# 2004–05 New Jersey Devils season

The 2004–05 New Jersey Devils season was the 31st season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on June 11, 1974, and 23rd season since the franchise relocated from Colorado prior to the 1982–83 NHL season. However, the 2004–05 NHL lockout prevented the season's games from occurring.

## NHL lockout

Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello sat on the negotiating committee for the league, although he had little to say early on in the proceedings. However, he was invited to a January meeting by the players' union in an attempt to breach sides; Lamoriello was invited because of the respect for the manner in which he ran the Devils organization. That meeting was ultimately unfruitful, although it did lead to further talks between the players and the owners. As late as February 2005, Lamoriello showed hope the season could be salvaged.
   They're trying to do everything humanly possible to try to get the game back on the ice... If there is reason to believe that there is hope and a chance, then I think you use that time. We have to have some patience.
He later added:
   Maybe I'm from the old school. But I believe we should lock ourselves in a room and not come out until we've made a deal – or announced that we can't. I've said all along, until someone tells me it's over, it's not. It's too easy to be negative. There's no question we have something scheduled at this point for (tomorrow) Wednesday. It's looking very bleak right now. But it's not over.
Lamoriello praised the final decision, saying it put everyone on "level footing" and created more parity in the league.
Meanwhile, during the stoppage Devils' center Scott Gomez went home to Anchorage, Alaska, to play for the Alaska Aces of the ECHL. He went on to lead the league in scoring, netting 86 points in only 68 games, en route to winning the league's Most Valuable Player award.

## Schedule

The Devils regular season schedule was announced on July 14, 2004. Their preseason schedule was announced on July 19, 2004.
2004–05 schedule :
Preseason
GameDateOpponent
1September 28New York Rangers
2September 30@ New York Rangers
3October 1@ New York Islanders
4October 6@ Philadelphia Flyers
5October 8New York Islanders
6October 9Philadelphia Flyers :
Regular season
GameDateOpponent
1October 15Toronto Maple Leafs
2October 16@ Buffalo Sabres
3October 20New York Islanders
4October 23Detroit Red Wings
5October 26@ New York Islanders
6October 29St. Louis Blues
7October 30@ Ottawa Senators
8November 2@ Philadelphia Flyers
9November 3@ Washington Capitals
10November 6Tampa Bay Lightning
11November 8@ Atlanta Thrashers
12November 10Nashville Predators
13November 12Dallas Stars
14November 13@ Washington Capitals
15November 16Ottawa Senators
16November 18Toronto Maple Leafs
17November 20Pittsburgh Penguins
18November 22@ Pittsburgh Penguins
19November 24@ Florida Panthers
20November 26@ Tampa Bay Lightning
21November 27Atlanta Thrashers
22December 1New York Rangers
23December 3Montreal Canadiens
24December 4@ New York Rangers
25December 7Buffalo Sabres
26December 9@ Minnesota Wild
27December 11New York Rangers
28December 12@ Chicago Blackhawks
29December 15Tampa Bay Lightning
30December 17Montreal Canadiens
31December 18@ Montreal Canadiens
32December 21@ Carolina Hurricanes
33December 23New York Islanders
34December 27@ Florida Panthers
35December 29@ Tampa Bay Lightning
36December 31Anaheim Mighty Ducks
37January 4Atlanta Thrashers
38January 6@ New York Islanders
39January 8@ Toronto Maple Leafs
40January 10Minnesota Wild
41January 12Colorado Avalanche
42January 14Boston Bruins
43January 15@ Boston Bruins
44January 18Philadelphia Flyers
45January 20@ New York Rangers
46January 22Carolina Hurricanes
47January 25@ Vancouver Canucks
48January 28@ Edmonton Oilers
49January 29@ Calgary Flames
50February 2Los Angeles Kings
51February 3@ Buffalo Sabres
52February 5@ Philadelphia Flyers
53February 8Florida Panthers
54February 10New York Rangers
55February 15Pittsburgh Penguins
56February 17@ Philadelphia Flyers
57February 19Carolina Hurricanes
58February 20@ Nashville Predators
59February 23@ Detroit Red Wings
60February 24@ Toronto Maple Leafs
61February 26New York Islanders
62February 28Columbus Blue Jackets
63March 2Boston Bruins
64March 4Washington Capitals
65March 5@ Ottawa Senators
66March 7Philadelphia Flyers
67March 10@ San Jose Sharks
68March 12@ Phoenix Coyotes
69March 16@ New York Rangers
70March 17Atlanta Thrashers
71March 19Philadelphia Flyers
72March 21Buffalo Sabres
73March 24@ Pittsburgh Penguins
74March 26@ New York Islanders
75March 27Pittsburgh Penguins
76March 29Ottawa Senators
77March 31@ Carolina Hurricanes
78April 2@ Boston Bruins
79April 4@ Montreal Canadiens
80April 6Florida Panthers
81April 8@ Pittsburgh Penguins
82April 9Washington Capitals :

## Transactions

The Devils were involved in the following transactions from June 8, 2004, the day after the deciding game of the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals, through February 16, 2005, the day the 2004–05 season was officially cancelled.

