New Jersey Devils

History

Kansas City and Colorado

In 1972, the NHL announced plans to add two expansion teams, including one in Kansas City, Missouri, owned by a group headed by Edwin G. Thompson. The new team was officially named the Scouts in reference to Cyrus E. Dallin's statue of the same name which stands in that city's Penn Valley Park. In the team's inaugural season, 1974–75, the Scouts were forced to wait until the ninth game to play in Kansas City's Kemper Arena, and did not post a win until beating the Washington Capitals, their expansion brethren, in their tenth contest. With 41 points in their inaugural season, the Scouts finished last in the Smythe Division; only the Capitals had fewer points in the NHL. Kansas City fell to 36 points the following season, and had a 27-game winless streak, three short of the NHL record, which was set when the 1980–81 Winnipeg Jets went 30 games without a win. The Scouts had difficulty drawing fans to home games, and National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA) leader Alan Eagleson publicly expressed concerns about whether Scouts players would be paid.

After two seasons in Kansas City, the franchise moved to Denver and was renamed the Colorado Rockies it played at the McNichols Sports Arena. The team won its first game as the Rockies, 4–2, against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Rockies were in position to qualify for the playoffs 60 games into the 1976–77 season, but a streak of 18 games without a win caused them to fall from contention. The Rockies ended the campaign last in the division with a 20–46–14 record and 54 points, and improved to 59 points the next season. Despite having the sixth-worst record in the League, the Rockies beat-out the Vancouver Canucks for second in the Division by two points and gained a playoff berth. The Philadelphia Flyers eliminated the Rockies from the playoffs in the preliminary round.

A lack of stability continually plagued the team. In their first eight years, the Scouts/Rockies went through ten coaches, none lasting two full seasons.

The franchise never won more than 22 games and did not return to the playoffs after 1977–78 in its six seasons in Colorado. Prior to the 1978–79 season, the team was sold to New Jersey trucking tycoon Arthur Imperatore, who intended to move the team to his home state. The plan was criticized due to the existence of three other NHL teams in the region. In any event, their intended home in the Meadowlands was still under construction, and there was no nearby facility suitable even for temporary use; the franchise ultimately stayed in Denver. In 1979, the team hired Don Cherry as head coach and featured forward Lanny McDonald. The Rockies still posted the worst record in the NHL, and Cherry was subsequently fired after the season. After two more years in Denver, the Rockies were sold to a group headed by Jersey City native John McMullen (who also owned Major League Baseball's Houston Astros) on May 27, 1982, and the franchise moved to New Jersey. As part of the relocation deal, the Devils had to compensate the three existing teams in the region – the New York Islanders, New York Rangers and Flyers – for encroaching on their territory.

New Jersey

On June 30, 1982, the team was renamed the New Jersey Devils, after the legend of the Jersey Devil, a creature that allegedly inhabited the Pine Barrens of South Jersey. Over 10,000 people voted in a contest held to select the name. The team began play in East Rutherford, New Jersey, at the Brendan Byrne Arena, later renamed the Continental Airlines Arena and then the Izod Center, where they called home through the 2006–07 season. With their relocation, the newly christened Devils were placed in the Wales Conference's Patrick Division. Their first game ended in a 3–3 tie against the Pittsburgh Penguins, with their first goal scored by Don Lever. Their first win, a 3–2 victory, came in New Jersey at the expense of the Rangers. The team finished with a 17–49–14 record, putting them three points above last place in the Patrick Division.

In the following season, on November 19, 1983, the Devils were criticized by Wayne Gretzky after a 13–4 loss to the Edmonton Oilers. In a post-game interview, Gretzky said that the Devils were "putting a Mickey Mouse operation on the ice." Later, Gretzky said that his comment was "blown out of proportion." In response, many Devils fans wore Mickey Mouse apparel when the Oilers returned to New Jersey on January 15, 1984, despite a 5–4 loss. Also in the 1983–84 season, the Devils hosted the annual NHL All-Star Game. New Jersey's Chico Resch was the winning goaltender, and Devils defenseman Joe Cirella tallied a goal as the Wales Conference beat the Campbell Conference 7–6. Overall, the team did not achieve much success. Head coach Bill MacMillan was fired 20 games into the season, whereupon Tom McVie was named the new coach. The Devils won only 17 games and after the season, Doug Carpenter succeeded McVie.

On January 22, 1987, a massive blizzard hit the New York metropolitan area resulting in only 334 fans attending the game between the Devils and the Calgary Flames at Brendan Byrne Arena where the Devils rallied to win 7–5. The Devils officially recognized the fans that made the journey to the game the "334 Club". The fans received a letter that read, "You are hereby inducted and given lifetime membership to a club that cannot grow – the 334 Club".

