New Jersey Devils: How Good Can Nikita Gusev Be In NHL?

The New Jersey Devils are hoping that they can have Nikita Gusev as a part of their team for a long time. What exactly is his ceiling with this team?

The New Jersey Devils are one of the bigger disappointments across the National Hockey League this season. One of the reasons that their expectations were so high was the acquisition of  Nikita Gusev from the Vegas Golden Knights. He is a former MVP of the Kontinental Hockey League.  Gusev was the best player in the world that didn’t play in the NHL before this season started.

Well, Gusev wasn’t great at the beginning of the year. He was good in the offensive zone but his defensive game was awful. He was a liability whenever the puck wasn’t on the stick of a Devils player. After about 15-20 games he really started to figure it out. He got it all together and started to look very good.

Nico Hischeir and Jack Hughes are the main pieces to this team in the long term, but Gusev would be a great secondary piece to this team. He is even a guy who can be one of the leading playmakers on the roster. He really started to come on strong and that led to him leading the team in assists. His 31 assists led the team by five as Pavel Zacha was second with 24. He was also only one point shy of leading the team, hitting 44 while Kyle Palmieri had 45.

This could be a player who really explodes offensively in year two. We don’t know how long it is going to take for Hughes to reach his offensive ceiling but it shouldn’t be too long. He probably has the highest point total ceiling in the organization but Gusev might not be far behind. He can score some goals but his main key is going to be his ability to set up his teammates.

He has developed tremendous chemistry with Jesper Bratt and Pavel Zacha. It remains to be seen if they will keep this group together but it is definitely a good option to have on the back burner. There are people who want to see him play with one of the two big centers but it might be better to have Gusev on a line where he drives the play.

It doesn’t really seem like he will ever work with Hischier well and Hughes is also more of a playmaker than a shooter. The line with Bratt and Zacha works because Bratt can get the puck on net and make a pass if he has to while Zacha tries to play more of the defensive side of the game. The fact of the matter is that the Devils need Gusev to produce offense no matter what spot he is in as far as his linemates.