5 New Jersey Devils Records That Could Be Broken This Season

Nikita Gusev rookie goals record

The New Jersey Devils have had some great rookies come through its doors. We talked about Gomez’s big season in the last slide, but of his 70 points, only 19 were goals. When Adam Henrique was up for the Calder Trophy, he only had 16 goals. Patrik Elias was a finalist for the Calder himself, but he only lit the lamp 18 times.

The actual record for goals by a Devils rookie is just 21, done twice by Kevin Todd and Jeff Larmer. These two blasts from the past have seen their records hold for the entire 35 years of Devils hockey. Larmer literally set the record in the Devils first season in existence, and nobody has ever beaten it. Even Kirk Mueller in the high-scoring days of the mid-80s could only get to 20. Nico Hischier had a chance to break the record in his rookie season next to the Devils first Hart Trophy winner, but he came one goal shy.

Nikita Gusev is no normal rookie. He’s coming into the NHL with vast experience overseas. He’s already 27 years old and has won back to back MVPs in the KHL, the second best league in the world. The Devils traded for him in the offseason since the Vegas Golden Knights were never going to be able to afford him.

Now, he might play on a line with Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt, two players who can pass the puck beautifully. Gusev is a finisher through and through. Say what you want, Gusev is technically a rookie in the National Hockey League. He could easily blow this record out of the water. If you want to say that Gusev doesn’t count, fine. We would also accept saying that Jesper Boqvist could break this record. We don’t think that he could score 30, but 22 is definitely not out of the question.