In June of 1994, the Devils selected an 18-year-old native of the Czech Republic with the 51st overall pick in the NHL Draft. And after 1,240 NHL games, two Stanley Cups victories and just about every conceivable Devils’ team record later, Patrik Elias is finally hanging up his skates.
Elias, who spent his entire career with the Devils, announced Friday he will retire after 20 seasons in the NHL. He holds the team record for goals (408), assists (617) and points (1,025), and was a crucial part of the Devils’ championship teams in 2000 and 2003. He made four All-Star teams during his tenure.
“I think it’s going to sink in a little more with time how special this has been,” Elias said in a video on the Devils website. “I’m so proud and humbled to play for one team, one organization. It doesn’t happen that often.”
Elias is perhaps best known as a key member of the early 2000s Devils teams that turned the franchise into a perennial powerhouse. He tallied a franchise-record 96 points in the 2000-01 season and was a force in the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals against the Mighty Ducks, logging three goals and four assists.
“The two years we won the Cup, being a part of it, it’s still the best two years of my career,” Elias said. “Having such talented players those years … we just meshed together.”
He continued to put together strong season after strong season throughout the 2000s, and was temporarily promoted to captain in 2006. He was a key cog in the Devils’ 2012 Finals run, logging 78 points in the regular season at age 36.
But after playing 69 games in 2014-15, a knee injury sidelined him for all but sixteen games last season, and he weighed retirement. After knee surgery last spring, Elias decided instead to attempt a comeback, but his recovery took longer than expected, and he felt his age, as well as years of wear and tear, catch up with him in the process. Elias has not played a game this season.
“I talked to my parents about the situation, I talked to my wife, and they were like, ‘You’ll be fine, just play, you know you can do it,’” Elias said. “I said, ‘You don’t know what it takes, the grind.’
“I enjoy going out there, even part of the rehab, I love going on the ice. But being a part of the team, practices every day, morning skates, travel and games, it’s another step.”
Elias will leave behind a rich legacy in New Jersey, and his contributions to the team throughout his career are matched by few.
“He was a winner,” former Devils executive Lou Lamoriello told the Associated Press. “He knew how to play the game. He played like a prototype Devil. The logo was more important than the name.”
The Devils will make Elias’ No. 26 the fifth to be retired, after Martin Brodeur, Scott Stevens, Ken Daneyko and Scott Niedermayer. He will hold a press conference in Newark on Tuesday, and will take a final skate before the team’s last home game of the season, April 8 against the Islanders.