1996–97 New Jersey Devils season

New Jersey Devils

Industry	Professional ice hockey
Founded	1974 (as Colorado Rockies), relocated to New Jersey in 1982
Headquarters	East Rutherford, New Jersey , United States
Area served	National Hockey League (NHL)
Key people	Lou Lamoriello (General Manager), Jacques Lemaire (Head Coach), Scott Stevens (Captain)
Products	Ice hockey team

The 1996–97 New Jersey Devils season represented the franchise's 23rd campaign in the NHL and its 15th since relocating from the Colorado Rockies. The Devils clinched the Atlantic Division championship and secured the top position in the Eastern Conference. However, their postseason run ended in the second round when they were defeated by their rivals, the New York Rangers.

Prior to the season's start, the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority upgraded the sound system at Continental Airlines Arena with a new installation costing $600,000.

Offseason

Following their absence from the playoffs in 1995–96—the first time since 1970 that a reigning Stanley Cup champion failed to qualify—head coach Jacques Lemaire attributed this to a deficit in team confidence. Addressing criticism regarding his defensive coaching philosophy, Lemaire clarified that it did not suppress offensive innovation. Additionally, he repaired his relationship with captain Scott Stevens after remarks about a "lack of leadership," explaining that his criticism targeted the entire team rather than Stevens individually.

The 1996 NHL free agency period began on July 1, featuring notable players such as Wayne Gretzky, who had been released by the St. Louis Blues. Despite interest from multiple franchises including the Devils, general manager Lou Lamoriello dismissed any possibility of signing Gretzky due to budgetary limitations. Lamoriello sought to retain offensive defenseman Phil Housley but was unwilling to offer a long-term contract or agree to a no-trade clause; consequently, Housley signed a three-year deal worth $7.7 million with the Washington Capitals.

There was considerable speculation about acquiring all-star center Jeremy Roenick, then a restricted free agent with the Phoenix Coyotes. Although Lamoriello explored trade possibilities, he resisted parting with several first-round draft picks demanded as compensation. Trade rumors involved forwards Bill Guerin, Brian Rolston, Mike Peluso, and defenseman Scott Niedermayer. Despite ongoing interest, Roenick ultimately re-signed with Phoenix.

Other roster adjustments included obtaining forward Lyle Odelein from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for Stephane Richer. Odelein promptly agreed to a three-year contract valued at approximately $1.5 million per year.

Amid circulating rumors linking the Devils to holdout center Keith Primeau of the Detroit Red Wings, center Bobby Holík unexpectedly missed training camp, sparking speculation about his desire for a trade. In contrast, veterans Neal Broten and Mike Peluso arrived on schedule along with other players, while several key athletes who participated in the 1996 World Cup of Hockey joined camp later.

Regular season

Defensively, the Devils led the NHL by allowing the fewest goals (182), conceding the least number of power-play goals (28), and taking the fewest penalties (235). They also posted the league’s best penalty-killing percentage at 88.09%. On offense, however, they scored the fewest power-play goals (40) and short-handed goals (4). Their goaltenders combined for 12 shutouts—the highest total in the league—including five shutouts during their final ten games.

(E1) New Jersey Devils vs. (E8) Montreal Canadiens

On April 17, 1997, during Game 1, goaltender Martin Brodeur scored into an empty net, becoming only the second goalie in NHL playoff history to achieve a goal. The Devils secured a 5–2 victory. They continued their momentum with a 4–1 triumph in Game 2 and followed up with a 6–4 win in Game 3 at Montreal’s Molson Centre. Although Montreal managed to claim Game 4 in triple overtime with a 4–3 score, New Jersey sealed the series by shutting out the Canadiens 4–0 in Game 5.

(E1) New Jersey Devils vs. (E5) New York Rangers

The series opened at the Meadowlands where New Jersey earned a 2–0 win, but the Rangers quickly responded by evening the series with a 2–0 victory in Game 2. At Madison Square Garden, New York captured Games 3 (3–2) and 4 (3–0). Returning to their home ice, the Devils fell in overtime during Game 5 after Adam Graves scored on a wraparound, concluding the series with a 4-1 loss.

