The New Jersey Devils have had their most up and down season in recent memory. They were one of the five best teams in the NHL heading into the Christmas break but have slowly decayed as the season went along.
Still, they will be going into the playoffs as the third seed in the Metropolitan Division. They will begin round number one on the road against the Carolina Hurricanes.
For a team that has an incredibly young core, making the playoffs is a good thing no matter how they got there. Reaching the postseason means that multiple players had a year in which they should be proud of.
Four New Jersey Devils players should find their names on ballots for NHL Awards. They may or may not end up being nominations, but they will see their name with a handful of votes at a minimum once the season is over.
Nico Hischier - Selke Trophy, Hart Trophy
New Jersey Devils captain Nico Hischier is one of the best centers in the NHL. When it comes to being a two-way guy, he is as elite as they come. That is why he should get some Selke Trophy love.
Hischier has 35 goals and 32 assists for 67 points in 73 games played. He is about as close to being a point per game player as you can ask from a player this good defensively. Reaching 35 goals is a new career high for Hischier.
For the work he's done to help lead this Devils team to the playoffs, he may even get some votes for the Hart Trophy. He actually has a chance to win the Selke, but a couple of fifth-place Hart votes this year would make sense.
It would be the first time he received any Hart votes in his NHL career. He came in second place for the Selke Trophy in 2022-23.
Jesper Bratt - Hart Trophy
Like Nico Hischier, Bratt deserves Hart Trophy love. He won't win it or even finish in the top five because of some special seasons around the league but a top-20 finish could be in line for him. A few votes are well deserved.
Bratt isn't an elite two-way center like Hischier but he is a high-octane scorer leading the Devils in scoring. He has 21 goals and 67 assists for 88 points in 79 games played. Those 67 assists are a cereer high and a Devils franchise record.
Carrying the load since Jack Hughes went down has been the pressure put on Bratt and he has done it well. His value to the team can't be overstated.