5 Players New Jersey Devils Coaches Must Focus On This Season

2. Jesper Bratt

Jesper Bratt’s amazing season fell under the radar in many NHL circles. Only seven players drafted in 2016 have more points than Bratt. Bratt was chosen in the sixth round. The other players on that list include Auston Matthews (first overall), Patrik Laine (second overall) and Matthew Tkachuk (6th overall). Only Alex DeBrincat was drafted outside the top ten in 2016 but has more points than Bratt.

It was amazing what the coaches were able to get out of Bratt at the beginning of last season. However, the magic fell apart after the New Year. He went into January with 31 points on he season. He was on pace to hit more than 60 points as a sixth-round rookie. It would have been amazing. Instead, he scored four points in 2018.

By the end of the year, Bratt was unplayable. He couldn’t score. He was mishandling the puck. Everything that forced the Devils to add him to the opening night roster seemed to be gone.

Obviously, this can be undone. Bratt just needs to work more with coaching to see what went wrong. Did he change the way he skated with the puck? Was there a confidence issue? Did he change the way he saw the ice? If the coaches can figure out what went wrong with Bratt, then he can make the jump into a very good second-line right wing.