By Steve Politi | NJ Advance Media

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The Devils have an anniversary coming up this spring. On May 27, 1982, the team officially moved from Colorado to New Jersey, setting up shop in the Meadowlands and (eventually) becoming one of the best franchises in the NHL.

So while the current team is nothing to celebrate -- unless you're a fan of a high draft pick -- let's mark that milestone by ranking the 35 best players in the franchise's New Jersey history. We're considering longevity with team, importance to its success and overall ability in compiling this list.

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Aristide Economopoulos | NJ Advance Media

35. Andy Greene

The current Devils captain has played 700 games with the team, anchoring its defense during a less-than-stellar time in franchise history. He played three consecutive seasons appearing in all 82 games.

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34. Chico Resch

The original Devils goalie and popular broadcaster is more than just a sentimental pick. He won 49 games for the team that was just awful and helped its transition to its new home.

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33. Colin White

White was a steady defenseman for 743 games for the Devils and has two championship rings to show for his service.

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32. Brian Rolston

Rolston may have had a rocky tenure with the Devils at times, but he had 130 goals and 151 assists in 557 games over two stints with the team.

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31. Bill Guerin

Guerin was a solid two-way player who had 214 points and 469 penalty minutes in his seven seasons with the Devils.

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Andrew Mills | NJ Advance Media

30. Tommy Albelin

A steady defenseman for parts of 12 seasons with the Devils, Albelin played every regular-season and playoff game for the team during its run to the 1995 Stanley Cup.

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Andrew Mills | NJ Advance Media

29. Brendan Shanahan

Shanahan was just beginning to emerge as a dominant player when he signed as a free agent with St. Louis -- a deal that led to another player high on this list coming to New Jersey -- but he did have 94 goals for the team.

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Andrew Mills | NJ Advance Media

28. Cory Schneider

Imagine how bad the Devils might have been these last few years without Schneider, who has a .920 save percentage and a 2.28 goals against average in his four seasons with the team under difficult circumstances.

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27. Alexander Mogilny

Is one great season enough to make this list? It is for the Russian sharpshooter, who scored 47 goals in the 2000-01 season one year after he was a late-season acquisition for the team's second Stanley Cup run.

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26. Ilya Kovalchuk

He won't be a popular choice on this list among Devils fans given the way he abandoned the team early in his massive contract, but he had 201 points in 222 games and led the team to the Stanley Cup Finals.

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25. Patrik Sundstrom

He played just 305 games for the Devils but was a top two-way center, registering 246 points over that span.

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24. Jay Pandolfo

The stellar defensive forward is seventh all-time in team history with 819 games in a Devils uniform. He spent much of that time killing penalties and shadowing one of the opposing team's top players.

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Saed Hindash | NJ Advance Media

23. Jamie Langenbrunner

He played parts of eight seasons for the team, tallying a team-high 11 goals and 18 points during the 2003 Stanley Cup run. Plus, his leadership was good enough to earn the "C" on his sweater.

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22. Aaron Broten

He was a fixture on the Devils for their first seven and a half seasons, five times playing 80 games in a season. The team wasn't good back then, but Broten twice scored 26 goals in a season during those early days.

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21. Petr Sykora

An intergal part of the Devils 2000 championship team, Sykora scored 151 goals in his eight seasons with the team.

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20. Brian Gionta

No player has ever scored more goals in a season for the Devils than the undersized right winger, who had 48 in 2005-06. His next best season for the team, however, was 25.

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19. Stephane Richer

Richer scored 147 goals in just five seasons with the Devils, but more importantly, he racked up 21 points in 19 playoff games during the team's first Stanley Cup run.

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Andy Greene still proving himself after 700 games

The team's captain is the 15th Devil to play that long.

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18. Bruce Driver

The defenseman's 12 seasons with the Devils culminated with the first Stanley Cup victory. He had 14 goals and 40 assists in 1992-93.

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17. Pat Verbeek

He scored 170 goals in the '80s with the Devils, including 46 in 1987-88 to help propel the team to its first playoff berth in team history.

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16. Jason Arnott

The big center's first stint with the team were four-and-a-half solid years, and he'll forever be remembered for scoring the Cup-winning goal in 2000 against the Dallas Stars.

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Andrew Mills | NJ Advance Media

15. Zach Parise

Oh, what might have been. Parise was the engine that made the Devils go for most of his seven seasons, scoring 194 goals before he left the franchise to sign a lucrative free agent contract with the Minnesota Wild.

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14. John Madden

Madden was one of the best defensive forward on a team built around its defense. Few players in the league were better -- and more opportunistic -- as penalty killers than he was in his prime.

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13. Randy McKay

The big right winger spent 10 1/2 seasons with the Devils, and while he scored 151 goals during that span, he was better known for his willingness to throw his body around.

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12. Brian Rafalski

The two-time Cup winner is one of the most underrated players in team history, often overshadowed by the team's higher-profile defensemen.

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Saed Hindash | NJ Advance Media

11. Scott Gomez

The two-time Stanley Cup winner is one of the most skilled players to wear the Devils uniform, racking up 484 points -- a number that would have been much higher had he not chased the big bucks with the Rangers.

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10. Kirk Muller

He was the bright spot on some very bad teams, captaining the franchise during its early days in New Jersey. He is third all-time in team history with 520 points -- including 94 in 1987-88, the first season the team reached the playoffs.

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9. Sergei Brylin

He is just one of five Devils to play on all three championship teams. The versatile forward played in 109 postseason games for the franchise, scoring 15 goals.

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8. Claude Lemieux

That first glorious parade around the Meadowlands parking lot might not have happened if not for the gritty Lemieux, who won the Conn Smythe trophy in 1995 as MVP of the playoffs.

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7. Bobby Holik

The anchor of the "Crash Line" played 786 games with the Devils, and before he signed a big contract with a certain team on the other side of the Hudson River, was an important fixture at center ice for the team.

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6. John MacLean

"Johnny Mac" is second all-time in team history in goals (347) and points (701). He'll always be remember as the one who scored the overtime goal against Chicago that sent the team to the playoffs for the first time in 1988.

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Saed Hindash | NJ Advance Media

5. Patrik Elias

Prediction: Elias' No. 26 will soon be the fifth number in team history to go into the rafters at the Prudential Center. He is the team's all-time leader in goals (408) and assists (617), and third in games played (1,240).

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Relive Elias' top moments as a Devil

His Cup-winning assist tops the list.

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4. Ken Daneyko

No player has worn the Devils uniform more often than Daneyko, who played in 1,283 games for the franchise. The tough-as-nails defenseman and current broadcaster is one of the most popular players in team history.

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3. Scott Niedermayer

The brilliant defenseman is second all-time in franchise history with 364 assists and was a cornerstone on those three Cup-winning teams. His No. 27 hangs in the rafters for a reason.

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2. Scott Stevens

Perhaps more than anyone, Stevens set the tone for those three Stanley Cup winning teams with his leadership and ferocious hits. His arrival in 1991 from the St. Louis Blues gave the franchise its identity.

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Andrew Mills | NJ Advance Media

1. Martin Brodeur

The face of the franchise. Brodeur won an NHL record 691 games as a goaltender with 12 straight seasons of 30 or more victories, and while he briefly played for the Blues at the end of his career, no player is more identifiable as a Devil than No. 30.

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Plus: 30 reasons Brodeur is the greatest

The goalie's records will never be broken.

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Steve Politi may be reached at spoliti@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @StevePoliti. Find NJ.com on Facebook.