New Jersey Devils: Appreciating Jesper Bratt as a Player
The New Jersey Devils struck gold with a late-round selection, and Jesper Bratt has helped secure some depth at a certain position on this team.
The New Jersey Devils are celebrating a birthday today for Jesper Bratt. You could say that the Devils got extremely lucky and found a diamond in the rough with Bratt. He has been an amazing secondary player for the Devils since his arrival. This team doesn’t get that very often from players who came in the way he did.
He was a 6th-round pick in the 2016 NHL Draft. The 162-overall pick almost never makes this kind of an impact, but Bratt has found a way to be successful. He is very gifted offensively and should be on the wing for the Devils for a long time. In his 125 game-career so far, he has 21 goals and 47 assists. Only Alex DeBrincat of the Chicago Blackhawks has more points of any player taken in the 2nd-round or later in the 2016 NHL Draft. If you include the 1st rounders, he would be 8th in scoring from his draft class and that is very impressive for a 6th rounder.
The Devils have lots of really good wingers on their team, so Jesper Bratt needs to find a way to keep contributing to keep up. With the skills he possesses, he should be able to do that with ease and be a great middle-six player for this team for a long time. There will even be an opportunity for him to slot in on the first line with Taylor Hall and Nico Hischier.
Related Story. Time for Taylor Hall to make a decision. light
The Devils struck gold when the drafted Bratt, and they are hoping that he can get even better. It would help if he just stayed a little more healthy going forward because then when he gets on a role he could stay on one and get even more points. Players like Bratt coming out of nowhere are how you build championship teams so hopefully, he can be with them for a long time.