Jesper Bratt has become a great player for the New Jersey Devils. In 2019-20, he showed even more flashes of brilliance as he continues his development.
Jesper Bratt has been one of the best New Jersey Devils players since he came into the league three seasons ago. He was a 6th-round pick and still managed to make it to the NHL as a teenager. He was so impressive in his rookie training camp and preseason that he hasn’t left the big leagues ever since. He had another pretty good year this year. It took him a bit to get going but when he did he really did and hopefully, it continues.
There were some games where Bratt was a healthy scratche earlier in the season that were straight up boneheaded. Maybe he wasn’t perfect all the time, but he was better than most of the forwards in the lineup. The worst of the Bratt healthy scratches came a game after scoring the shootout-winning goal and having points in eight of ten games ahead of the decision.
After the previously mentioned slow start, Bratt really turned it on. He went into the pause of the season with 16 goals and 16 assists for 32 points in 60 games. He was three points shy of his career-high with 14 fewer games played. He continues to improve every year and is still only 21 years old.
The biggest note on Bratt’s season is the way he played with Nikita Gusev. The pair on a line with Pavel Zacha was very good down the stretch of the season before it was abruptly stopped. We don’t know if we will get to see them continue this year, but we can be excited about the next season. It is unclear if they will remain a trio but we know Bratt is going to continue to produce offense. He should end up being a key piece to this team and their depth going forward.
The nice thing about Bratt is that he’s loved by his teammates and fans alike. Everyone knows that he is a great player and is just scratching the surface of what he can be in this league. If Bratt can become a 50-60 point guy that scores around 25 goals a season, he will be a big key to the Devils’ future success.
Bratt gets a B+ is thanks to what was overall a good season. He was one of the team’s best offensive players. Bratt falls short of an A-grade because he started slow, but if he is as good as he was in the second half for an entire season, he will be an A player for sure. The future is very bright for Jesper Bratt.