New Jersey Devils: Which Line Is Best For Jesper Bratt?

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.