Pucks and Pitchforks
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New Jersey Devils: 2023 Quarter Season Ratings

By David Holliday

Oct 13, 2023; Newark, New Jersey, USA; New Jersey Devils left wing Jesper Bratt (63) celebrates his goal with center Jack Hughes (86) against the Arizona Coyotes during the second period at Prudential Center. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 13, 2023; Newark, New Jersey, USA; New Jersey Devils left wing Jesper Bratt (63) celebrates his goal with center Jack Hughes (86) against the Arizona Coyotes during the second period at Prudential Center. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports /
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(Editor’s Note: This article was written at the 20-game mark prior to the Devils-Flyers game.)

The NHL season has now hit its quarter-season mark, and of the 82 games the Devils have got in their first 20 and currently are sitting in a disappointing spot. They are sitting closer to the bottom than the top, with a record of 10-9-1. That’s good for 6th in the division, 12th in the conference, and 21st in the league, which is a far cry from the top-five team they were last season.

Fans are disappointed for good reason. That being said, they are only one point behind the Islanders and Capitals and two behind the surprising Philadelphia Flyers as of Thursday morning. It wouldn’t take much of a run to get ahead of the ball again and they should still be a playoff team. That being said we will take a look at the players individually and once again we will note that ratings are based on where they slot in the lineup and expectations as well.

New Jersey Devils
New Jersey Devils center Nico Hischier (13) and center Jack Hughes (86): James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports /

Jack Hughes

GP: 15 G: 7 A: 19 PTS: 26
Rating: A+

Before his injury, Jack Hughes was the top point performer in the league and even though he missed multiple games, he still sits 16th overall in the league and has the highest points per game at 1.73 which is just insane. He is magic with the puck on his stick, controls the play in a way no Devils player has before, and he will be challenging for league MVP and the first Devils player to hit 100 points in a season.

Nico Hischier

GP: 9 G: 4 A: 1 PTS: 5
Rating: C

Nico Hischier has only played in half the games this season. His performance pre-injury and post-injury were just two different tales, and not in the way you see almost every time. He was slow and not generating anything at the start of the season, but since his return, he has been the catalyst that got the Devils going and looked exactly like the player we saw last year who was pushing for a point a game. More importantly, he was one of the league’s best defensive forwards, one who is also rocking a 57% win rate in the faceoff circle this season. While his rating looks bad, it is only because he had six or so bad games to start the year like a good number of players on this team. We should expect Hischier to get back to that A+ player we know he can be far before the midseason mark.

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