New Jersey Devils: Yegor Sharangovich Has Been A Bright Spot On A Dark Year
2021-22 has mostly been a disaster for the New Jersey Devils. Nothing has gone right including bouts with COVID-19, injuries, and iffy performances from pretty much every goalie. There have been some nice things like the emergence of Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, and Jesper Bratt.
However, we have expected this from those guys for a while now. One guy that has come out of nowhere over the last two seasons has been Yegor Sharangovich. Before the 2020-21 season began, he dominated overseas during the pandemic and earned his chance in the NHL.
His rookie year was fantastic as he scored 16 goals and had 14 assists for 30 points in 54 games played. That was a really nice year for him which made it clear that the Devils might have a really nice top-six forward on the squad now.
Things didn’t start off that great for him in this sophomore season of his. It took him a hot minute to get going but he has and then some. He just scored his 20th goal of the season against the New York Rangers on Tuesday which was really cool to see.
Yegor Sharangovich has had a really nice year for the New Jersey Devils.
Sharangovich is now one of three New Jersey Devils players (Bratt, Hughes) to have 20 on the season. Nico Hischier has 19 and will reach that plateau as well to round out the top four. The rookie Dawson Mercer has an outside chance of reaching 20 as he currently sits at 16.
For a bad season, Sharangovich has been one of the bright spots. He even showed on Tuesday that he is willing to step up and put himself on the line to defend a teammate. After his penalties were through, he did not come back which is a bit of a concern but he should be fine.
His rookie year clearly wasn’t a fluke as he can be a guy that continues to score lots of goals. How high he can take his totals remains to be seen but his floor is still a really nice NHL goal scorer as he has shown now over the past few years.
If he starts off better next year, we could see even better numbers. The nice thing about him is that he never gives up on a play. He works hard which is why he can score goals in many different ways which is nice for the team’s roster construction.
Related Story. Jack Hughes is officially done for the season. light
Speaking of roster construction, Sharangovich has shown that he can play with both Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier as a centerman. His loving term role with the team is still to be decided as there are more wingers to think about but he will be in the mix for sure. When looking back at this dreadful season, he will be someone to smile thinking about.