The Devils assembled a core of players that included John MacLean, Bruce Driver, Ken Daneyko, Kirk Muller and Pat Verbeek, with Resch as their goaltender. Their record improved each season between 1983–84 and 1986–87. However, they were unable to reach the playoffs. Despite their improvement, the Devils remained last in the Patrick Division in 1985–86 and 1986–87. McMullen hired Providence College athletic director Lou Lamoriello as team president in April 1987. To gain greater control over franchise operations, Lamoriello appointed himself general manager before the 1987–88 season.

Season-by-season record

This is a partial list of the last five seasons completed by the Devils. For the full season-by-season history, see List of New Jersey Devils seasons

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

Team identity

Jerseys

The team colors are red, black and white, and they can be seen on both the home and road jerseys. The home jersey, which was the team's road jersey until the NHL swapped home and road colors in 2003, is dominantly red in color. There are three black and white stripes, one across each arm and prior to the 2017–18 season, one across the waist. The road jersey (the team's former home jersey) is white in color with a similar design, except that the three stripes are black and red. The shoulders are draped with black on both uniforms. Before the 1992–93 season, the uniforms were green and red with slightly different striping, leading some fans to affectionately refer to them as "Christmas colors". The color green was chosen to reflect New Jersey's nickname as "The Garden State" and the New Jersey Pine Barrens, home of the Jersey Devil.

During the Lou Lamoriello era, the Devils refused to join the trend of teams unveiling third jerseys, and continued to do so well after Lamoriello left in 2015. Lamoriello had stated that he did not ever intend to introduce a third jersey for the Devils, saying, "I don't believe in it. I strongly believe that you have to have one identity as a team. We want to create a feeling that our home and away jerseys are special and that it means something special to wear one." Unlike most teams, the Devils kept the same uniform design when the NHL switched to the Rbk Edge jerseys by Reebok for the 2007–08 season.

On August 20, 2009, Lamoriello announced that the Devils would wear their classic red, white and green jerseys on their Saint Patrick's Day 2010 game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Lamoriello stated, "The original red, green and white jerseys are a part of our history here in New Jersey. We have always been an organization that takes great pride in its tradition. This is something we believe our fans will enjoy for that one special night." Martin Brodeur wore a special replica helmet of the one from his first NHL game. The throwback jerseys continued to be used, including for games on or around St. Patrick's Day over three different seasons and in the 2014 Stadium Series against the Rangers, on January 26.

On June 20, 2017, the Devils revealed updated uniforms for the 2017–18 season. Made by Adidas, the new sweaters are the first major change to the team's look since they replaced green with black. They feature the removal of the stripes on the bottom of the sweater, and also thicker sleeve stripes with equal width bands of white and black.

Logo

The Devils' logo is a ligature of the letters "N", and "J", rendered with devil horns at the top of the "J" and a pointed tail at the bottom. The ligature was red with a green outline when the team began playing in New Jersey, but the outline color was changed to black in 1992, due to difficulties in making the green color consistent between its logo and jerseys. The logo sits inside an open black circle, and lies on a field of white in the middle of the chest on both uniforms. Before the Devils' move from Colorado in 1982, then-owner John McMullen's wife designed a prototype logo, which was then modified by a professional graphic design and marketing firm, and became the green-and-red logo used by the team for the first ten years in New Jersey.

Mascot

The mascot is "NJ Devil", a 7-foot (2.1 m) tall devil who plays into the myth of the Jersey Devil. NJ Devil keeps the crowd excited, signs autographs, participates in entertainment during the intermissions, skates across the ice, throws T-shirts and runs throughout the aisles of the arena to high five fans. Prior to 1993, the mascot was "Slapshot", a large Devils hockey puck that interacted with the fans. The man inside the costume resigned after he was accused of touching three women inappropriately while in costume. The man agreed to undergo psychological counseling for a year as part of his agreement to avoid trial. To remove the stigma of the lawsuit, Slapshot was retired and has not returned since.

Traditions

Arlette Roxburgh has been the team's primary national anthem singer at home games since 1996 and is a favorite among Devils fans. Pete Cannarozzi has been the team's organist since 2001. His organ playing has been instrumental in bridging the Devils' tradition from the Meadowlands to Prudential Center. In addition to playing during breaks in play and at the end of a period, he also provides Arlette or another local performer with accompanying music during the national anthem.

Some of Prudential Center's most vociferous fans can be found in Sections 233 and 122, home to groups of Devils fans whom self-identify as the Crazies and the Diablos, respectively. The 233 Crazies were originally created in 1993 as the 228 Crazies at the Meadowlands. They are known for their custom, triple-digit Devils jerseys reflecting their section number with "CRAZIES" on the nameplate, and are the source of many chants and generally enthusiastic behavior. A handful of 233 Crazies typically attend every Devils home game and some road games as well. The Diablos of Section 122 were originally conceived in part by the Devils' management in 2011 by extending a special season ticket offer to and actively seeking input from fans seeking to participate in a European-style supporters' section similar to those popular in Major League Soccer, ultimately in an effort to liven-up in the in-arena atmosphere following a poor campaign on the ice. While the Diablos have ultimately ceased to be supported directly by the organization and the following ownership group has focused on different methods of enhancing the fan experience, Section 122 and its general vicinity continues to be a source of more raucous behavior and general hostility towards opposing teams.

