Comparison: Hischier & Muller | SUNDAYS WITH STAN

(Editor's Note: Starting today, Stan will run an occasional Sunday feature comparing a Devils star from yesteryear with a contemporary ace. Our opening segment will highlight Kirk Muller from the Miracle 1988 sextet with current captain Nico Hischier.)
Nico Hischier and Kirk Muller. They're birds of a feather but flying in different Devils eras. Muller is the "Then" and Hischier the nonpareil"Now."
Muller was the first genuine New Jersey star center although the Devils' hockey lords were hoping for someone even better.
That, of course, was Mario Lemieux, the overwhelming choice to go No. 1 in the 1984 Draft. Lemieux already had been put in the Jean Beliveau Class by virtually every scout around at that time because he was such a marvel.
Having covered the "Pursuit of Mario" melodrama leading up to that June Draft, I can assure you that the "Finish Last and Get Lemieux" scenario was tilted toward Pittsburgh getting The Man and Not New Jersey. Yeah, Pitt did get him.
What matters is that once the Penguins nabbed the French-Canadian future Hall of Famer, the Devils plucked "The Next One" and that was none other than a solid, two-way Junior center (Guelph Platers) named Muller.

"It was obvious that Lemieux would be the top guy," says Chico Resch, the Devils radio analyst and former NHL goaltender. "Mario had the same type of superior goods as Wayne Gretzky before him.
"Naturally, the fact that Kirk was runner-up in this derby put plenty of pressure on him. But, to his credit, Muller did his best and became a solid center although not in Mario's class. Nobody was."
Fast forward now to the 2017 Draft. The herd of potential Grade-A prospects was stunning to say the least.
"You had at least four guys who could have gone No. 1," a scout opined, "and in some previews it was forward Nolan Patrick. Then there were outstanding young defensemen, Miro Heiskanen and Cale Makar."
New Jersey had the first pick and once the high command had come out of its huddle, there were some in the crowd who believed that Hischier would be bypassed since not a single Swiss player ever was chosen first.
My younger son, Simon, who lives in Bern, Switzerland where his son, Ariel, and daughter, Avigail, play hockey, has maintained that high-quality Swiss players should never be ignored. And that the Devils picked the right one.
"I go back to when (Swiss-born) defenseman Marc Streit was Islanders captain," said Simon, "and how good he was. That's how I felt about Nico."
Sure enough, the Devils opted for Hischier with Patrick going to Philadelphia and Dallas - selecting third - picking defenseman Miro Heiskanen.
"There was everything to like about Hischier," said then Devs coach John Hynes, now Nashville's bench boss. "I love how he competes on the puck and his speed and skill. Without playing a big-league game, his hockey sense is at a big-league level."
That's precisely what the Garden Staters were saying about Muller when he made his NHL debut right out of Juniors. "Kirk was 'Playing the 200-foot game'" was the way one big-league bird dog put it.
Hischier's move to the Bigs was a bit slower than Muller's but no less impressive. In 2015, Nico actually played pro in Switzerland. But in 2016 he jetted to North America and signed on with the Quebec Major Junior League's Halifax Mooseheads.
"Right away we heard that the kid could do just about everything the right way," says Mister Devil, Ken Daneyo, now the club's MSG Networks TV analyst. "It was just a matter of time before he made it to Newark."
In the interim, Hischier not only was named QMJHL freshman of the year but also "Best Rookie" by the Canadian Hockey League.
By contrast, Muller jumped directly to The Show in 1984 and impressed the Devils high command - led by GM Max McNab - with his vim, vigor and vitality.
"It was clear from the get-go that Kirk was ready for the big-time," said McNab. "We knew we weren't getting someone like Lemieux, who was a generational talent, but we did have a kid who'd play both sides of the puck for us."
Despite the freshman challenges, Muller played all 80 games on the regular schedule, producing 17 goals, 37 assists and 54 points.
McNab: "What impressed us as much as anything was Muller's growth after his rookie year. He improved in every way for the next three seasons just as we had hoped he would."
From 54 points as a first-year Devil, Kirk climbed to 66 points in '85-86 and then added 10 points to his total a year later.
"The one thing that was missing," McNab concluded before retiring in 1987, "was that Kirk still hadn't skated for a playoff team. That was his next goal."
Sure enough - coincidentally with the advent of Lou Lamoriello as the new Devils boss - Muller reached his point peak during the eventful 1987-88 campaign with fancy arithmetic: 37-54-94.
"Kirk not only guided us into the postseason," recalled Lamoriello, "but all the way to the third playoff round."
When Muller was named Devils captain, no one doubted the choice. Ditto for New Jersey's GM Tom Fitzgerald when it came to the "C" being affixed to Nico's uniform on Feb. 20, 2021.
Fitzgerald: "There never was a doubt in my mind who our leader was going to be; it just was a matter of when it was going to be done. What I had seen was how our players gravitated around Nico.
"And once he got the captaincy, how well he's handled it. As for giving him the role at such a young age, I believe in ripping off the Band-Aid and dropping in the deep end and let him go."
Since then, Hischier has been like the second coming of Muller even to the point of fighting his own battles.
Exhibit A took place on Dec. 10, 2021 during a Devils game with Nashville. Nico had been high-sticked by the Preds' Mikael Granlund and immediately dropped his mitts and let the instigator have it.
Following the game, Hischier was asked about his belligerence. His response was superbly succinct: "I stick up for myself."
Or, that's the way Kirk Muller played the game - with passion and leadership.
Nico: "I lead with action. I like to do the action so others can follow me. I feel that it's like going to war with brothers."
Which, in the end, confirms the thoughts of Tom Fitz toward his captain: "Nico will lead us for a long time!"