John Carter MacLean (born November 20, 1964) is a Canadian professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

coach and former player. He most recently served as the assistant coach for the

New York Islanders The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (N ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL). He spent the majority of his playing career as a member of the

New Jersey Devils The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The club w ...

, and also spent time with the

San Jose Sharks The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. The Sharks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Con ...

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in New York City. The Rangers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team plays ...

and

Dallas Stars The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas. The Stars compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The Stars ...

Playing career

As a youth, MacLean played in the 1977

Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament The Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament () is an annual minor ice hockey event in Quebec City. The tournament was founded in 1960 to coincide with the Quebec Winter Carnival, and give an opportunity for international competition to p ...

with a

minor ice hockey Minor ice hockey or minor hockey is an umbrella term for amateur ice hockey which is played below the junior age level. Players are classified by age, with each age group playing in its own league. The rules, especially as it relates to body c ...

team from

Oshawa Oshawa is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the Lake Ontario shoreline. It lies in Southern Ontario, approximately east of downtown Toronto. It is commonly viewed as the eastern anchor of the Greater Toronto Area and of the Golden Horseshoe. It ...

. MacLean was selected 6th overall in the

1983 NHL entry draft The 1983 NHL entry draft was the 21st NHL entry draft. It was held at the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Quebec, on June 8, 1983. The NHL entry draft is the primary means by which players arrive in the National Hockey League. The St. Louis Blues ...

. He was selected as the 1st choice of the New Jersey Devils. MacLean made his Devils debut on October 5, 1983 against the New York Rangers. Perhaps his most memorable moment as a Devil came on April 3, 1988, when he scored a goal in overtime against the

Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (N ...

to send the Devils to the playoffs for the first time. Following this breakthrough year, MacLean notched three straight 40-goal seasons before he was forced to miss the 1991–92 season due to a serious knee injury sustained during a preseason game. During his tenure with the Devils, MacLean won the

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup () is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, and the International Ic ...

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

while serving as the team's alternate captain. He remained with the Devils until December 7, 1997 when he was traded to the San Jose Sharks. After finishing the 1997–98 season with the Sharks, MacLean signed as a free agent with the New York Rangers on July 9, 1998. The Rangers traded MacLean to the Dallas Stars in February 2001. On June 7, 2002, MacLean retired from hockey after 18 seasons. He played a total 1,194 games, scoring 413 goals, adding 429 assists for 842 career points, and was the all-time leading scorer for the New Jersey Devils until March 17, 2009, when his record was surpassed by Patrik Eliáš. MacLean has been a resident of

Verona, New Jersey Verona is a Township (New Jersey), township in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 14,572, an increase of 1,240 (+9.3%) from the 2010 United ...

since 1991.

Coaching career

In September 2002, MacLean joined the coaching staff of the New Jersey Devils, and served as an assistant coach until July 2009. He earned his second Stanley Cup, as an assistant coach, in 2003. In 2007, he was a candidate for the head coach position but the job was given to Brent Sutter, and MacLean remained as assistant coach. On June 9, 2009, Brent Sutter resigned as head coach of the Devils and remarked that MacLean was ready to be head coach. On July 13, 2009, MacLean was named head coach of the Lowell Devils. On June 17, 2010, MacLean was named head coach of the New Jersey Devils. On December 23, 2010, the Devils were sporting a 9–22–2 record and sitting in last place in the Eastern Conference. MacLean was fired from his coaching position and was replaced by Jacques Lemaire. On December 1, 2011, the

Carolina Hurricanes The Carolina Hurricanes (colloquially known as the Canes) are a professional ice hockey team based in Raleigh, North Carolina. The Hurricanes compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Con ...

, after hiring Kirk Muller as their new head coach, hired MacLean as an assistant coach. MacLean, along with fellow assistant coach Dave Lewis, was relieved of his duties on May 5, 2014. On July 27, 2017, MacLean joined the

Arizona Coyotes The Arizona Coyotes are an inactive professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. They competed in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division (1996–1998, 2021–2024) and ...

as an assistant coach. On September 8, 2021, the

hired MacLean as an assistant coach. He was relieved of his duties on July 1, 2022. On July 28, 2022, MacLean was hired as an assistant coach by the

. On May 29, 2025, MacLean was relieved of his duties.

Post-playing career

In addition to working as an analyst on NHL Network, MacLean most recently served as a hockey analyst for MSG Networks, including the pre- and post-game coverage for the Devils.

Awards

* Stanley Cup (

) New Jersey Devils - As Player * Stanley Cup (

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

) New Jersey Devils - As Assistant Coach *

Memorial Cup The Memorial Cup () is the national championship of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL), a consortium of three Junior ice hockey, major junior ice hockey leagues operating in Canada and parts of the United States. It is a four-team round-robin tou ...

tournament All-Star Team (

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

) * Selected to two

NHL All-Star Game The National Hockey League All-Star Game () is an exhibition ice hockey tournament that is traditionally held during the regular season of the National Hockey League (NHL), with many of the League's star players playing against each other. The ga ...

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

and

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

* New Jersey Devils MVP, 1989–90

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

Coaching record

NHL coaching record

AHL statistics

Records

*New Jersey Devils franchise record for power play points (197) *New Jersey season goals leader: 1988–89 (42), 1989–90 (41), 1990–91 (45), 1993–94 (37), 1996–97 (29, tie) *New Jersey playoffs points leader: 1991 (8, tie), 1997 (9) *New Jersey playoffs goals leader: 1990 (4), 1991 (5), 1997 (4, tie) *New Jersey playoffs assists leader: 1997 (5) *San Jose Sharks playoffs points leader: 1998 (5, tie) *San Jose Sharks playoffs goals leader: 1998 (2, tie)

References

External links

*
John MacLean's profile at hockeydraftcentral.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maclean, John 1964 births Living people Albany Devils coaches Canadian ice hockey forwards Carolina Hurricanes coaches Dallas Stars players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Lowell Devils coaches Arizona Coyotes coaches National Hockey League All-Stars NHL first-round draft picks New Jersey Devils coaches New Jersey Devils draft picks New Jersey Devils players New York Rangers players New York Islanders coaches Oshawa Generals players Sportspeople from Verona, New Jersey San Jose Sharks players Ice hockey people from Oshawa Stanley Cup champions Canadian ice hockey coaches 20th-century Canadian sportsmen