Regular season

|- |1||October 5, 1996||3–1 || align="left"| Detroit Red Wings||1–0–0 || |- |2||October 7, 1996||1–3 || align="left"| @ Philadelphia Flyers||1–1–0 || |- |3||October 12, 1996||2–4 || align="left"| Dallas Stars||1–2–0 || |- |4||October 15, 1996||3–2 || align="left"| Montreal Canadiens||2–2–0 || |- |5||October 18, 1996||2–2 OT|| align="left"| Ottawa Senators||2–2–1 || |- |6||October 19, 1996||2–6 || align="left"| @ Hartford Whalers||2–3–1 || |- |7||October 24, 1996||3–1 || align="left"| San Jose Sharks||3–3–1 || |- |8||October 26, 1996||4–1 || align="left"| @ Tampa Bay Lightning||4–3–1 || |- |9||October 29, 1996||2–5 || align="left"| @ Boston Bruins||4–4–1 || |- |10||October 30, 1996||1–6 || align="left"| New York Rangers||4–5–1 || |}

|- |11||November 2, 1996||2-1 || align="left"| Tampa Bay Lightning||5-5-1 || |- |12||November 6, 1996||2-0 || align="left"| @ Detroit Red Wings||6-5-1 || |- |13||November 7, 1996||4-2 || align="left"| @ Chicago Blackhawks||7-5-1 || |- |14||November 9, 1996||4-0 || align="left"| New York Islanders||8-5-1 || |- |15||November 12, 1996||3-2 OT || align="left"| Washington Capitals||9-5-1 || |- |16||November14,1996||0-3 || align="left"| Vancouver Canucks||9-6-1 || |}

|- ... (Additional game log details omitted for brevity) ...

Legend:

Playoffs

|- | 1 || April 17, 1997 || 5–2 || align="left"| Montreal Canadiens || Devils lead series 1–0 || |- | 2 || April 19, 1997 || 4–1 || align="left"| Montreal Canadiens || Devils lead series 2–0 || |- | 3 || April 22, 1997 || 6–4 || align="left"| @ Montreal Canadiens || Devils lead series 3–0 || |- | 4 || April 24, 1997 || 3–4 (3OT)|| align="left"| @ Montreal Canadiens || Devils lead series 3–1 || |- | 5 || April 26, 1997 || 4–0 || align="left"| Montreal Canadiens || Devils win series 4–1 || |-

|- | 1 || May 2, 1997 || 2–0 || align="left"| New York Rangers || Devils lead series 1–0 || |- | 2 || May 4, 1997 || 0–2 || align="left"| New York Rangers || Series tied at 1–1 || |- | 3 || May 6, 1997 || 2–3 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers || Rangers lead series 2–1 || |- | 4 || May 8, 1997 || 0–3 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers || Rangers lead series 3–1 || |- | 5 || May11,1997||1–2 OT|| align="left"| New York Rangers  || Rangers win series 4–1 || |-

| Legend:

Scoring

• Position abbreviations: C = Center; D = Defense; G = Goaltender; LW = Left wing; RW = Right wing
• † = Acquired by the team through a transaction during the season. Statistics pertain exclusively to time with the Devils.
• Template:Double-dagger = Departed the team via transaction during the season. Statistics reflect only period with the Devils.

23|| align="left"|Dave Andreychuk||LW||82||27||34||61||38||48||1||0||0||0||0||0 15|| align="left"|John MacLean||RW||80||29||25||54||11||49||10||4||5||9||1||4 12|| align="left"|Bill Guerin||RW||82||29||18||47||−2||95||8||2||1||3||−5||18 14|| align="left"|Brian Rolston||LW||81||18||27||45||6||20||10||4||1||5||0||6 25|| align="left"|Valeri Zelepukin||LW||71||14||24||38||−10||36||8|||3|||2|||5|||3|||2 27|||align="left"|Scott Niedermayer|||D|||81|||5|||30|||35|||−4|||64|||10|||2|||4|||6|||0|||6 32|||align="left"|Steve Thomas|||LW|||57|||15|||19|||34|||9|||46|||10|||1|||1|||2|||−6|||18 10|||align="left"|Denis Pederson|||C|||70|||12|||20|||32|||7|||62|||9|||0|||0|||0|||−2|||2 21|||align="left"|Randy McKay|||RW|||77|||9|||18|||27|||15|||109|||10|||1|||1|||2|||1|||0 4||||align=left|"Scott Stevens"||||79||||5||||19||||24||||26||||70||||10||||0||||4||||−2||||2 11||||align=left|"Steve Sullivan"Template:Double-dagger||||33||||8||||14||||22||||9||||14||||—||||—||||—||||—||||—||||— 93||||align=left|"Doug Gilmour"†||||20||||7||||15||||22||||7||||22||||10||||0||||4||||−2||||14 29||||align=left|"Shawn Chambers"||||73||||4||||17||||21||||17||||19||||10||||1||||6||||7||||−2||||6 19||||align=left|"Bobby Carpenter"||||62||||4||||15||||19||||6||||14||||10||||1||||2||||3||||2 24||||align=left|"Lyle Odelein"||||79||||3||||13||||16||||16||||110||||10||||2||||2////−3////19 20////Jay Pandolfo////LW////46////6////8////14////−1////6////6////0////1////1////−2////0 3////Ken Daneyko////D////77////2////7////9////24////70////10////0////0////0////1////28 2////Dave Ellett†////D////20////2////5////7////2////6////10////0////3////3////−1////10 28///Kevin Dean///D///28///2///4///6///2///6///1///1///0///1///1///0 26Elias wore number 22 during the regular season.///Patrik Elias///LW///17///2///3///5///−4///2///8///2///3///5///0///4 18///Sergei Brylin///LW///29///2///2///4///−13///20///—///—///—///—///—///— 30///Martin Brodeur///G///67///0///4///4///*///*///*///*///*///*///*///*///*///*///*///*///*///*/ 33///Reid Simpson///LW///27///0///4///*///*///*///*///*///*///*///*///*///*///*//

