New Jersey Devils: Jesper Bratt Placed On Injured Reserve

The New Jersey Devils announced today that Jesper Bratt was placed on injured reserve after suffering a broken jaw during practice. What does that mean for the club?

I’ll be the first to say I’m a big Jesper Bratt supporter.  I think this is a noteworthy injury, he adds a lot of puck skill, passing and zone entry ability to the club.  Jesper will be sorely missed. Here is a quick take on how it impacts the New Jersey Devils.

This is a significant injury for the Devils.  Bratt is a skilled forward.

Drew Stafford

The Devils signed Drew Stafford to a 1 year, $810,000 contract. Personally, I’m not thrilled with that move. I’d prefer to see a young forward slotted into a role like that. Someone like Joey Anderson or Michael McLeod have a higher ceiling.  To me, they should be the next man up.

I get it, I suppose, that the Devils probably want a player with some offensive ability to step into the power play unit in a similar role to Bratt. If that is the case, I would prefer that player be Nick Lappin. He scored some nice goals in the pre-season and potted 31 in the AHL last year. To me, he deserves a shot.

But, I suppose, in the grand scheme of things, whoever occupies the 12th forward role is probably not that big of a deal. Stafford is of course a professional. It should be fine in the short term.

Disappointment

Surely this is a huge disappointment for Bratt himself, likely the only chance in his NHL career to play in front of a home crowd. Gotta’ feel for the guy. At least it is only a few weeks and he won’t need surgery. Sounds like a best case scenario for an injury of this nature.  Seeing him mingling with the fans at during today’s practice was encouraging. He must be feeling somewhat okay to be doing that. Hopefully Jesper will be back and better than ever in early November.

How This Impacts Bratt’s Season

We obviously don’t know how long he’ll be out. For some of us, including yours truly, having our jaw wired shut and not being able to eat for a few weeks would probably be a good thing for our health!  For our young forward who wore down a bit last season, that probably is not the case. The Devils well-renowned medical training staff may have a bit of a challenge on their hands keeping the young Swede strong and ready to play once the structural damage is healed.

Overall

Injuries are a killer for any club. Hopefully this is not the start of a trend. We lost several good forwards to significant injuries for large chunks of the season last year. Don’t want to see that happen again in 2018-19.