We all know the names. Brodeur, Stevens, Elias, Niedermayer, Daneyko, Driver, MacLean\u2026these are the legends etched in New Jersey Devils history books. The golden age of the franchise, circa 1994-2003, saw a lot of players put up numbers that I think most Devils fans assumed would not be approached for a long, long time. And this has turned out to be true, as the top of the leaderboards in some major categories have remained the same for eons.<\/p>\n
But that golden age was a long time ago, and a new era of Devils are starting to approach those ancient records.<\/p>\n
At the risk of spoiling my own article, there aren\u2019t really any major franchise records that are in danger of falling during the 2025-26 season. But we could still see some significant movement near the top of those leaderboards, and it\u2019s worth pointing out just how close some players are to reaching the mountaintop. So as we gear up for another season of New Jersey Devils hockey, let\u2019s take a step back and see who is poised to challenge for some history in 2025-26.<\/p>\n
Patrik Elias holds the record in this category (get used to seeing some variation of that sentence in this piece). His 408 goals is far and away the franchise record, 61 clear of John MacLean\u2019s 347.<\/p>\n
But in third on that list? Believe it or not, it could be Nico Hischier very soon.<\/p>\n
The current Devils captain is already 7th on the franchise list with 171 goals. Ahead of him are Kirk Muller in 6th (185), Zach Parise in 5th (194), and then a tie for 3rd\/4th between Travis Zajac and Bobby Holik (202 apiece). A quick trip to the calculator tells us that Hischier is 31 goals away from making it a three-way tie for 3rd, and 32 away from sole possession of 3rd. He just notched a career-high 35 goals in 2024-25, and he has another 30-goal campaign (31 in 2022-23) under his belt, so climbing to third place is well within reach for Hischier this season.<\/p>\n
The other two players that could enter the top-10 in this category are Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt. The closer of the two is Bratt at 150, but Hughes isn\u2019t far behind at 141. After Hischier in 7th, the rest of the top 10 is Pat Verbeek (170), Petr Sykora (166), and Aaron Broten (162). If Hughes can put together a fully healthy season, both him and Bratt should easily enter the top-10. Parise\u2019s 194 is almost certainly out of reach for both, but they should be able to \u201covertake\u201d Hischier\u2019s current mark of 171, and maybe even get to Kirk Muller\u2019s 185. Even if they don\u2019t quite get there, by the time the season is over the Devils should have 30% of the franchise\u2019s top-10 goal scorers on the current roster.<\/p>\n
Ok so what about goals scored among defensemen in franchise history? That record belongs to Scott Niedermayer, whose 112 is head and shoulders above the rest of the pack. In fact, Niedermayer is the only defenseman in franchise history to crack the century mark in goals (19 ahead of Scott Stevens\u2019 93).<\/p>\n
But much like the first category we looked at, there is a current Devil in 7th place here too: Dougie Hamilton. Yes, Hamilton\u2019s 45 goals with the Devils is already good enough to place him in the top-10, ahead of Brian Rafalski (44), Rob Ramage (41), and Barry Beck (37).<\/p>\n
One clarification before I move on: Ramage and Beck never actually played in New Jersey, as they only suited up for the franchise during the Colorado Rockies days. I know a lot of outlets (including the Devils themselves) like to forget the Kansas City\/Colorado days ever happened, but I\u2019m including them here. To me, franchise records are just that: franchise records. We all know those weren\u2019t great days for the franchise, but those numbers still count. So Ramage and Beck (and part of Broten\u2019s goal total in the first category for that matter) are getting their due here.<\/p>\n
Anyway, Hamilton is currently 7th on the list. And with a healthy 2025-26, he could move up a few more spots. Niedermayer and Stevens are out of reach at the top. So too is Bruce Driver in 3rd (83). But after Driver, there\u2019s a big dropoff to 4th place, where we see Damon Severson (yes, really) with 58 goals. Beyond that is Joe Cirella in 5th (50), and Andy Greene in 6th (49). I\u2019ll put it this way: If Hamilton doesn\u2019t pass Greene and Cirella this year, we\u2019ll all be supremely disappointed. Assuming nothing catastrophic happens and Hamilton passes those two, he will enter the franchise\u2019s top-5. Overtaking Severson is possible, but it will take good injury luck and a return to shooting form for Hamilton, who had a down year in this regard.<\/p>\n
