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With New Jersey Devils hockey in the rearview mirror, things are about to pick up quickly. But there’s still just over a week to go until rookies report, meaning enough time to ditch the detailed analysis in favor of some lighthearted fun. Via Devils Report on Instagram, we asked Devils fans to build their “perfect” Devils player, combining attributes from past and current skaters. 419 responses across 11 categories later, here’s how the vote came out. Speed: Miles Wood Wood 33.3% | Jack Hughes 16.7% | Scott Niedermayer 14.6% | Other 35.4% This one wasn’t particularly close. Wood’s game was never subtle. He ran through the neutral zone like he was late for something, and Devils fans never forgot it. According to NHL EDGE, Wood’s 23.48 MPH max skating speed in 2022-23 was one of the fastest by an NHL player that season, placing him in the 97th percentile. Hockey IQ: Patrik Elias / Nico Hischier Elias 22.5% | Hischier 22.5% | Jack 17.5% | Other 37.5% It was a dead heat between a franchise great and the current captain. Honestly, if it were up to me, it’s really hard to pick between the three top vote-getters. They’re all geniuses on the ice, thinking one step ahead of the competition. Wrist Shot: Jack Hughes Jack 25.0% | Ilya Kovalchuk 17.5% | Elias 10.0% | Other 47.5% Jack has scored 0.49 goals per game since Feb. 1, 2022. That trails only 12 NHLers in that span, the likes of whom you’d expect: Nathan MacKinnon (0.58), Connor McDavid (0.55) and Alex Ovechkin (0.51) to name a few. Post-Olympics, he potted 15 in 25 games (0.60). Though, I do wonder how the vote would’ve changed if things ended better with Kovalchuk. Slap Shot: Dougie Hamilton Hamilton 30.2% | Kovalchuk 14.0% | P.K. Subban 9.3% | Other 46.5% If we’re going purely on hardest shot, it feels like Subban deserves more love here. But Hamilton’s accuracy (rightfully) gives him the clear edge. He could absolutely blast it. Vision / Passing: Jack Hughes Jack 41.0% | Elias 15.4% | Scott Gomez 10.3% | Other 33.3% Jack is — for lack of a better word — a magician when it comes to dishing the puck. If someone new to hockey asked me what he’s capable of, I’d instantly show them his spin-o-rama assist against the Philadelphia Flyers in 2023: Clutch: Jack Hughes / Claude Lemieux Jack 18.9% | Lemieux 18.9% | Jason Arnott 13.5% | Other 48.6% This was one of the most split answers across the entire survey. There is no direct statistic to measure “clutch” — but many Devils are deserving of a vote depending on how you interpret it. In hindsight, it’s kind of crazy to think that the guy who scored a Stanley Cup-winning goal (Arnott) only came in third. But that further highlights the impressiveness of both Lemieux and Jack when the lights were bright. Strength: Scott Stevens Stevens 52.8% | Kurtis MacDermid 11.1% | Ken Daneyko 8.3% | Other 27.8% No Devil struck fear into the heart of an opponent the way Stevens did. The Devils can play for another 100 years and there’s still a very good chance Stevens will remain the overwhelming favorite here. Size: Dougie Hamilton Hamilton 15.2% | Kevin Bahl 9.1% | Daneyko 9.1% | Colin White 9.1% | Other 57.6% This was way more divided than I thought, and funny enough, the biggest Devil of all-time actually would be Olli Malmivaara (6’7″, 230 lb.), who skated in two games for them in 2007. He didn’t receive a single vote. Still, 6-foot-6, 230 lb. Hamilton isn’t a bad choice at all. One fan responded: “Can I pick Anton Silayev yet!?”. I say ‘Why not!?’, so counted that as a vote for the 6-foot-7 Silayev. Edge Work: Jesper Bratt Bratt 51.4% | Jack 20.0% | Luke Hughes 8.6% | Niedermayer 8.6% | Other 11.4% By far, this was the smallest “Other” of any category. Watch Bratt for one single game and it’s easy to see why. The way he can stop and start on a dime feels like it should defy physics. Defense: Scott Stevens Stevens 38.7% | Niedermayer 16.1% | Brett Pesce 16.1% | Other 29.0% While Pesce has certainly been great as a Devil, I was a little surprised to see him garner a decent amount of votes given the storied history of the Devils. That shows how highly the fanbase thinks of his play. Whether you like plus-minus or not, Stevens was +282 as a Devil. That says it all right there. Hands: Jack Hughes Jack 40.5% | Jesper Bratt 21.6% | Paul Cotter 16.2% | Other 21.6% Part of me was hoping Paul Cotter would get more votes, though he did get some respect. Obviously, Jack’s hands are phenomenal, but geez were Cotter’s hands so filthy in his Devils tenure. If the other facets of his game were more complete, I can say with confidence that his hands would be considered amongst the best to ever grace the NHL. So what does the “Perfect Devil” look like? This player has Jack’s hands, vision and wrister. Mix that with Bratt’s edges, Wood’s legs, Hamilton’s shot and frame. Stevens from the blue line in. Elias or Hischier making the first read. And then Lemieux in clutch time. Is that the best NHL player of all-time!? Top 10 at least? Let us know in the comments.