16 All-Time Best Devils Trades  | STAN'S LISTS

With the NHL Trade Deadline just around the calendar, The Maven believes that it's only right to take a look backward and select the Devils All-Time Best Trades (see if you agree).

16. Jacob Markstrom

(June 19, 2024) It's hardly been a state secret that finding a dependable goaltender had been a franchise priority for years. When the Calgary Flames made Markstrom available, GM Tom Fitzgerald delivered Kevin Bahl and a 2025 first rounder. Markstrom fills a need in goal for the Devils, even if only for two years.

15. Taylor Hall

(June 29, 2016) Defenseman Adam Larsson played well for the Devils but without little fuss or fanfare. Fair or not, he fell out of favor with the fans and a trade was welcome. Edmonton offered the fleet Hall and so, a one-sided deal was completed. Taylor turned into a New Jersey sensation in 2017-18. He not only spearheaded the Devils into a playoff berth but wound up winning the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP.

14. Kyle Palmieri

(June 26, 2015) When talking trade, there's always a question on one side or the other about whether or not to include draft picks. In this case, Palmieri offered enough potential that a second and third rounder to Anaheim sounded like a reasonable exchange. As it happened, New Jersey did well. Palmieri surfaced on the East Coast among the Devils leading scorers for several years.

13. Jim Korn

(October 23, 1987) During New Jersey's non-playoff seasons - from 1983 through 1987 - the Devils lacked an intimidating presence. The gap finally was filled when third-line forward Jan Ludvig was traded to Buffalo. In return the Garden Staters wound up with mammoth forward Korn. He proved to be the enforcer long needed and his value was underlined when he helped steer Jim Schoenfeld's sextet to its first postseason experience in 1988.

12. Patrik Sundstrom

(September 15, 1987) Greg Adams was a surprise offensive spark plug for New Jersey in the mid to late 1980's while Kirk McLean appeared to be the Devils goalie of the future. But when Vancouver's Swedish sharpshooter was put on the market, Lou Lamoriello packaged McLean and Adams, easily winning the deal. Centering John MacLean and Brendan Shanahan, Sundstrom was the surprise star of the franchise's first playoff team in the spring of 1988; including a record-breaking playoff scoring night against the Washington Capitals.

11. Tommy Albelin

(December 12, 1988) During the early 1990's, the Quebec Nordiques featured several outstanding players, including Peter and Anton Stastny, but defenseman Albelin was not one of them. Yet, Devils scouts sent positive report cards to the high command. Unobtrusively, the Devils dispatched a fourth-round choice to Quebec. In time it would prove to be an amazing bargain. Albelin's value grew in East Rutherford both as a defensive defender but also as one who had a knack for offense. While he didn't garner headlines, Albelin played an important role in the Devils’ 1995 and 2003 Cup runs.

10. Shawn Chambers & Danton Cole

(March 14, 1995) As the 1995 Trade Deadline drew near, the Devils believed they could try one more exchange for a hard-shooting defenseman. The package began with gifted Russian forward Alexander Semak and third-string forward Ben Hankinson. Semak never reached his potential while Hankinson was easily disposable. In return, the Devils obtained defenseman Chambers and utility forward Cole. While Cole was less needed, Chambers was a winner. One of his biggest shots led to a third period goal in the Cup-clinching Game 4 over the Red Wings.

9. Neal Broten

(February 27, 1995) Word around the league in 1994-95 was that one of Uncle Sam's 1980 Miracle on Ice winners, Neal Broten, had lost a step. By contrast, Corey Millen was a speedster with a promising future in East Rutherford. Undaunted, Lou sent Millen to Dallas and then watched Broten enjoy a new life. With gas still in his tank, Neal was one the club's MVPs in the 1995 four-game upset of Detroit for the 1995 Cup title.

