He is the fifth-oldest player participating in the 2018 postseason, behind Zdeno Chara of the Boston Bruins, Matt Cullen of the Minnesota Wild, Jason Chimera of the Anaheim Ducks and Patrick Marleau of the Toronto Maple Leafs, and the only one to have his name on the Stanley Cup four times, once with the Anaheim Ducks (2007) and three times with the Pittsburgh Penguins (2009, 2016, 2017).
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Kunitz signed a one-year contract with the Lightning on July 1, hoping to win another championship after nine seasons with the Penguins. It was a run that began when Ray Shero, then general manager of the Penguins, acquired Kunitz in a trade with the Ducks for defenseman Ryan Whitney on Feb. 26, 2009.
Shero is now the general manager of the Devils, named to that position May 4, 2015.
Kunitz will play his 166th postseason game on Saturday in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference First Round at Amalie Arena (3 p.m. ET; NBC, NBCSN, SN360, TVAS2) and the Lightning will be looking to eliminate the Devils from the best-of-7 series, ending their first appearance in six seasons.
Kunitz said he sees similarities between the 2018 Devils and the first title team he played for in Pittsburgh. And though he is happy for his former GM, the competitor in him relishes the opportunity to end this series and advance one step closer to another championship.
"Ray always brought high-character players into Pittsburgh when I was there, and he, Tom Fitzgerald and John Hynes have that background of being in Pittsburgh together," Kunitz said. "It was a great place to work because they made it enjoyable. You went out, worked hard, and they respected you as players and people."
Fitzgerald, now the Devils assistant general manager, won the Stanley Cup with the Penguins as director of player development in 2009. Hynes, the Devils coach, was coach of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, the American Hockey League affiliate of the Penguins, from 2010-15.
"I think Ray has done a great job of turning New Jersey around quickly; they have the skilled players to make them a better team, but he's also added guys like Taylor Hall and Sami Vatanen in trades," Kunitz said.