Mark Baumann, simply known to fans by his last name, Baumann, is a long-time season ticket holder familiar to many Devils fans for starting the D-E-V-I-L-S chant, dating back to 1995. He commonly wears a white Devils jersey with his name and the number 00.

Rivalries

The Devils developed strong rivalries with two teams out of geographical proximity and frequent playoff confrontations. The "Battle of the Hudson River" with the New York Rangers is so-called as the Devils' arenas in the New York metropolitan area were always less than ten miles and across the Hudson River from Madison Square Garden. New Jersey's proximity with Pennsylvania also led to a rivalry with the Philadelphia Flyers, the "Battle of the Jersey Turnpike". The Flyers have a large following in South Jersey and train in Voorhees Township. Both teams had the most titles of the Atlantic Division prior to the 2013 realignment, with nine to the Devils and six to the Flyers.

Style of play

The Devils have been known as a defense-first team since head coach Jacques Lemaire's first tenure, although the Devils have twice led the Eastern Conference in goals scored, once leading the NHL in goals scored (295 goals for in 2000–01). Lemaire gave the Devils their defensive mantra when he implemented a system commonly called the "neutral zone trap". This system is designed to force teams to turn over the puck in the neutral zone leading to a counterattack. This style of play led the team to be chastised by the media and hockey purists for "making the NHL boring". Nevertheless, the Devils were successful using this style of play, and Devils head coach Larry Robinson asserted that the Montreal Canadiens teams he played on in the 1970s (who also won the Cup many times) used a form of the trap, though it did not have a name.

Under head coach Brent Sutter, the team adopted less of a trap and more of a transitional, aggressive forechecking style of play which also emphasized puck possession and instilled the cycle to start the 2007–08 season. This led to many high scoring games early in the season for New Jersey. The Devils went on to score 244 goals in the 2008–09 season, the most the team had scored in eight seasons. However, with the return of Lemaire as head coach, the Devils resumed a more defense-oriented playing style, scoring just 222 goals and allowing only 191, an NHL best in the 2009–10 season, earning Martin Brodeur his fifth William M. Jennings Trophy.

Lemaire has since re-entered retirement, and was replaced by former Florida head coach Peter DeBoer on July 19, 2011. The team showed greater offensive prowess during the 2011–12 season, employing a more aggressive forecheck centered on Ilya Kovalchuk. Under DeBoer's system, according to Lamoriello, the Devils' defenseman were often sent into the offensive zone to apply pressure on the opposing team's defense. After DeBoer's dismissal, Adam Oates had a similar approach improving the Devils' offense, investing on the versatility of the forwards. Oates left the organization in 2015, and the head coaching position was filled by John Hynes, who shifted the focus to a more "fast, attacking, supportive" style of play in an effort to score more goals. Hynes remained as head coach until he was dismissed in 2020, replaced by long-term assistant Alain Nasreddine, who kept the same general strategy intact with a slight increase to offensive execution. In 2021, Nasreddine was replaced by Lindy Ruff. Under Ruff, the Devils were known to play with an up-tempo style that highlighted the speed of their young talent. Ruff remained as head coach until he was replaced by his assistant Travis Green during the 2023–24 season, who maintained a similar style of play as interim, but with a focus on encouraging the players to adopt a stronger mentality.

Players and personnel

Current roster

Updated September 3, 2026

Honored members

The Devils have retired five numbers.

Notes:

1 Daneyko holds the record for most games played in the Devils uniform with 1,283 (and spent his entire career with the team).

2 Stevens spent 13 seasons with the Devils, captaining the team for 12 of those seasons (1992–2004) while serving as captain of all three Stanley Cup-winning teams. Note that the banner includes the 2004–05 lockout season, as Stevens did not retire until 2005.

3 Eliáš was the first forward to have his number retired in Devils franchise history. Eliáš played his entire career with the Devils and holds the franchise record for goals, assists and points.

4 Niedermayer spent the first 13 seasons of his career with the Devils, winning the James Norris Memorial Trophy in 2004.

5 Brodeur holds the NHL goaltenders' record for wins (691), shutouts (125), games played (1266), playoff shutouts (24), and goals scored (3). Brodeur won the Vezina Trophy four times with the Devils.

The NHL retired Wayne Gretzky's No. 99 for all its member teams at the 2000 NHL All-Star Game.

