New Jersey Devils Franchise Record For Points Will Be Broken This Season
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.
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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.
Nico Hischier
The captain has been awesome this season. There are a lot of adjectives we could use for his first 14 games. He scored 17 points and is on pace for 98 points this season. That makes him the second player on the team who’s on pace to break Elias’ record. It shows the level of offense this team is bringing to the table on a nightly basis.
Hischier has been much more consistent than Bratt in terms of point production. Hischier was kept off the scoresheet in just three games this season. One of those games was the home opener, where it’s clear he learned a lot of lessons. He had five points over the next two games, and he really hasn’t stopped scoring since.
Hischier leads the team with eight goals this season. He’s tied with Dougie Hamilton to lead the team in power play goals. He has three game-winning goals, leading the team and tied for the league lead. Hischier has been doing this while also playing great on the defensive side.
That’s the only issue with Hischier on this list. He is going to be getting a lot of defensive responsibilities. Eventually, Ruff will be leaning on the Jack Hughes line when they need a goal. Meanwhile, Hischier will spend plenty of minutes trying to stop others from scoring. According to Natural Stat Trick, he has 28 minutes on the PK. That will take away from his time in the offensive zone.
Jack Hughes
This one might seem unlikely right now, but we’re really not that far off. After scoring a ridiculous goal against the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday night, Hughes has 15 points in 15 games. This is despite the fact that he’s been incredibly unlucky. While luck isn’t something analytics tracks, we can see the chances and use the eye test on Erik Haula’s voodoo doll to see Hughes should have more points than he does.
Hughes is second on the team in total high-danger chances. The only player ahead of him is Dougie Hamilton, and that’s because he has played a lot more minutes than Hughes. Hughes has been on the ice for 68 high-danger chances and only faced 31. Despite that, he’s been on the ice for 14 goals and 11 goals against at 5v5. To compare, Bratt has been on the ice for 16 goals for and 6 against.
The numbers are going to even out for Hughes. He already has a point per game, putting him on pace for 82 this season. With a little more luck, he could easily break the Devils points record. If Hughes gets seven points in the next three games (something he’s done before), he will increase his points pace to 100 on the season.
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Hughes still feels like the most likely candidate to break the Devils’ points record. He might be behind right now, but eventually, he will take over from Bratt and Hischier. Either way, the race to 97 is on.