Yes, we know that this is taking a while!

As many of you know, we at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the top 50 of each major North American sports team. That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists and consistently look to update them when necessary and based on necessity. As such, we are delighted to present our post-2023-24 revision of our top 50 New Jersey Devils.

As for all of our top 50 players in hockey, we look at the following:

1.  Advanced Statistics.

2.  Traditional statistics and how they finished in the National Hockey League.

3.  Playoff accomplishments.

4.  Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles that are not reflected in a stat sheet.

Last year, the Devils regressed and failed to make the postseason, but there were three elevations from this young core of players.

As always, we present our top five, which saw no changes:

1. Martin Brodeur
2. Scott Stevens
3. Scott Niedermayer
4. Patrik Elias
5. Ken Daneyko

You can find the entire list here.

Center Nico Hischier climbed to #24 from #31.

Jesper Bratt is right behind Hischier.  The Wing moved to #25 from #38.

The third elevation is Jack Hughes, now at #33 from #39.

We thank you for your continued support of our lists on Notinhalloffame.com.

Yes, we know that this is taking a while!

As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the 50 of each major North American sports team.  That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists out and we always consistently look to update them when we can and based on necessity.  As such, we are very happy to present our post 2022/23 revision of our top 50 New Jersey Devils.

As for all of our top 50 players in hockey we look at the following:

1.  Advanced Statistics.

2.  Traditional statistics and how they finished in the National Hockey League.

3.  Playoff accomplishments.

4.  Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.

Last year, New Jersey turned the corner and made the playoffs for the first time in years.  This resulted in two new entrants, and other minor fluctuation on the top 50.

As always, we present our top five, which saw no changes:

1. Martin Brodeur

2. Scott Stevens

3. Scott Niedermayer

4. Patrik Elias

5. Ken Daneyko

You can find the entire list here.

Center, Nico Hischier, jetted up to #31 from #50.

Left Wing, Jesper Bratt, makes his first appearance at #38.

American Center, Jack Hughes, is the second debut, entering at #39.

Defenseman, Damon Severson, went up two spots to #34.

We welcome your input and comments and as always, we thank you for your support.

Had Scott Niedermayer retired before he signed with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, he might have been a Hall of Famer as is.  He had already won three Stanley Cups, and a Norris Trophy as a New Jersey Devil, but the Defenseman from Alberta had a lot left, and he removed all doubt after his five seasons in California that he was a Hall of Fame player.

Yes, we know that this is taking a while!

As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the 50 of each major North American sports team.  We have a new one to unveil today, that of the New Jersey Devils. 

An expansion team in 1974, the Devils were originally the Kansas City Scouts, but they only stayed there for two years before relocating to Denver and becoming the Colorado Rockies.  That only lasted six years before they relocated to New Jersey to become the Devils. After a few more years of mediocrity, they adopted a defensive strategy and won three Stanley Cups, 1995, 2000 & 2003.

As for all of our top 50 players in hockey we look at the following: 

1.  Advanced Statistics.

2. Traditional statistics and how they finished in the NHL.

3. Playoff accomplishments.

4. Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.

Remember, this is ONLY based on what a player does on that particular team and not what he accomplished elsewhere and also note that we have placed an increased importance on the first two categories.

This list is updated up until the end of the 2019-20 Season.

The complete list can be found here, but as always, we announce our top five in this article.  They are:

1. Martin Brodeur

2. Scott Stevens

3. Scott Niedermayer

4. Patrik Elias

5. Ken Daneyko

We will continue our adjustments on our existing lists and will continue developing our new lists.  

Look for our more material coming soon!

As always we thank you for your support.

We just spoke of the importance of Scott Stevens to the Devils defense and overall success of the team.  Consider Scott Niedermayer at a similar level in both.

Niedermayer was drafted Third Overall in 1991, the same season where Stevens was allocated to New Jersey as compensation for the signing of Brendan Shanahan. Niedermayer played four Games in the year he was drafted but was a full-time member of the roster the year following, and he was quickly regarded as one of the best two-way blueliners in the game. 

After helping New Jersey win the Stanley Cup in 1995, he would have his first top-ten Norris season in 1997-98, where he scored 57 Points, his highest as a Devil, and securing a Second Team All-Star Selection.  Niedermayer won another Cup with the Devils in 2000, and in 2003, he anchored the Devils in another title, where he led all skaters in the post-season in Assists (16) and Points (18).  

Niedermayer would not win another Cup with New Jersey, but in his final year with the Devils (2003-04), he won the Norris Trophy and was ninth in Hart Trophy voting. He was also named a First Team All-Star, the first and only time he did so as a Devil.  Niedermayer left New Jersey afterward for Anaheim, where he joined his brother, Rob.

After joining Anaheim, Niedermayer won his fourth Stanley Cup in 2007.  The Devils retired his number 27 in 2011, and the Hockey Hall of Fame inducted him in 2013, his first year of eligibility.  With the Devils, Niedermayer scored 476 Points with a healthy Plus/Minus of +172.

As most of the regular visitors to Notinhalloffame.com are aware we are (very) slowly putting together our top 50 players of every franchise in the “Big 4” of North American sports. After that is completed we will take a look at how each organization honors their past players and executives.

As such, it is important to us that the Anaheim Ducks have announced that they will be retiring the numbers of former players Paul Kariya and Scott Niedermayer during the 2018-19 season.

Paul Kariya played his first nine seasons of his NHL career with seven of which served as the team’s captain. The Left Winger would score 669 Points in 606 Games for the Ducks, which generated an excellent 1.10 Points per Game Average. He would collect a lot of hardware with the then named Mighty Ducks as he was named a First Team All Star three times, a Second Team All Star twice, would win the Lady Byng Trophy twice and was a part of the team’s first trip to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2003. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2017.

Scott Niedermayer was with the Ducks for the last five seasons of his career. After winning three Stanley Cups with the New Jersey Devils, Niedermayer would help Anaheim win their first and to date only Stanley Cup in 2007, where he was named the Conn Smythe Trophy winner. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2013.

The addition of Kariya’s #9 and Niedermayer’s #27 number marks the second and third numbers retired by the Ducks. The team has already retired Teemu Selanne’s #8.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate both Paul Kariya and Scott Niedermayer for earning this prestigious honor.