We’ve told the story of Jack Hughes’ injury so many times, both during last season and during the offseason. We’ve also told you that Jack Hughes had more points than anyone not named Connor McDavid after the Olympic break. Hughes went on a tear after scoring the Golden Goal. Did you know that the rest of the Devils went on a similar tear?
Let’s start with his linemates. Jesper Bratt, who was embroiled in his worst season since becoming a legit star player, had 30 of his 71 points in the 24 games after the break. That breaks down to 102-103 points over an 82-game season. Connor Brown had 14 points in 25 games, part of which was spent next to Hughes on his wing.
If Bratt can be that type of player that can score 100 points, then the Devils will be really scary in the Eastern Conference. Matching Hughes and Bratt with that type of production is ideal offensively for this team.
Those impacts are obvious. Hughes was on the heater of his career, so lifting his teammates up was going to happen. However, the entire lineup saw an increase in production.
Nico Hischier, who did not hit the offensive production we’re used to seeing because he was being matched up in defensive positions, had 25 points in his final 25 games of the season. His teammate, Timo Meier, had his worst season since joining New Jersey and scored 15 points in 25 games, including nine goals. Part of that was the March Meier rise in production we see every year, but the Hughes factor can’t be ignored.
Dougie Hamilton had 18 points after the break, and Luke Hughes had nine points in limited time, showing Hughes’ impact even on defense. Of course, both had power-play time alongside Jack Hughes, which only helped their offensive numbers.
The Devils were different after the Olympic break
Of course, that production led to winning on the ice. The Devils were 14-10-1 after the break. Over 82 games, that would have been 95 points,
That’s still not good enough to make the playoffs in the Eastern Conference, but it gets them closer (just three points behind the Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins).
At the end of the day, Hughes makes the Devils a playoff team. It’s that simple. Sunny Mehta has tried all offseason to build a team that isn’t entirely reliant on Hughes, but this is still a contender in the East with the best player on the team.
Add us as a preferred source on Google