Pucks and Pitchforks
Fansided

New Jersey Devils: Nikita Gusev Can Build On Great Performance

By Nick Villano

MONTREAL, QC - NOVEMBER 16: Nikita Gusev #97 of the New Jersey Devils celebrates with the bench after scoring a goal against the Montreal Canadiens in the NHL game at the Bell Centre on November 16, 2019 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (Photo by Francois Lacasse/NHLI via Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC - NOVEMBER 16: Nikita Gusev #97 of the New Jersey Devils celebrates with the bench after scoring a goal against the Montreal Canadiens in the NHL game at the Bell Centre on November 16, 2019 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (Photo by Francois Lacasse/NHLI via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

The New Jersey Devils have been waiting for former Russian superstar Nikita Gusev to break out all season. It may have finally happened after a big Saturday night performance.

The New Jersey Devils offseason was complete when they traded two draft picks in exchange for Vegas Golden Knights prospect Nikita Gusev. That, on top of Jack Hughes, P.K. Subban and Wayne Simmonds was supposed to equal the turnaround this team desperately needed. Add to it the Devils immediately signed him to a two-year, $9 million contract, and the race was on for this team.

Well, that didn’t work out so well during the first six weeks of the season. Gusev was supposed to immediately slot in next to Hughes and likely Jesper Bratt. That would be a line on the smaller side, but with the ridiculous amount of skill it has, there’s no way it wouldn’t work.

Well, it didn’t work. That second line was getting drilled in the defensive zone, and their inability to get out of that zone took away any offensive skill they might have.

Things got so bad for Gusev, that head coach John Hynes decided the Devils team was better with him in the press box. Gusev spent multiple games as a healthy scratch, giving him time to see the game from a different perspective.

Who knows if having him watch the game from the press box helped, or if he just needed some time to get acclimated to the North American style. Either way, Gusev just played his best game of his short NHL career, and it isn’t close.

More from Pucks and Pitchforks

Gusev was often one of the worst players on the ice in chances. His CF% was regularly in the high 30s and low 40s. On Saturday night against the Montreal Canadiens, he had a 65.63% at 5v5. He had 21 chances for with just 11 chances against.

Clearly, his new line of Blake Coleman and Travis Zajac is suiting him well. He suits them perfectly as well. Zajac was second on the team in CF% this game, and Coleman was 5th. This line has been dominating the past few games, and they actually carried the Devils to a win on Friday night. On Saturday night, they led the team to victory.

We went all this way before even mentioning that Gusev was masterful on offense in the traditional sense as well. He scored a goal early in the game when he had one masterful chance in tight on Keith Kinkaid, but luckily when that one didn’t go he didn’t move. He stayed in his spot in front of the net, and eventually Coleman was able to send him a no-look pass for a wide-open net. He also had six shots on the night, and only played 43 seconds on the power play. He was getting all his chances at even strength.

This could be a turning point for Gusev in a Devils uniform. We always knew he was capable of great offensive production. We just had to learn how to get him in the offensive zone. Putting him with Zajac and Coleman was a very smart decision. Hynes deserves a lot of flack for how this season started, but this was a perfect decision by him. This could be the turning point to a really fun career.

Home/Editorials