New Jersey Devils: Grading Nico Hischier’s All-Star Season
The New Jersey Devils might have something special with Nico Hischier. He keeps getting better so once the offense is consistent he will be an elite player.
The New Jersey Devils have something so special with Nico Hischier and only a select few truly realize it. He was selected by the Devils in the 2017 NHL Draft with the first overall selection that they won the rights to in the Draft Lottery. It was a brilliant move by Ray Shero to pick Hischier as he is going to be one of the team’s best players for a very long time.
Nico doesn’t get the national attention as some other stars yet because he is still figuring it out offensively as far as the raw numbers and everyone knows that offense gets noticed the most. He had 14 goals and 22 assists for 36 points. That came on a Devils team that wasn’t able to help him on the wing once Taylor Hall was traded. His offense will grow and when that happens he will be one of the league’s top centers.
At 21 years old, he is already one of the league’s most well-rounded centerman. If the offense starts to become more plentiful, we are talking about a Selke Trophy level player. He was recognized for how good he was when he was the Devils representative in the NHL’s “Last Man In” vote to the 2020 All-Star Game. T.J. Oshie of the Washington Capitals won the vote but Hischier got in any way as an injury replacement to Kyle Palmieri.
He was one of the Metropolitan Division’s best players in their loss to the Atlantic Division. It was a good showing for Hischier on the national stage and people will start to notice him as the years go on. The fact that he is already the Devils’ best player at 21 says a lot about him. Expect him to get the C as the team’s captain soon.
C. New Jersey Devils. NICO HISCHIER. B+.
Nico Hischier should be getting A’s every year after this for the next decade. You can argue he deserves one this year but the offense wasn’t plentiful enough for him to stretch it to an A. Nobody needs Nico to have 100 points but if he can get to 70 and complement it with an elite two-way game. the DEvils will be so happy with that.
Related Story. Grading another tough year for Michael McLeod. light
The fact that Hischier is going to continue to get better in all three zones should scare the daylights out of the rest of the teams in the Metropolitan Division. Couple that with the offensive potential of Jack Hughes and this 1-2 punch could be one of the league’s best.