"Not unlike Scotty [Stevens], Scotty Niedermayer wanted to win," said Lamoriello, the Toronto Maple Leafs general manager. "He took care of himself off the ice as well as he did on the ice. He was in tremendous shape. He had tremendous skating ability, [was] probably one of the best skaters to come into the game and he could explosively do things out there."
From 1991 to 2004, Niedermayer had 112 goals and 476 points in 892 games with the defense-first Devils, and his best regular-season numbers with New Jersey came in the 1997-98 season: 14 goals and 57 points.
His goal on a dazzling end-to-end rush against the Detroit Red Wings in Game 2 of the 1995 Stanley Cup Final would most certainly be the opening clip of a Niedermayer career highlight montage.
"The biggest play that comes to mind is the goal in the playoffs in Detroit," Lamoriello said. "But he could be put in offensive situations, defensive situations, he'd be on the ice when you needed a goal or when you were killing a penalty.
"He'd be out there killing 5-on-3s. He was a leader without question. He was a core player in that era of success and when you talk about core players that means you count on them day in and day out to lead the pack."
Not all of the times in New Jersey were easy ones. Niedermayer was often at odds with coach Jacques Lemaire's defensive-minded system and felt handcuffed. If anyone thought that Lemaire would eventually give way, well, they were in for the longest of waits. "We definitely butted heads," Niedermayer said in 2013.
"I think what Scotty had to do was learn a little bit about playing without the puck," Lamoriello said. "When he had the puck, he could make things happen, but the defensive end of it, when to go and when not to go, I think what Jacques [Lemaire] and (Devils assistant coach and later coach) Larry [Robinson] did was they made him a better defensive defenseman, but that never interrupted what he could do offensively.