New Jersey Devils: Nico Hischier Should Be Playing Soon

The New Jersey Devils haven’t played in over two weeks because of the COVID-19 protocol. They had as many as 19 players on the list at one point, but now most of them are back. They paused at 4-3-2, which isn’t bad considering how they were perceived going into the season and the fact Mackenzie Blackwood missed time. A lot of their young players have been awesome which has allowed them to stay above water without their best player, Nico Hischier. Now, it looks like Jack Hughes could compete for that title on the team but together they should just hope to form a dynamic duo.

Nico Hischier making his season debut is going to be great for the Devils.

We don’t know exactly when Hischier is going to make his season debut, but it seems like it is going to be soon. Amanda Stein had some interesting quotes on her Twitter from head coach Lindy Ruff, insinuating that Hischier was close to returning before the Devils had to pause and that the COVID-19 list might be the only thing keeping him from playing.

If he comes off the list on Tuesday, one has to wonder if he plays against the New York Rangers later that night. He stayed on it along with Nikita Gusev, Dmitry Kulikov, and Travis Zajac. You have to wonder where conditioning comes in for Hischir because he hasn’t played all season long but you have to figure he should be close to ready as far as that is concerned.

When you add Hischier to the mix, you are making things much deeper in terms of the forwards. You can balance ice time between him and Jack Hughes and then work out the bottom six forwards accordingly. You also have so many more options to get the top-six wingers going after a long pause. If this is the case against the New York Rangers, the Devils should absolutely be able to take advantage.

If he was ready to go before the COVID-19 outbreak, he is probably just as ready to get back as his teammates. He just needs to be available (not on the list anymore) in order to find out how long that will take. Once that happens, this team will be so much better.

Hischier isn’t the only player that the Devils are getting back. Sami Vatanen hit the ice with the team during yesterday’s practice. He hasn’t played yet this season due to visa/protocols after signing a late offseason contract. Jesper Bratt was in a similar boat before making his season debut a little before the pause.

They also lost Mackenzie Blackwood to COVID long before the big outbreak. Getting him back should spark the team as well as they have played well with guys like Scott Wedgewood and Eric Comrie holding things down. Good times could very well be ahead for the New Jersey Devils and this is only the beginning.