No.	Player	Pos	Regular season						Playoffs
			GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
16	Bobby Holík	C	82	23	39	62	24	54	10	2	3	5	1	4

Goaltending

No.	Player	Regular Season										Playoffs
		GP	W	L	T	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI	GP	W	L	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI
30	Martin Brodeur	67	37	14	13	1633	120	1.88	.927	10	3838	10	5	5	268	19	1.73	.929	2	659
1	Mike Dunham	26	8	7	1	456	43	2.55	.906	2	1013	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
35	Jeff Reese	3	0	2	0	65	13	5.62	.800	0	139	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

Awards

Martin Brodeur finished as a finalist for the Vezina Trophy and was honored with several league distinctions, including being named to the NHL Second All-Star Team and receiving the William M. Jennings Trophy alongside teammate Mike Dunham. Both Brodeur and Scott Stevens earned selections to participate in the 1997 National Hockey League All-Star Game.

Category	Award/Honor	Recipient
League Annual	NHL Second All-Star Team	Martin Brodeur (Goaltender)
		Scott Stevens (Defenseman)
	William M. Jennings Trophy	Martin Brodeur
		Mike Dunham
League In-season	1997 National Hockey League All-Star Game Selection	Martin Brodeur
		Scott Stevens
Team	Devils' Players' Player	Dave Andreychuk
	Hugh Delano Unsung Hero	Denis Pederson
	Most Valuable Devil	Martin Brodeur
	Three-Star Award	Martin Brodeur

Milestones

Milestone	Player	Date
Reached 1,000 games played	Bobby Carpenter	October 19, 1996
Debut game	Mike Dunham	October 29, 1996
	Jay Pandolfo	November 14, 1996
	Vadim Sharifijanov	January 3, 1997
	Pascal Rhéaume	February 20, 1997
	Krzysztof Oliwa	March 9, 1997

Draft selections

During the 1996 NHL entry draft held in St. Louis, the New Jersey Devils prioritized defense by choosing 6-foot-3, 195-pound blueliner Lance Ward from the Western Hockey League's Red Deer Rebels with the 10th overall pick. Although Ward was ranked lower than many expected for a top-ten selection, his acquisition reflected general manager Lou Lamoriello's commitment to building a tough defensive lineup reminiscent of veterans Scott Stevens and Ken Daneyko.

The Devils also made strategic moves via trades on draft day: they sent backup goaltender Corey Schwab to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for goalie Jeff Reese plus additional draft assets. Additionally, New Jersey traded away their original second-round choice (28th overall) to the Pittsburgh Penguins, receiving two second-round picks (41st and 47th overall) in return.

Rd #	Pick #	Player	Nat	Pos	Team (League)	Notes
1	10	Lance Ward	Canada	D	Red Deer Rebels (WHL)
2	38	Wes Mason	Canada	LW	Sarnia Sting (OHL)
2	41	Josh DeWolf	United States	D	Twin Cities Vulcans (USHL)
2	47	Pierre Dagenais	Canada	LW	Moncton Wildcats (Quebec Major Junior Hockey League)
2	49	Colin White	Canada	D	Hull Olympiques (QMJHL)
3	63	Scott Parker	Canada	RW	Kelowna Rockets (WHL)
4	91	Josef Boumedienne	Template:Flagcountry	D	Huddinge IK (Allsvenskan)
4	101	Josh MacNevin	Canada	D	(BCJHL)
5	118	"Glenn Crawford"	"Canada"	"LW"	(OHL)

Additional information

Broadcasting

This season marked the last year of television broadcasts on SportsChannel New York before the network transitioned to Fox Sports Net New York starting the next season.