Yesterday, the New Jersey Devils announced what numbers the team’s new free agents and trade acquisition will wear. Granted, we’re just thrilled to see Dougie Hamilton here. He could have chosen any number he wanted and Devils’ fans would have been cool with it. Want to wear a retired number? That’s not a deal breaker for me, Mr. Hamilton. Want to wear a three digit number? Why not! Hey, why not say forget the numbers and wear that weird symbol Prince used to use as his name on the back of your jersey. Whatever floats your boat guys!
Obviously they didn’t use any retired numbers. Either way, let’s take a walk down memory lane with former Devils who wore these numbers in the past. Some are more exciting than others.
Dougie Hamilton: Number Seven
The biggest free agent acquisition of the summer goes with lucky number seven. Looking through the list of the 24 former number sevens of the past, not too many exciting names stand out. Mid-season trade acquisition Chris McAlpine was on the 1995 Stanley Cup team. The 2000 Stanley Cup winning season saw Vladimir Malakhov wear it while in the 2002-2003 Stanley Cup-winning season the number was worn by both Andrei Zyuzin and Ray Giroux.
Giroux, not the one on the Philadelphia Flyers, was the only one who saw playoff action that year. Henrik Tallinder wore it during his three year tenure in New Jersey, which included the 2012 Stanley Cup final run right in the middle. Mark Fayne, Jon Merrill, and Matt Tennyson are the three most current players to wear number seven for New Jersey.
Hamilton wore the number 19 while with the Carolina Hurricanes. Prior to Carolina, he wore the number 27 while with the Calgary Flames. The anticipation behind seeing Hamilton on the Devils, mixed the lucky significance of the number seven, make this jersey a must have for Devils fans’ and a potential best seller for the team.
Ryan Graves: Number 33
The big trade splash prior to the Seattle Kraken expansion draft and free agency frenzy chose number 33. Graves is the 14th player in team history to wear 33. The only player to wear the number during the Stanley Cup years was Reid Simpson, who wore it from 1995-1998. He didn’t see any action in the 1995 playoffs, so no New Jersey Devil has ever won the cup while wearing the number. The last two Devils to wear the number were Yohann Auvitu in 2017 and Fredrik Claesson in 2020.
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Graves wore 27 while with the Colorado Avalanche. Obviously, that number is retired by the Devils for Scott Niedermayer. Hopefully wearing Nieds’ number is a sign of things of good things to come from our new blue-line addition. Don’t expect him to play like Niedermayer though, as they both have different playing styles.
Johnathan Bernier: Number 45
Bernier is only the third player in franchise history to wear number 45. That’s not surprising, considering former general manager Lou Lamoriello decided against giving out high jersey numbers. Paul Thompson wore the number during his short, three game stint with the team during the 2015-2016 season. More recently, Sami Vantanen wore the number during his two stints with the team from the 2017-2018 and 2020-2021 seasons.
The Devils are his sixth NHL team, so Bernier has had his share of different jerseys. While with the Los Angeles Kings, who he won a Stanley Cup with against the Devils in 2012, he wore 45 as well. He would do the same with the Toronto Maple Leafs. While with the Anaheim Ducks, he wore the number one, a number also traditionally associated with backup goaltenders. While with the Colorado Avalanche and the Detroit Red Wings, Bernier went back to using number 45.