Ilya Kovalchuk’s New Jersey Devils run packed a lot of star power into a relatively short stretch, but when you sort through the numbers, his place in franchise history is more complicated than the reputation suggests.
He arrived from the Thrashers mid-season and wasted no time producing, finishing that first partial campaign at a point-per-game clip with 27 points in 27 games. From there, he stayed among the Devils’ most dangerous scorers for the next couple of seasons.
In 2010-11, Kovalchuk finished second on the team in points behind only Patrick Elias and led New Jersey with 31 goals. He also fired more shots on goal than any other Devil that year, production that helped land him a 15-year, $100 million contract.
The next season, even without playing a full schedule, he moved past Elias to lead the Devils in points, piling up 83 in 77 games and helping push the team back to the playoffs for the first time since the 2009-10 season. He remained one of New Jersey’s most productive players in 2012-13 as well, despite not appearing in the full season.
But the finish never matched the promise. After spending the lockout in Russia during 2012-13, Kovalchuk returned to Russia and never played another game for the Devils, even though 12 years remained on his deal. That ending is a big reason his New Jersey legacy still carries a sour edge for many fans.
And when the conversation turns from memory to franchise rankings, the case gets even tougher. Kovalchuk has already been placed 27th on Pucks and Pitchforks’ all-time Devils player list, and he doesn’t crack the top five forwards in franchise history. The names in that conversation are still the familiar heavyweights: Patrik Elias, Scott Gomez, Kirk Muller, John MacLean, Travis Zajac, Bobby Holik, Jamie Langenbrunner, and Petr Sykora, with current players like Nico Hischier, Taylor Hall, Jack Hughes, and Jesper Bratt also in the mix.
The record book tells the same story. Elias sits first in Devils career points with 1025 in 1240 games, and Kovalchuk is down at 44th on that list, behind forwards such as Zajac, Bratt, Hischier, Hughes, and Hall.
Elias also owns the franchise goal record with 408, while Kovalchuk does not appear on the NHL.com list with his 89 Devils goals. In assists, Kovalchuk is 45th with 112, far behind Elias, who leads the franchise with 617.
Kovalchuk was undeniably one of the most prolific scorers the Devils had during his time in New Jersey. He just wasn’t there long enough, or productive enough across the full arc of his tenure, to force his way into the upper tier of the organization’s all-time forwards.
In Other News...
Quinn Hughes Just Got More Expensive For Devils Fans
Cale Makars new eight-year extension with the Avalanche did more than reset the top of the defenseman market. It also put a fresh price tag on the kind of player Quinn Hughes is likely to become when his current contract runs down, which matters plenty in New Jersey given the Devils long-running interest in adding a true franchise blue-liner to their core.
Hughes has one more season left on his current deal, and the expectation is that his next negotiation will land in the same stratosphere as Makars. The Devils do have cap space lined up for the 2026-27 season, so the accounting can work, but the bigger question is still the same one hovering over any Hughes watch: whether he ends up staying put or becomes the kind of swing piece that could reshape the market for a team like New Jersey. [Read more 🡒]
Riley Tufte Puts One Real Devils Roster Question In Focus
Riley Tuftes move to New Jersey puts a familiar kind of training camp question back in the spotlight for the Devils: can a player with clear minor-league scoring ability finally turn that into a real NHL role? After spending time with the Bruins and appearing in 28 NHL games over five seasons, Tufte arrives with a resume that looks better in the AHL than it does at the top level, which is exactly why his addition is worth watching for a team that is always trying to uncover value at the edges of the roster.
The upside is obvious enough to make the conversation interesting. Tufte has shown he can produce in the minors, but the harder part has been carving out a consistent NHL spot, with competition and organizational choices standing in the way more often than not. For the Devils, the question is whether this is finally the place where his game translates into something more useful than depth insurance, or whether he remains one of those players whose best work keeps coming just short of the league he is trying to stay in. [Read more 🡒]
Devils Prospect Mikhail Yegorov Is Already Framing His Case For The Future
Mikhail Yegorov is already thinking like a pro, even while hes still at Boston University. The Devils prospect and goaltender has launched a website built around his performance, giving fans and evaluators a deeper look at his game than the usual box score can offer. The platform tracks more than 150 metrics from every game of the 2025-26 season, and Yegorov plans to keep it rolling throughout his college career.
For New Jersey, it is another sign that the 2024 draft pick is not only talented but also unusually intentional about how he presents his development. Goaltenders can be hard to read from the outside, which is part of what makes this so interesting for the Devils as they watch his progression at the college level. The broader story is still unfolding, but Yegorov has clearly decided to put his case for the future in plain view. [Read more 🡒]