Jesper Bratt has been somewhat of a controversial figure for the New Jersey Devils. His numbers are remarkable, good for at least 70 points every season. At his peak, he’s a point-per-game player. The 28-year-old winger had a “down” year last year, which ended with 71 points.
Because of Bratt’s consistency, it has him climbing the Devils’ ranks in many different categories.
The Devils of yore were not considered the most offensive team. Even great offensive players would come and go. The Devils have some of the best offensive players of the 1990s once play for their franchise, including Hall of Famers Alexander Mogilny, Brendan Shanahan, Scott Niedermayer, Joe Nieuwendyk, and Doug Gilmour. Of course, most of these players had their best seasons outside of New Jersey.
That leaves the door open for someone like Bratt to climb up the all-time lists. As we stand right now, Bratt is eighth all-time in goals with 172, seventh in assists per game with 0.55, and third all-time in expected +/-. However, the most impressive feat is that he’s already in the top five all-time for points.
Jesper Bratt is about to join elite company with the New Jersey Devils
Bratt is ahead of some all-time greats, such as Claude Lemieux, Scott Gomez, Scott Niedermayer, and Bobby Holik. This season, even if he were to just get his floor of 70 points, he would pass both Travis Zajac and Kirk Muller for third all-time. He would be sitting at 588 points.
As of this writing, Bratt is already at the halfway point to passing Patrik Elias for the all-time points record in franchise history. At his age and ability to stay healthy, he should pass the Devils superstar two-way forward sometime in the next 10 years. Of course, Bratt would need to stay on the Devils’ roster for that to stay true, but he still has five years left on a very reasonable contract, and Sunny Mehta already proved he has the ability to re-sign his stars.
Mehta, of course, has a special connection with Bratt, pounding the table for him at the 2016 NHL Draft. The Devils eventually took him in the sixth-round, and now he might become the franchise’s all-time leading scorer.
Jesper Bratt is going to remain a star on this franchise, and his output could get even better
Bratt has been a star with the Devils for a while, but the impact he’s had on this franchise is immense. Despite a fanbase that doesn’t seem to know how to appreciate him, he’s going to go down in the record books as one of the best offensive players this team has ever seen.
His ability to create offense at a superstar clip is the perfect compliment to Jack Hughes. If they are able to activate someone like Arseny Gritsyuk or Anthony Mantha this season, his numbers could skyrocket. Bratt has been doing this with the likes of Ondrej Palat on his other wing.
It’s going to be a fun season if the memories match the moments. Bratt passing Zajac for third all-time should be something the team celebrates as a high honor.
Add us as a preferred source on Google