top 10 players, forwards, whatever is always tough. top 10 for a season? top 10 for talent? top 10 while with the Devils?
From a top forwards while with the Devils, my take is (specific order not that important):
Undisputed:
- Elias
- MacLean
Most would agree:
- Holik (2 cups, 1 cup finals)
- Madden (2 cups, 1 cup finals, Selke)
- Gomez (2 cups, 1 cup finals, Calder)
- Claude Lemieux (2 cups, Conn Smythe)
- Langenbrunner (1 cup, captain)
Great, questions on amount of time with the Devils:
- Gionta (6.5 years, 1 cup)
- Stephane Richer (5+ years, 1 cup)
- Arnott (5+ years, 1 cup, 1 cup finals)
- Mogilny (1+ years, 1 cup, 1 cup finals)
- Parise (6+ years, cup finals, captain)
- Kovy (4 years, 1 cup finals)
- Muller (7 years)
- Verbeek (5 years)
Of these guys, it's interesting to note draft positions:
1st round: #1 Kovy, #2 Muller, #6 MacLean, #7 Arnott, #10 Holik, #17 Parise, #27 Gomez
2nd round: Elias, Richer, Lemieux, Langenbrunner
3rd round: Verbeek, Gionta
5th round: Mogilny
UFA: Madden
So, more than half of (what I called) the Devils' best forwards came from after the 1st round, and only 5 of the 15 I mentioned are top 10 picks. Obviously, I'm not saying top 10 picks aren't useful - the Devils have only used a top 10 pick on a forward six times, and two of them ended up on this list. But, it does show that our current prospects can still blossom despite draft order and that there's a reasonable case to be made for picking up more late first round picks vs. trading up for a top 5 (but not top 2) selection.