We know how much was wasted by Tom Fitzgerald. He had Jack Hughes entering his prime, and Nico Hischier and Jesper Bratt firmly in theirs when he took over. Today, we have to have a real conversation about “primes” and when they end. Bratt is already 28 years old. Until he is over 30, primes will still be intact, but we need an uncomfortable conversation.
Bratt finished 2025-26 with 71 points, after 83 in 2023-24 and 88 the year after. He’s 28 now. He wore an Olympic sweater for Sweden, his team missed the playoffs, and he finished with a -11. If you’re the type who sees a plateau on a stat sheet, you can build the case in about ten seconds: this is who Jesper Bratt is. An elite, high-80s-ceiling winger who peaked in his mid-20s, and we should enjoy it while it lasts.
I’ll give the pessimists their due, because it’s not a dumb argument.
Bratt’s goal totals have been remarkably flat. 27, 21, 22. He’s a playmaker first, and playmakers live and die with their linemates and their power play. He set the franchise single-season assists record with 67 in 2024-25, and then watched his assists fall to 49. A drop like that is either regression to the mean or a sign that the 88 was the outlier, not the new baseline. He also plays a lot of minutes at an age where wingers start to level off.
A new chart is making us think that Bratt has hit the crescendo of his career. That doesn’t mean he’s at the top of the hill and the only place to go is down. But we do have to wonder if we’ve seen his best yet.
Jesper Bratt can still deliver for the New Jersey Devils
Bratt’s career high is just 88 points. We’ve had legitimate conversations about him hitting 100 points. That doesn’t seem likely after Bratt’s start, but we’ve seen players go on a heater and get their points in a better position. Bratt has been snake-bitten a bit with the goals, missing another empty net on Wednesday night against the Avalanche.
Now, this all comes from a post by Post Hockey, CJ Turturo’s new analytics website. It shows that Bratt’s season last year is expected to be the baseline, not the outlier. Is Bratt a 70-point player who went crazy for a few seasons?
Adding projections to player pages. Right now they're just universal aging. But working on curating by player type. pic.twitter.com/IjX2FVzzyw
— CJ Turtoro (@CJTDevil) October 29, 2026
Thinking Bratt can’t get better, especially better than last year, is a foolish approach to the Devils star. However, it might be something to discuss.
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