### Trades

| Date | Details | Details | Ref |
| June 26, 2004 (2004-06-26) | To New Jersey Devils 1st-round pick in 2004 | To Dallas Stars1st-round pick in 20043rd-round pick in 2004 | |

### Players acquired

| Date | Player | Former team | Term | Via |
| July 3, 2004 (2004-07-03) | Darren Langdon | Montreal Canadiens | 2-year | Free agency |
| July 12, 2004 (2004-07-12) | Richard Matvichuk | Dallas Stars | 4-year | Free agency |
| July 15, 2004 (2004-07-15) | Krzysztof Oliwa | Calgary Flames | | Free agency |
| August 13, 2004 (2004-08-13) | Bobby Allen | Edmonton Oilers | | Free agency |
| August 13, 2004 (2004-08-13) | Pascal Rheaume | St. Louis Blues | | Free agency |
| August 13, 2004 (2004-08-13) | Ray Schultz | Nashville Predators | | Free agency |
| August 13, 2004 (2004-08-13) | Steven Spencer | South Carolina Stingrays (ECHL) | | Free agency |

### Players lost

| Date | Player | New team | Via |
| July 1, 2004 (2004-07-01) | Greg Crozier | | Contract expiration (VI) |
| July 1, 2004 (2004-07-01) | Joe Hulbig | | Contract expiration (VI) |
| July 1, 2004 (2004-07-01) | Corey Schwab | | Contract expiration (III) |
| July 3, 2004 (2004-07-03) | Turner Stevenson | Philadelphia Flyers | Free agency (III) |
| July 7, 2004 (2004-07-07) | Raymond Giroux | Minnesota Wild | Free agency (VI) |
| July 19, 2004 (2004-07-19) | Craig Darby | Tampa Bay Lightning | Free agency (UFA) |
| July 28, 2004 (2004-07-28) | Maxim Balmochnykh | HC Lipetsk (RUS-2) | Free agency (VI) |
| July 29, 2004 (2004-07-29) | Tommy Albelin | | Retirement (III) |
| August 9, 2004 (2004-08-09) | Steve Kariya | Ilves (Liiga) | Free agency (VI) |
| September 2004 (2004-09) | Mike Matteucci | Milwaukee Admirals (AHL) | Free agency (VI) |
| September 28, 2004 (2004-09-28) | Chris Hartsburg | Colorado Eagles (CHL) | Free agency (UFA) |

### Signings

| Date | Player | Term | Contract type |
| June 29, 2004 (2004-06-29) | Ivan Khomutov | | Entry-level |
| July 1, 2004 (2004-07-01) | John Madden | 5-year | Re-signing |
| July 1, 2004 (2004-07-01) | Jay Pandolfo | 4-year | Re-signing |
| July 7, 2004 (2004-07-07) | Grant Marshall | multi-year | Re-signing |
| July 8, 2004 (2004-07-08) | Jeff Friesen | 1-year | Re-signing |
| July 15, 2004 (2004-07-15) | Viktor Kozlov | 1-year | Re-signing |
| August 10, 2004 (2004-08-10) | Scott Gomez | 1-year | Arbitration award |
| August 12, 2004 (2004-08-12) | Brian Rafalski | 1-year | Re-signing |
| August 13, 2004 (2004-08-13) | Ari Ahonen | | Re-signing |
| August 13, 2004 (2004-08-13) | Scott Clemmensen | | Re-signing |
| August 13, 2004 (2004-08-13) | Brett Clouthier | | Re-signing |
| August 13, 2004 (2004-08-13) | Ryan Murphy | | Re-signing |
| August 13, 2004 (2004-08-13) | Scott Niedermayer | 1-year | Arbitration award |
| August 19, 2004 (2004-08-19) | Sergei Brylin | multi-year | Re-signing |

## Draft picks

The Devils' draft picks at the 2004 NHL entry draft in Raleigh, North Carolina.
| Rd # | Pick # | Player | Nat | Pos | Team (League) |
| 1 | 20 | Travis Zajac | Canada | C | Salmon Arm Silverbacks (BCHL) |
| 2 | 57 | No second-round pick | No second-round pick | No second-round pick | No second-round pick |
| 3 | 88 | No third-round pick | No third-round pick | No third-round pick | No third-round pick |
| 4 | 121 | No fourth-round pick | No fourth-round pick | No fourth-round pick | No fourth-round pick |
| 5 | 155 | Alexander Mikhailishin | Russia | D | Spartak St. Petersburg (Vysshaya Liga) |
| 6 | 185 | Josh Disher | Canada | G | Erie Otters (OHL) |
| 7 | 216 | Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond | Canada | RW | Baie-Comeau Drakkar (QMJHL) |
| 7 | 217 | Tyler Eckford | Canada | D | Surrey Eagles (BCHL) |
| 8 | 250 | Nathan Perkovich | United States | RW | Cedar Rapids RoughRiders (USHL) |
| 9 | 282 | Valeri Klimov | Russia | D | Spartak St. Petersburg (Vysshaya Liga) |

## Farm teams

The Albany River Rats, the Devils' American Hockey League affiliate, finished in last place in their division during the 2004–05 AHL season, and failed to make the playoffs for the fifth straight season. Veteran Dean McAmmond led the team in scoring with 61 points, while right on his heels was hot rookie Zach Parise with 58. Meanwhile, goaltenders Scott Clemmensen and Ari Ahonen split the load evenly, although Ahonen had more wins in fewer games played. Parise and Clemmensen would go on to make the Devils' squad full-time the following season.