Jacques Lemaire
Assistant coach: Larry Robinson
Assistant coach: Pat Burns

 

[Better Call Sal]

#26 Patrik Elias (A) (05-06) - #25 Jason Arnott (99-00) - #15 John MacLean (90-91)
#9 Taylor Hall (17-18) - #23 Scott Gomez (06-07) - #89 Alexander Mogilny (00-01)
#17 Ilya Kovalchuk (11-12) - #16 Bobby Holik (96-97) - #68 Jaromir Jagr (13-14)
#22 Claude Lemieux (94-95) - #11 John Madden (07-08) - #21 Kyle Palmieri (16-17)

#4 Scott Stevens (C) (93-94) - #28 Brian Rafalski (01-02)
#3 Ken Daneyko (98-99) - #27 Scott Niedermayer (A) (03-04)
#6 Andy Greene (09-10) - #2 Viacheslav Fetisov (89-90)

#30 Martin Brodeur (02-03)
#35 Cory Schneider (15-16)

Extras: #5 Colin White (10-11), #19 Travis Zajac (08-09), #44 Stephane Richer (92-93)

GM: Lamoriello
HC: Lemaire
AC: Robinson
AC: Burns

It was very hard to go with Kovalchuk over Sykora to complete the A-Line, but ultimately I went with the most talented players I could based on number.

That second line could be a nightmare defensively but a hell of a lot of offensive finesse is there. Same could be said for the 3rd line, but I think Holik can manage.

I wanted Palmieri on the team, so picking him over McKay in that slot was tough. In picking Gomez as well, I went with Fetisov over Driver for my final defensive spot. I feel like the fivesome of Stevens, Rafalski, Daneyko, Niedermayer and Greene is an automatic (or at least should be).

EDIT: I adjusted my extras, originally had my boy Sal but realized I can't keep Zajac off this team entirely. Included his 08-09 season, so I took away Brylin for Trav and added Colin White as a spare for 10-11 to include him. Richer was a no doubter as my extra winger.