
1. Jesper Bratt Makes His Return
It isn’t set in stone, but expect Jesper Bratt to make his return this week. He broke his jaw right before the first game of the season, when a puck came back into his face off a crossbar. Bratt missed a once in a lifetime opportunity when he missed the Devils game in Sweden. That could motivate the 20 year old, or it could make him really upset. We shall see what it really does.
The Devils are finally starting to miss Bratt in the lineup. They especially miss his penalty killing. With no Travis Zajac, the Devils are down a penalty killer. That seems to be the reason why the Devils replaced Quenneville for Kevin Rooney. With Bratt making his return, Rooney is no longer necessary.
Bratt will try to prove that him hitting the rookie wall last year was a fluke. He basically forgot how to light the lamp in the second half of last season. If he is able to score like he did in the first half, he will add more to the Devils secondary scoring. They can use it after a few games where the first line dominated at 5v5 and on the power play.