This is another category where we could see all of Hischier, Hughes, and Bratt enter the top-10. Bratt is already there actually, sitting in 9th at 447 points. He\u2019s just ahead of Stevens\u2019 430. The rest of the top-8 is Elias (1,025), an enormous chasm, MacLean (701), Zajac (550), Muller (520), Scott Gomez (484), Niedermayer (476), Holik (472), and Broten (469).<\/p>\n
Bratt has been a point machine over the past four seasons, scoring 73 in both 2021-22 and 2022-23, 83 in 2023-24, and 88 last season. Let\u2019s say he gets to 80 in 2025-26. That would place him just ahead of Muller and into 4th on the franchise list. Meanwhile, Hischier is at 422 career points. He\u2019s been good for around 70 points the past couple seasons, so if we pencil him in for that again, he would overtake Gomez.<\/p>\n
Hughes is the biggest wildcard, being more capable of skyrocketing up this list than Bratt or Hischier, but also more prone to injury than both of them. If Hughes can stay healthy in 2025-26, I really don\u2019t think 100 points is out of the question. If he can get there, his current career total of 351 points would shoot all the way up to 451. This would be good enough to crack the top-10 list as it\u2019s currently constructed, but if we assume Hischier also makes the list this season at the total we \u201cprojected\u201d for him, that would raise the bar for entry. In that case, Hughes would need to reach Broten\u2019s total of 469, meaning he\u2019d need to explode for 118 points. I do think Hughes is talented enough to reach that plateau, especially as he enters his prime. But obviously that\u2019s a tall order.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s the odd duality of having Martin Brodeur as part of the franchise: Every conceivable goaltending record is automatically out of reach, but the battle for the rest of the leaderboard is absolutely thriving.<\/p>\n
Brodeur\u2019s 688 wins with the Devils is silly. It\u2019s not really even a record anymore, as calling it a record would imply that it\u2019s an attainable goal. It is not an attainable goal, it is a painting in a museum, safely secured behind velvet rope and bullet-proof glass, there to be admired from afar and never, ever approached. However, the rest of the top-10 is shockingly attainable. All the way down in second place is Chris Terreri with his 118 wins. From there, we see the likes of Cory Schneider (115), Chico Resch (67), Mackenzie Blackwood (65), Keith Kinkaid (64), Sean Burke (62), Alain Chevrier (53), Vitek Vanecek (50), and Craig Billington (43).<\/p>\n
Read that list again. I don\u2019t know about you, but it is utterly baffling to me that players like Blackwood, Kinkaid, and Vanecek rank so highly. But again, that\u2019s what happens when the crease is occupied by a single goalie for two decades. That also means since Brodeur left, New Jersey\u2019s goaltending situation has been a mess. Though to be fair, the first few seasons of the post-Brodeur Devils enjoyed some genuinely elite goaltending thanks to Schneider.<\/p>\n
In any case, even though he\u2019s only been here for one season, Jacob Markstrom has a great chance to break into the top-10 this season. He registered 26 wins in 2024-25, and if he reaches that total again, he will surpass Vanecek for 8th all-time. If he can get to 30 wins, he would also pass Chevrier, and if he somehow manages to get to 40 wins, then all of a sudden he is 5th in franchise history in goaltender wins.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t think Jake Allen will get into the top-10 this season, though he does have an outside chance. He posted 13 wins in 2024-25, and when combined with his six victories in New Jersey after coming over at the 2024 trade deadline, he enters this season with 19 wins as a Devil. If we assume Markstrom cracks the list, that would mean Allen has to overtake Vanecek\u2019s 50 wins. I don\u2019t think Allen is reaching 31 wins in 2025-26, but I suppose if Markstrom gets hurt and Allen has a good year, it\u2019s doable.<\/p>\n
