Welcome to August. With the draft and the free agent frenzy on July 1 behind us, we have gotten through the meat of the offseason and now find ourselves in the true dog days. August is notoriously the slowest month on the NHL calendar, although I do think we see a little more action this month than in previous years. Whereas former general manager Tom Fitzgerald acted like most GM’s in getting almost nothing done in August, new GM Sunny Mehta seems to have a hunger to constantly tinker and look for ways
to improve the club. During his press conference on July 2, when discussing his overall view of the roster after a raft of moves and whether he thinks he’s done working on the lineup, Mehta was quoted as saying the following:
“I would say I’m never done. It’s never done,” Mehta said. “It’s like a painting that’s never finished. But we’re pretty excited about what we have gotten done in the last, not just yesterday, but in the last several weeks.
“There’s definitely things we’re still considering. But we’ll see. A combination of being both excited about what we’ve done and also somehow never feeling like we’re done.”
So I think it’s safe to say that we’ll see more August action this time around than in most years. All that being said though, I still don’t think we see that much action. And with news around the club slowing down and there being plenty of time before training camp opens, I thought it might be fun to take a step back and look at a topic that’s a little more abstract.
Namely, Nico Hischier and his place in franchise history.
It might seem hard to believe, but this upcoming season will be Hischier’s 10th in the NHL. Yes, we are on the verge of a full decade of Hischier representing the red and black, with seven of those 10 seasons being spent as the captain of this team. This upcoming campaign was slated to be his last under the seven-year contract he was signed to by the late Ray Shero (and side note, and perhaps this is the subject of a future piece, but despite what happens in year seven, I feel confident in saying that Hischier’s second contract has officially gone down as one of the best in franchise history). His long-term future with the Devils was the topic of much speculation and concern for fans everywhere, but Mehta signed Hischier to a five-year, $11.7M AAV contract extension as soon as he was eligible to do so, alleviating any worry around losing the captain a year from now. Hischier is here to stay for another half-decade.
Obviously it’s possible he is traded before this new contract is up, but I think we can all agree that looks pretty unlikely at this moment in time. Assuming Hischier does finish out his third contract, he will have played at least 15 seasons as a Devil, more than almost every other player in franchise history. Seriously, go look through the record books. As far as I can tell, there are only four players in Devils history who have played in parts of at least 15 seasons with New Jersey: Martin Brodeur (21), Ken Daneyko (20), Patrik Elias (20), and Travis Zajac (15). Scott Stevens didn’t make it to a decade-and-a-half with the Devils. Neither did Scott Niedermayer. Nor did Sergei Brylin, John MacLean, Bruce Driver, or any other franchise legend you can think of. If Hischier finishes out his next contract in the Garden State, he will be the fifth member of that club.
Which leads me to the subject of today’s piece: Now that Hischier is locked up long-term once more, is he on his way to becoming the second-greatest forward in franchise history?
This is a thought that dawned on me recently when thinking of the history of Devils forwards. Obviously Hischier, great as he is, isn’t touching players like Brodeur, Stevens, and Niedermayer unless he undergoes a Barry Bonds-esque late career boost (but, uh, hopefully in a natural way, unlike Bonds). Same goes for Elias, although I think it’s at least within the realm of possibility that Hischier catches him if he maintains his level of play and New Jersey wins a Cup or two with Hischier leading the charge. Still, I think it’s highly unlikely, meaning the real title that’s up for grabs is second-best Devils forward ever.
As rich as this franchise’s history is, it has not quite produced (and, crucially, held onto) a whole lot of all-time forwards. In fact, I would say that Hischier’s main competition for the title of second-best forward are some of his contemporaries. If Jack Hughes can start putting together full, healthy seasons while sticking around past his current contract, I think it’s possible that Hughes, not Hischier, takes the title as Elias’ second-in-command. Meanwhile, Jesper Bratt has been a model of consistency and elite production for roughly half a decade now. And like Hischier, Bratt is about to enter his 10th NHL season as well. If he continues to be a metronome of production and play-driving, perhaps he has an outside chance at second place as well.
Beyond the modern era, a look through franchise history shows many forwards who, while great, either do not stack up to Hischier, or are neck-and-neck with the Devils captain and will be passed up soon enough. John MacLean held all the franchise scoring records until Elias came along. An excellent, long-serving Devil, Johnny Mac is right there with Hischier in my eyes. But I think he will soon be eclipsed by Hischier in terms of how good each was in their respective primes, as well as longevity. Kirk Muller had a terrific peak, and to me is close to Hischier on the franchise forward power ranking at the moment. But Hischier needs only 32 more points to tie Muller on the all-time franchise list, a total that Hischier could reach before the calendar flips to 2027. And once Hischier passes Muller this season, he’ll still have five more years to add to his totals. Muller is worthy of a prime spot in Devils lore, but in my opinion, Hischier will surpass him very soon, if he hasn’t already. Travis Zajac played a very similar game to Hischier: smart, reliable, not the flashiest but quietly very effective. Zajac was known for being an outstanding defensive center, just like Hischier. But I think we can all agree that as good as Zajac was at his best, he was no Hischier.
