New Jersey Devils: Should We Expect More From Jack Hughes Or Nico Hischier?

The New Jersey Devils have two dynamic centers who get to call themselves the number-one overall pick in their draft. When looking at this season alone, should we expect more from Nico Hischier or Jack Hughes?

Nico Hischier had a great rookie campaign in 2017-18. It started as a whirlwind. He was supposed to slot in as the number two or three center on the team. The Devils had the first line set: Taylor Hall–Travis Zajac–Kyle Palmieri. It was the only line that showed any offensive prowess the season prior.

Then, Zajac got hurt during an offseason workout. He was going to miss months. It felt like a death blow to the Devils season before it started. The Devils were likely going with Adam Henrique or Pavel Zacha on the first line, then Nico would fill out somewhere else.

We all know how it ended. Hischier earned his way on the top line, and he was great inbetween Hall and Palmieri.

Now, Hischier can help the newest number-one overall pick center get through his first year. Jack Hughes is coming into this season with a lot more fanfare. Maybe it’s because he was always the top guy in this draft, unlike Hischier who overtook Nolan Patrick seemingly at the last second. It could be because Hughes is the next big American star. Either way, the fanfare surrounding the Devils is just different.

These two players will take up the number one and two center spots on the team this year. Zajac has moved into a third-line shutdown role. Zacha could center the fourth line, or could move to wing. Either way, he’s not overtaking either of these players. Henrique was sent to Anaheim in the Sami Vatanen trade.

The question was posed to me on Twitter: who is going to have the better season between Hischier and Hughes? It’s a hard question to decipher because Hischier will have a lot more roles to start. He could be playing on the penalty kill, a more defensive-minded role on 5v5, plus he’ll be centering the second power play. Meanwhile, Hughes will likely only be on the first power play unit, playing on the wing with Zajac and Hall.

So, let’s make this simpler. Who is going to get more points this season between Hughes and Hischier?

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It’s obviously not a competition, but it’s still interesting. There’s no guarantee who plays on what line. In fact, there’s no guarantee for just about anyone on the time. The only thing we know is Taylor Hall will play first-line left wing. Beyond that, anything can happen.

The Devils could play Hughes inbetween Hall and Palmieri since Hughes is a great distributor, and it will help breed confidence. They could move Palmieri down to the second line, and put Jesper Bratt on the first line with Nico and Hall. Jesper Boqvist might prove himself to be a good enough player already to start on the second line. Then, you’d likely want Hughes there to match his speed and ability.

Obviously, how the pairs work themselves out, and if the Devils make another move, impact this answer quite a lot.

We expect Hischier to take another jump this season, especially if he’s paired with a healthy Hall. Hischier showed last season he was able to drive his own line after Hall got injured. That will help him allow Hall to be more of a goal scorer rather than a playmaker. This could help Hischier’s assist numbers tremendously. His career high is 32 from his rookie season. We expect that to be closer to 50. With, say, Hall and Bratt on his line, he should also get around 20 goals.

So, we expect Hischier to hit 70 points this season as long as he’s with Hall. Can Hughes match that number?

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Taking a look as some of the best prospects in their rookie seasons, we’ve seen some great production, but also some growing pains. We talked about Hischier’s rookie year, where he hit 52 points. Connor McDavid only had 48 points, but that was in 45 games. Injury is a real risk as rookies get used to the NHL grind. Auston Matthews played a full season and had 69 points, but he was driven more by goal scoring.

If Hischier hits 70 points, it will be really hard for Hughes to match in his first season. It’s a tremendous hill to climb, especially if he’s playing less minutes. Being on the top power play unit would help, but we’d see him come just shy, ending around 60 points.

Either way, both these young centers are poised to have great seasons.

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