The New Jersey Devils have been pretty terrible to start the season. One player that we expected to break out, Nico Hischier, has provided mixed results to start.
The New Jersey Devils have been terrible to start the season. They are winless in five games, the system doesn’t seem to be working and nobody looks happy out on the ice. It’s really the worst possible start for a Devils team that came into the year with a ton of expectations.
One player we thought would help lead the Devils to success was center Nico Hischer. Many believed, including many Pucks and Pitchforks writers, that Hischier was primed for a huge jump in points, somewhere in the 60-80 range. It may seem farfetched, since he’s coming off a season with only 47 points total, but with a returning Taylor Hall, less emphasis on the top line and a much improved second power play, it seemed probable he would see more goals and assists.
Well, five games into the season and Hischier has no goals, and only two assists. If you consider the top line to be Hischier, Hall and Kyle Palmieri, they have a combined two goals. Both those goals came off the stick of Palmieri. So, not only is Hischier having trouble scoring himself, he’s having trouble getting Hall going on his left.
Obviously, Hall is the type of talent that doesn’t need Hischier to score, but even he said in his MVP year that his center helped him get to new heights. Now, coming off a major knee injury, he needs him more than ever, at least to get him through this rust.
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Now, Hischier hasn’t been the worst player at 5v5, not by a long shot. He’s got a 47.79 Corsi For Percentage. That’s good for tenth on the team. We expect him to be top three in this stat, but it could be much worse. Nikita Gusev has one of the worst Corsi numbers in the league.
On the power play is where we are really disappointed. He’s been on the ice for just over 12 minutes, yet the Devils have only had eight chances while he’s on the ice. What’s worse, is they’ve allowed two chances against them. Somehow, Jack Hughes and Gusev, who play on Hischier’s line, have at least five more chances in just one more minute of power play ice time.
Clearly, Hischier has not been playing up to snuff. Is he the problem? Obviously not. There are a lot bigger problems than Hischier on the team, but he definitely hasn’t helped matters. The offense from the first line has been nonexistent, and that’s unacceptable. Hall has actually been robbed a time or two. Hischier has to be better. He wasn’t the one we were worried about, and he’s been average at best to start the year. He needs to be well above average from here on out, or this season could continue to go down the tubes.