New Jersey Devils: Which Line Is Best For Jesper Bratt?
Jesper Bratt has been an amazing player for the New Jersey Devils this season. Which line would make the most sense for him in the second half of the season?
The New Jersey Devils have been struggling mightily to gain points in the standings. Their major issues have come on the backside of the roster, with Dougie Hamilton, Jonathan Bernier, and Mackenzie Blackwood dealing with different levels of injuries this season. The team has been struggling on that end (although, Jon Gillies played as well as can be expected this weekend). However, there are some positives coming from this season at the forward position.
The biggest bright light on this team is Jack Hughes. His ability to make plays happen means more to this team than anything. He still has some rough games, as he did against the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday, but for the most part, he’s a net positive. The other huge season is coming from Jesper Bratt.
Bratt is the largest play driver on the team this season. Yes, he’s even better at it than Hughes so far. Every line he’s on is the best line on the team. It’s just the facts. When he was paired with Dawson Mercer and Andreas Johnsson, those two were having a phenomenal season. Since he’s come off that line, they’ve both struggled offensively. When he was on a line with Nico Hischier and Pavel Zacha, they were driving the bus on both sides of the ice. Zacha was looking like he would repeat his goal scoring of last season, and Hischier was able to do so many positive things.
Now, Bratt has been paired with Yegor Sharangovich and Hughes, and there is a ton of chemistry there. Hughes was named to the All-Star team because of how well this pairing has gone since the Christmas break. These two are the Devils best players right now with Hamilton out injured, and they are the reason the Devils are winning any games.
So, we have to ask whether it makes more sense for the Devils to go with Bratt and Hughes together. We already know that Bratt works with every major center on the team. They aren’t going to put him on the fourth line with Michael McLeod, although we’re pretty confident he would make that work too. So, moving forward, where is the best place to play Jesper Bratt for the rest of the season?
Pavel Zacha-Nico Hischier-Jesper Bratt
This pairing has been together a lot over the last two years. Over the last three seasons, Bratt and Hischier have played 587 minutes together at even strength according to Natural Stat Trick. It would have been even more if Hischier didn’t lose most of last season due to injury. This season, they’ve played just 119 minutes together, and they have a better CorsiFor Percentage together than they have away from each other. They are driving play 56% of the time, and they are getting a ton of really good chances. They had 33 high-danger chances against 15 high-danger chances against.
The issue here is really just luck. Despite having twice as many high-danger chances for, they have allowed three high-danger goals against while scoring just two high-danger goals together. Meanwhile, Bratt has been getting a ton of high-danger chances without Hischier, but the same can’t be said for the captain. Hischier is close to even in high-danger chances for and high-danger chances against, while the Devils have been giving up as many such goals at even strength. Bratt has 19 high-danger goals for without Hischier, and he has just 10 against.
This would be a fine pairing, especially when it comes to getting Pavel Zacha back on a scoring streak, but the reason issue here is what the Devils do without them on the ice at even strength. With Nico Hischier and Jesper Bratt both on the bench, the team gives up 35 high-danger goals while only scoring 25 such goals. When looking at goals in general, it’s even bleaker. The Devils have given up 61 goals at 5v5 with Jesper Bratt and Nico Hischier both off the ice. They give up a goal every 18 minutes of ice time when they are both on the ice. They give up one every 21 minutes when either is on the ice.
The Devils can’t afford to have both these players on the same line because it takes away from the impact they both have on both sides of the ice. They are both so careful with their chances, and they have been getting better at positioning. This is one line Bratt should steer clear of barring injury.
Andreas Johnsson-Dawson Mercer-Jesper Bratt
This was the original line to get Bratt going. We all forget it now, but Bratt needed help to get going at the beginning of the season. He went pointless in the first five games of the season. He’s gone on a pointless streak once for the rest of the season, three games during a dreadful December run for the entire team.
Lindy Ruff put these three together in during an October 30th win against the Penguins. They were spending some time together on the ice, and they were dominating play. In their first three games with any time on the ice, the Devils had 27 chances for and just 8 chances against. The Devils clearly had something here.
Ruff separated them in early December when the team was starting to circle the drain. They were put back together twice since then, but for the most part, they’ve been apart. Mercer has been much worse without Bratt on his wing, as has Johnsson. They both haven’t had the scoring stats, and they’ve spent a lot more time in the defensive zone.
Johnsson and Mercer have seen some better days offensively as of late, but they are still seeing some bad luck. Johnsson had a crucial chance against the Arizona Coyotes that just didn’t get lifted despite a mostly empty net. There’s still just something missing with this line when Bratt isn’t on it.
The question becomes whether the Devils can afford to have Bratt on this line. When Bratt is here, that means the Devils have to play him when Hughes and Hischier are off the ice. There’s something to be said about depth and having four strong lines, but there’s also something to be said about hurting your top two lines to do so. That might not make the most sense, and the Devils need to think of another solution to get Mercer going again.
Yegor Sharangovich-Jack Hughes-Jesper Bratt
And now we’re back to the present. Hughes and Bratt have played 133 minutes together this season. Hughes has been phenomenal with Bratt. He’s been downright bad without. No, really. Hughes with Bratt is a play driver, scoring machine, and overall offensive dynamo. Without Bratt, Hughes is timid, unable to make his own play, and his size looks to be a problem as the defense focuses only on him.
Based on the stats, the Devils really can’t afford to separate these two. They need the best possible Jack Hughes they can get this season. That means they need to keep Bratt with him. This is more than a confidence boost. This is getting Hughes to some superstar numbers now that he’s already signed to his massive extension.
Speaking of extension, Bratt’s contract is up at the end of this season. He’s ready to get paid after this year. Keeping him with Hughes instead of constantly shuffling him around the lineup shows the Devils look at him as a superstar. That means he will feel valued, and it could come with a slight discount (which anything seems like a discount at this point).
Next. 5 Goals To Achieve For Rest Of Devils Season. dark
Sharangovich was struggling for most of the year, but don’t discount how much Bratt means to him. They actually have even better numbers together than Hughes and Sharangovich. These three have amazing chemistry, and the Devils have enough talent at the forward position to afford to keep them together. The Devils would be smart to keep the top line together and work around it to make the other three lines work.