Jesper Bratt has been out of this world. After breaking out last season, he’s been amongst the league leaders in points to start the year. Bratt sits alone at ninth in league with 18 points. However, he’s not the only one having a great season. This did lead to a question about Bratt’s ability to hit a number nobody has ever hit. We asked Adam Vingan of Sportsnet about the possibility Bratt could break the 100-point plateau, a number never hit by a New Jersey Devils forward.
SOTFA EP186: The Seventh Wonder Of The World? | Guest: @AdamVingan @pitchforkedpuck @PrimetimeSamWoo @nick_villano #NJDevils #NHL #AHL https://t.co/4mTAjGfudS
— Let's Go Devils Podcast (@LetsGoDevilsPOD) November 10, 2022
The Devils have come close to the 100-point plateau. Most of us remember Taylor Hall‘s great run in 2017-18. He had 93 points, but he missed six games that season. He would have had exactly 100 points if he had played every game. In 2000-01, Patrik Elias was in his second year on the A-Line. He went off for 96 points, still standing as the Devils record.
This season, someone will break the Devils’ record for points. Right now, two players are on pace, and one could go off and break it as well. Let’s look at our options.
Jesper Bratt
Jesper Bratt is leading the Devils in points this season. He has 18 points in 14 games, putting him on pace for 105 points over 82 games. That would crush the Devils’ record by nine points. Bratt has been on fire to start the year, but he’s slowed down slightly in November. He has three points in five games after scoring 15 points in October.
Bratt has been with Jack Hughes and Erik Haula, who couldn’t score if the net was empty, the goalie was on the bench, and the puck was a soccer ball. When he was scoring at a top-tier pace, he was on a line with Nico Hischier.
Hughes, Bratt, and Haula have still been incredible offensively. Bratt, Haula, and Hughes have the most minutes of any line on the team at 5v5 (time via Natural Stat Trick). In 71 minutes together, the trio has north of 62% CF%. They are dominating chances on the ice. It gets even better. They have 19 high-danger changes while only giving up six as a team. Unfortunately, they’ve only scored three goals while allowing three as a line.
Things are going to explode for this line in no time. Hughes is clearly trying to do too much, and Bratt is along for the ride. Bratt might eventually go back on a line with Hischier, or Hughes will eventually get the most out of Bratt. Either way, Bratt will continue this pace, and he could break the Devils’ points record.