Jesper Bratt
This one is probably the least likely to have any issues, since Jesper Bratt is quite good, but there’s no doubt he was the proof for Shero’s draft acumen. Having a 6th-round pick play his way on the top line of any NHL team makes the GM look like a million bucks. It shows he knows how to scout talent and draft for value.
Bratt has been a little up and down throughout his young career. He’s seen himself play really well, but whether it’s because of rookie walls or injury bugs, in three years he only has 83 career points. A first-line player needs to be scoring at least 60 points per season, even with injuries. He’s way far off.
He’s still just 21 years old, so we will cut the kid some slack, but we’re saying that he hasn’t made himself untradeable. Let’s say a team comes to the Devils looking to make a swap, and they offer a defenseman. They will likely at least ask about Jesper Bratt. Under Ray Shero, he would probably want to keep that asset he took a major chance on, one that worked out as well as we could have guessed. Now, since the next GM has no real connection to Bratt, he’d be more willing to trade him.
Don’t get us wrong. We aren’t calling for Bratt to get traded. We think he’s going to be a good member of this organization for a long time. However, his untouchable status went down a notch.