New Jersey Devils: Three Players Who Are Rising Above And Must Continue Doing So
The New Jersey Devils are having a terrible season but there are three players who have been awesome and should keep it up.
The New Jersey Devils are having a season to forget. They went into the year with all of the hype but haven’t even come close to living up to it. They blew a 4-0 lead on opening night and since then it has been an absolute disaster. This team is going nowhere this season so we have to just watch and wonder where they will go from there. They have a lot of great young pieces in place after winning the draft lottery twice in three years. They will be in the lottery conversation once again this April.
One thing that is important to them going forward is the play of certain individuals. They are a team that has no expectations as a team, but they do need certain players to play well. The future of the team depends on a few significant players having successful development. It also hinges on a few of their current roster players continuing to do what they are doing. They are going to be on the lookout for a coach and general manager this summer that will help them achieve that.
There are a few players there that have been awesome this year despite the position of the team. These players are likely all going to be here for the foreseeable future so they need to keep up this great play for the final stretch of the season. It is going to be tough after the trade deadline to win more games than they lost but these three players just need to keep doing what they’re doing:
The best player on the New Jersey Devils for the season as a whole has been Nico Hischier. The offense wasn’t there off the bat but we all know what he is capable of in all three zones. Now the points are starting to come which makes him that much more valuable. He has been so good that he will represent the Devils at the 2020 NHL All-Star game in St. Louis. He has really taken his game to the next level. The best news of it all is that the best has yet to come with Hischier.
He has 12 goals and 17 assists for 29 points in 43 games. Those are good numbers, but not elite. The thing is, a majority of those points have come in the last 20 games. He has hit his stride now this season after dealing with a minor injury in the beginning. He is probably the future captain of the team which is a big honor for him at such a young age.
He is one of those pieces the Devils have in place that will be a part of things for the long haul. He and Jack Hughes will be expected to lead this team down the middle for a long time. If these two can reach their full potential it could end up being one of the best cores in team history. Nico has been phenomenal this season so far so if he keeps it up, the fans should be extremely excited.
Not many players have come out of nowhere to be as good as Blake Coleman has. He keeps getting better and better as the years go on. He is one of those guys that the Devils should seriously consider keeping around for the long haul. If they were to be offered an elite package for him then that would change the story but for right now, they should keep letting Coleman do his thing. He has been one of the few bright spots for this team during a miserable season.
He has 19 goals and eight assists in 48 games. It isn’t an elite point total, but those 19 goals are great for this team. The New Jersey Devilsr would be in an even worse spot if they were without Blake Coleman this year. He scores his goals from all areas of the game. He can score at even strength and shorthanded for the Devils. The fact that he gets little to no power playtime with the team is something that makes those numbers even more impressive.
If he started getting consistent power-play time these numbers could really improve even more. No matter what, Coleman needs to keep doing what he is doing in the post-All-Star portion of the schedule. The Devils need a sign that things are going to be okay and Coleman has been one of those signs.
Nikita Gusev has been one of the very best players on this team over the last few months. He is a really good offensive winger. Ever since he found his home on a line with Travis Zajac and Blake Coleman, he has become one of the go-to guys on the team. He drives offense as good as any player in the league at even strength. He doesn’t always get time on the top power-play unit which is something that would be nice to see as time goes on.
This is his first year coming over to North America to play in the National Hockey League. He was a superstar MVP winning player in the KHL before making the transition to the NHL. It was clear that he would need some time to adjust to the two-way game needed to play in the NHL. He took some time to not be a complete mess in his own zone but that has happened and the offense has followed. He can do things with the puck that not many can.
Gusev is only going to get better as he gets used to the NHL. The Devils would be wise to extend him this summer so he can be a part of this team for a few extra years. His skills are unmatched so the team is better with him on it. If he can come in and be just as good if not better in the second half, this team will see results. It took a while for him to click at first but now fans are starting to see the player they traded for back in the summer.
These three players have all been really good for the Devils in 2019-20. If they can keep it up in the second half of the season, the Devils will be able to be a respectable team. They need to improve in a lot of areas to help these guys, but at least there are a few bright spots in the organization at the highest level.