8. Joe Nieuwendyk & Jamie Langenbrunner

(March 19, 2002) Again, iron-minded Lamoriello defied fan appeal. Arnott's game was slipping as was former Crash Line ace Randy McKay's. They were packaged to Dallas for a pair who would win the hearts of Jersey fans and coach Pat Burns. Nieuwendyk and Langenbrunner spearheaded the Devils last successful Stanley Cup crusade in 2003 with a Game 7 triumph at The Meadowlands over Anaheim.

7. Jason Arnott

(January 4, 1998) Oh, boy, this was a tough one. The 1995 Cup hero, Billy Guerin, was one of the all-time Devils fan favorites. Ditto for Valeri Zelepukin. But Lamoriello deemed them replaceable, and, in return, he received tall, talented Jason Arnott and defenseman Bryan Muir. Arnott wound up centering for Petr Sykora and Patrik Elias. Their "A" line dominated during the 1999-2000 season and the Elias' pass to Arnott led to Jason's Cup-winning shot.

6. Alexander Mogilny

(March 14, 2000) The Devils owned two players with purportedly bright futures in Denis Pederson and Brendan Morrison. Losing them would be a huge gamble. On the other hand, Mogilny was a proven talent. Once again Lamoriello guessed right; this time dealing with Vancouver. Neither Pederson nor Morrison fulfilled expectations. Meanwhile, Mogilny proved to be a critical cog in New Jersey's 2000 Cup triumph and the 2001 team that reached the Cup Final.

5. Stephane Richer & Tom Chorske

(September 20, 1991) "The Streamlined Scorer," Richer blended speed and superior shooting into a major threat while Chorske proved to be an ideal third-liner. The Devils bartered Kirk Muller, whose usefulness was fading and backup - yet efficient - goalie Roland Melanson. Richer galvanized the Jersey offense in the 1995 opening playoff round with Boston. The added confidence catapulted the underdog Devils through four rounds and their first Stanley Cup.

4. Claude Lemieux

(September 4,1990) The clutch-player's clutch-player, this gifted, pesty and sage skater arrived from Montreal for Sylvain Turgeon, a sharpshooter but vanilla personality. Already a Cup-winner in 1986 with Montreal, the volatile, impudent Lemieux provided plenty of fire that resulted in The Garden Staters 1995 Cup upset of Detroit and another in 2000 when Dallas was defeated in a six-game final.

3. Bobby Holik

(August, 28, 1992) Until he arrived in East Rutherford, Holik was a rugged center overloaded with unexploited potential. To lure Bobby to New Jersey, Lou Lamoriello dispatched 1988 hero goalie Sean Burke and two-way defenseman Eric Weinrich to Hartford. In addition, the Devils received a second-rounder and a conditional fourth-round choice. Centering the notoriously successful Crash Line - with Randy McKay and Mike Peluso - Holik emerged as the balance wheel of 1995 and 2000 Cup-winning teams. The second-rounder eventually was converted into crack defensive forward Jay Pandolfo.

2. Scott Niedermayer

(June 13, 1987) One of the greatest two-way defenders, Niedermayer became a Devil as a result of an earlier (1987) trade in which defenseman Tom Kurvers was obtained from Buffalo for a third-round draft choice. Kurvers was among New Jersey's best defenders from 1987-88 through most of the 1989-90 season before being traded to Toronto for the Maple Leafs' No. 1 draft choice in 1991 - Niedermayer. It's extremely rare to unearth a Hall of Famer via the trade route but Lou Lamoriello obtained one of the world's supreme blueliners in Niedermayer.

1. Martin Brodeur

(June 17, 1990) The hockey community figured that Lou Lamoriello was nuts at the 1990 Draft. Trevor Kidd, an acknowledged sure-thing NHL goalie, was Lou's for the asking. But, no, the Devils' boss traded down and selected an unknown, untried French-Canadian lad. In the complicated exchange - involving Detroit, Minnesota and Calgary - the Flames wound up with Kidd and New Jersey nabbed one of the all-time, most accomplished puckstoppers. Brodeur was the prime reason the Devils won three Stanley Cups between 1995 and 2003.

(Editor's Note: Kudos to Noam Kogen, George Falkowski and Solon Mihas for key research assistance.)