5 Achievable Season Milestones for New Jersey Devils Players
By Mike Luci
20 Goals: Jesper Bratt
It’s been a roller coaster-type season for third-year forward Jesper Bratt. He has been designated roles ranging from top-line duties to healthy scratches. The most goals Bratt has scored over his young career was during his rookie season, when he tallied 13. With 30 games remaining in 2019-20 campaign, Bratt has 10, and is currently on-pace to set a new career-high with between 16 and 17 goals.
Between injuries and healthy scratches, Bratt has missed some considerable chunks of time this season, having played in just 10 games since January, over which he’s notched two goals and seven points. This includes two goals and six points in his last four contests. Bratt has historically been a streaky player in terms of point production. Despite still bouncing around the lineup, Bratt has seen more consistent time among New Jersey’s top-three lines since former head coach John Hynes’ dismissal.
One notable coinciding correlation with Bratt’s goal spurts is a spike in shots on net. On the season for example, Bratt is averaging 1.59 shots per game. If you look at the stretches of games where Bratt’s goals fall upon, he’s averaging roughly 2-3 shots per game, sometimes doubling his current seasonal average.
Bratt is more than capable of hitting the 20-goal mark this season. The key for him is to shoot the puck more and in doing so, simplify his offensive game.