Again, Brodeur\u2019s record here is unattainable. He has 124 shutouts, and next on the list is Schneider with 17. This is another category where even one good season can shake things up. Case in point, both Markstrom and Allen are already tied for 7th all-time in franchise history with four shutouts each. The New Jersey Devils goaltending record list is hilarious.<\/p>\n
Neither Markstrom or Allen are catching Schneider for 2nd place, but there is still room for them to move up. Directly in front of them are Kinkaid and Terreri with seven shutouts, and just above them are Blackwood and Johan Hedberg tied for 3rd all-time with eight clean sheets. Markstrom and Allen can absolutely move into third place this season, which is sort of remarkable by itself.<\/p>\n
The Rookie Scoring Records<\/p>\n
We could also call this the \u201cArseni Gritsyuk\u201d section, considering he\u2019s the only rookie poised to make a big impact with the Devils this season. Instead of career records that long-term Devils are marching toward, let\u2019s take a quick look at some rookie marks that Gritsyuk could chase in his first season in North America.<\/p>\n
First, the rookie points record. That one belongs to Scott Gomez during the 1999-2000 season when he registered an impressive 70 points. I don\u2019t think this one is all that realistic for Gritsyuk, even though he\u2019s a seasoned vet of professional hockey at this point. To reach 70, Gritsyuk would almost certainly need to fight his way into the top six and stay there all season, AND get a ton of power play time. The former is doable, but the latter probably is not considering that even someone like Timo Meier can\u2019t get PP1 time on this team. Consider this a long shot.<\/p>\n
The franchise goalscoring record for a rookie, however, is more attainable. The overall franchise record is Paul Gardner\u2019s 30 in 1976-77 for the Rockies. In fact, the top four rookie goal-scoring seasons happened prior to the franchise\u2019s move to the Garden State, with Wilf Paiement (26 goals in 1974-75 for the Scouts), Paul Gagne (25 goals in 1980-81 for the Rockies), and Barry Beck (22 goals in 1977-78 for the Rockies) rounding out the top four. If you\u2019re going by this number (which I personally would), the record is much more daunting. It\u2019s still possible, especially considering Gritsyuk is widely regarded as being a really good shooter, but it\u2019ll be tough. If you\u2019re just going by the New Jersey part of franchise history, however, then all of a sudden Gritsyuk is in great shape. Back in 1982-83, Jeff Larmer potted 21 goals in the franchise\u2019s first season in New Jersey. I think Gritsyuk has a great shot at getting to 21 goals to tie the record, and 22-plus to break the record. This one should be well within reach, though again, that would require ignoring the existence of the Rockies and Scouts.<\/p>\n
Finally, the record for assists by a rookie in a single season is again Gomez in 99-00, with 51 helpers. We\u2019ll make this quick: I don\u2019t think Gritsyuk is sniffing this. By all accounts, he\u2019s more of a scorer than a playmaker, so 51 assists is not happening.<\/p>\n
Final Thoughts and Your Take<\/p>\n
As I mentioned at the top, we won\u2019t be seeing any big time franchise records set this season. But players like Hischier, Hughes, Bratt, and Hamilton are nearing the top in some major categories. Add in Gritsyuk in rookie categories, and we could see a lot of movement among Devils leaderboards. I think players like these are appreciated for what they are right now, but pretty soon, we\u2019ll have to start thinking about their place in franchise history as a whole. It\u2019s entirely possible that 10 or more years from now, we look back on this era of Devils hockey, regardless of whether this core wins a Cup, and we say to ourselves that we were watching some of the greatest players to ever wear the black and red.<\/p>\n
What do you make of the chase for some of these records? Even though none of the overall records are in jeopardy, are you at all interested in these players climbing the leaderboards? How far up do you think we will see them climb? As always, thanks for reading!<\/p>\n