Twelve Devils players have been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Peter Šťastný, who played for the Devils from 1989 to 1993, was inducted in 1998. A center who defected from Czechoslovakia, Šťastný was one of the NHL's top goal scorers in the 1980s. In 2001, Šťastný was joined in the Hall of Fame by Devils defenseman Viacheslav Fetisov, who was one of the first Soviet players in the NHL. Fetisov played for the team in the 1989–90 season and again from 1990 to 1995. Scott Stevens, the Devils' defenseman from 1991 to 2004 and long-time team captain, was inducted in 2007 in his first year of eligibility. In December 2014, Stevens returned as head coach for the Devils' defense. Igor Larionov, a forward with a 15-year career in the NHL who spent the 2003–04 season with the Devils, was inducted in 2008. Two Devils centers were inducted in 2011: Doug Gilmour, who had played for the team from 1996 to 1998, and Joe Nieuwendyk, a member of the club from 2001 to 2003. In 2013, the Hall of Fame again inducted two former Devils players: left wing Brendan Shanahan, who had played for the team from 1987 to 1991 and again for the 2008–09 season, and defenseman Scott Niedermayer, who was a Devil from 1992 to 2004. In the 2015, defenseman Phil Housley, who briefly played 22 games for the organization after being traded to New Jersey at the 1996 trade deadline, was inducted into the Hall of Fame. In 2017, left wing Dave Andreychuk, who played for the Devils for four seasons from 1996 to 1999, was inducted into the Hall of Fame. In 2018, longtime Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur was inducted into the Hall of Fame, who played with the team from 1991 to 2014, breaking multiple league records including most wins and shutouts while a member of the team. In 2025, right wing Alexander Mogilny, who played for the Devils for three non-consecutive seasons from 2000 to 2006, was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2025.

Team captains

This list does not include the former captains of the Kansas City Scouts and Colorado Rockies.

General managers

This list does not include the former general managers of the Kansas City Scouts and Colorado Rockies.

Bill MacMillan, 1982–1983

Max McNab, 1983–1987

Lou Lamoriello, 1987–2015

Ray Shero, 2015–2020

Tom Fitzgerald, 2020–2026

Sunny Mehta, 2026–present

Head coaches

This list does not include the former coaches of the Kansas City Scouts and Colorado Rockies.

Source:

Notes:

1 Robinson took over as interim head coach with eight games left in the 1999–2000 season after Ftorek was fired. After winning the Stanley Cup in 2000, he was hired as the permanent head coach.

2 Lamoriello took over as interim head coach after the firing Julien with only three games left in the 2006–07 season.

3 Lemaire took over as interim head coach in the middle of the 2010–11 season after MacLean was fired.

4 Stevens and Oates took over as interim co-head coaches in the middle of the 2013–14 season after DeBoer was fired.

5 Nasreddine took over as interim head coach in the middle of the 2019–20 season after Hynes was fired.

6 Green took over as interim head coach in the middle of the 2023–24 season after Ruff was fired.

First-round draft picks

This list does not include draft picks of the Kansas City Scouts and Colorado Rockies.

Franchise records

Scoring leaders

These are the top-ten point-scorers in franchise (Kansas City, Colorado and New Jersey) history. Figures are updated after each completed NHL regular season.

* – current Devils player

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game

Goaltending leaders

These goaltenders rank in the top ten in franchise (Kansas City, Colorado and New Jersey) history for wins. Figures are updated after each completed NHL season.

* – current Devils player

Note: GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T/O = Ties/Overtime losses; GA = Goal against; GAA = Goals against average; SA = Shots against; SV% = Save percentage; SO = Shutouts

Individual and team records

Career records

Regular season records

Playoff records

Team records

Affiliate teams

American Hockey League

The Maine Mariners were the Devils' first American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, from 1982 to 1987. The team moved in 1987 and became the Utica Devils, serving as New Jersey's affiliate until 1993. The Albany River Rats became their affiliate from 1993 to 2006. In 2006, the Devils bought the Lowell Lock Monsters and renamed them the Lowell Devils, which moved in 2010 to become the Albany Devils. The Albany Devils moved after the 2016–17 season and became the Binghamton Devils. In May 2021, it was announced that the Binghamton Devils would be moved to Utica in the 2021–22 season to become the Utica Comets.

ECHL

In 2006, the Devils purchased the ECHL franchise Trenton Titans, which was then renamed the Trenton Devils. Following four seasons of on-ice struggles and financial losses, the Devils suspended operations of the Trenton franchise in 2011. On August 8, 2017, the Devils announced a one-year affiliation with the Adirondack Thunder for the 2017–18 season, after having an "informal working arrangement" for the past two seasons.

Television and radio

Television: MSGSN

Radio: Audacy (formerly Radio.com), WFAN (selected games)

Matt Loughlin – play-by-play

Chico Resch – color commentator