One very prominent hockey analyst seemingly brought up Jesper Bratt’s name out of nowhere, so we look into who the New Jersey Devils could acquire that might make fans less likely to leave.
Daily Faceoff came out on Monday and dropped a bomb on the New Jersey Devils fanbase. Frank Seravalli came out and said he “a lot of teams wonder” if Jesper Bratt is available. He said he isn’t “readily” available, but he thinks teams are asking about him. Teams should ask about Bratt. He’s finally breaking out once and for all.
At 23 years old, Bratt has 48 points in 47 games. He is scoring goals and providing good opportunities for either Jack Hughes or Nico Hischier. Both the Devils former first-overall picks are better players with Bratt on their line.
Let’s look into that for just a second. Hughes played 203 5v5 minutes with Bratt, and Hischier has played 173 minutes with him. Hughes gets a lot more chances overall and his high-danger chances are through the roof on a line with Bratt. Hischier is in the same boat. In fact, with Bratt, he gets 69 percent of the high-danger chances while he’s on the ice according to Natural Stat Trick. That would account for the best number in the league if it was full-time. Patrice Bergeron currently leads the stat with 68 percent (minimum 100 minutes played).
So basically, Bratt helps Hischier turn into Patrice Bergeron, the one player most Devils fans hope he turns into one day. See how that works?
Why the Devils would even consider this trade is beyond us, but we try to make sense of this situation. They apparently want to “shuffle the deck”. To make this move and not lose the fanbase, they need someone of serious substance in return. Which players might help the fanbase swallow this trade a little easier? And no, it doesn’t come with a spoonful of sugar.