Then there are the players who perhaps were better than Hischier in their primes, but did not have the longevity with the club to make enough of an impact to surpass Hischier. Taylor Hall is, to this day, the franchise’s only Hart Trophy winner, collecting the award in his magical 2017-18 as Hischier’s linemate. He reached heights with the Devils that Hischier has not quite gotten to, but he didn’t spend enough time in New Jersey to challenge Hischier for overall impact on the franchise. I would also argue that Zach Parise’s peak was greater than Hischier’s. As much as some Devils fans still love to hate him for the way he left in 2012, it is simultaneously easy to forget yet hard to ignore what he did during his seven seasons in New Jersey. At his best, Parise was a force of nature, overwhelming opponents with tremendous skill and one of the highest compete levels I have ever seen. His 45-goal, 94-point 2008-09 campaign was one of the greatest in franchise history. And while he didn’t produce quite to the level that we wanted during the 2012 playoffs, he did captain New Jersey to the Stanley Cup final that spring, potting eight goals in 24 playoff games. The same could be said of Parise’s teammate, Ilya Kovalchuk, who was another force of nature that shook off a rough first season in New Jersey to become a goal-scoring machine for the club. If he didn’t quit on the Devils on a whim in his prime, perhaps we’re talking about Hischier chasing Kovalchuk today. Alas.
The same could be said about a slew of hall of fame forwards who didn’t really build their hall of fame resumes in New Jersey. Brendan Shanahan was drafted by the Devils and spent the first four seasons of his career with them. But he did not become Brendan Shanahan until after his time in New Jersey. Dave Andreychuk only had a brief spell with the Devils. Ditto for Alexander Mogilny and Joe Nieuwendyk. All players that were better overall than Hischier, but not as Devils.
There are plenty of other forwards who are franchise legends in one way or another, but in my opinion, either don’t match up to Hischier now, or will be surpassed by him soon. Sergei Brylin is the only forward in franchise history to be on all three Cup teams, but he certainly wasn’t as good as Hischier. Bobby Holik, Claude Lemieux, Scott Gomez, and John Madden were lynchpins of multiple Cup winners with the Devils. But none of them had the peak or longevity to match Hischier. Stephane Richer. Pat Verbeek. Jamie Langenbrunner. Randy McKay. Brian Gionta. I could go on and on. All fine players, but when taking everything into account, from offensive production to defensive impact to leadership, none of them approach Hischier. The only thing those players have that Hischier doesn’t is a track record of postseason success. And I would argue that Hischier is one of the last people to blame for New Jersey’s current era of postseason frustration.
When you add it all up, I think that Hischier is on track to become the second-greatest forward in Devils franchise history. From a raw production standpoint, Hischier is already in fifth place on the franchise list in goals (199), 11th in assists (289), and sixth in points (488). Assuming a clean bill of health, Hischier will end the 2026-27 campaign top-three in goals, top-10 in assists, and top-five in points. And aside from the counting stats, Hischier impacts the game on the defensive end better than so many other franchise greats. He’s the total package, a truly great player. The only thing that I think could credibly stop him from achieving the rank of second-greatest Devils forward (aside from the obvious injury potential, of course) is the potential rise of Jack Hughes…and maybe Jesper Bratt. Aside from those teammates of his, I think he has either already leapt over everyone else, or will pass the scant few who remain in front of him, namely MacLean and Muller.
As mentioned, it’s possible he can surpass the great Patrik Elias one day, but I do find that to be very unlikely. But there’s no shame in not quite reaching the level of a player that was one of the greatest defensive forwards of all-time, produced exceptionally well for the Dead Puck era, had a track record of postseason greatness, holds just about every scoring record in franchise history, and should certainly be in the Hall of Fame. In fact, I would say that the fact that it’s even possible that Hischier could surpass Elias one day, however unlikely it may be, is proof enough that Hischier is well on his way to ranking among the all-time greats this franchise has ever produced. Maybe even top-10 overall, including goalies and defensemen.
It seems like just yesterday that I heard the news that New Jersey had won the 2017 NHL draft lottery. It’s hard for me to believe that it’s already been just about a decade since Hischier pulled a Devils sweater over his head for the first time. And before we know it, his career will be winding down. So cherish Nico Hischier while you can, Devils fans. We are watching franchise royalty in his prime.
Now that I’ve had my say, it’s time to hear from you. What do you think of Nico Hischier’s place in Devils history? Do you think he is on pace to become the second-best forward this franchise has ever produced? Do you think he is already there? Do you think he actually has a shot at surpassing Patrik Elias one day? As always, thanks for reading!
