The New Jersey Devils have a long history of great players. While most people associate the history of the Devils with defense, there have been plenty of offensive juggernauts that called the Garden State home. Of course, there’s deserved Hall of Famer Patrik Elias, who spent his entire 20-year career in New Jersey and finished with north of 1,000 points while playing one of the best two-way games in the world.
There were a bunch of supremely skilled players, like Kirk Muller, Brendan Shanahan, Taylor Hall, and Alex Mogilny had amazing spells with the Devils. Travis Zajac and John MacLean were great during two different down times for the roster. The pairing of Zach Parise and Ilya Kovalchuk would be discussed more as one of the great ones of this era if it didn’t end so terribly. Even players like Bobby Holik, Brian Gionta, and Scott Gomez could find lightning in a bottle more often than not.
However, the Devils of today are expected to crush all of the records held by offensive stars of previous eras. Players like Nico Hischier, Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, and Timo Meier are all as skilled as any offensive player who ever wore the red and black (or the red and green).
It’s been seven years since Hischier and Bratt made the Devils out of training camp. They’ve both been getting better with age, and they now find themselves in a different hemisphere than they were earlier in their careers. Hischier has an 80 point ceiling with Selke-level defense. Bratt could legitimately hit 100 points under new head coach Sheldon Keefe.
And that brings us to the point of this article. Hischier and Bratt are eerily close to making New Jersey Devils history.
Nico Hischier and Jesper Bratt could join New Jersey Devils history this season.
Right now, Parise ranks 10th all-time in points with the Devils with 410. He played seven years in New Jersey before spurning them after heading to the Stanley Cup Final. He signed with the Minnesota Wild. He never really hit those heights again, failing to make the Final again and seeing his offensive numbers plummet due to injuries and an ineffective core.
Devils fans would love to remove Parise from the top 10 of anything New Jersey. All they need is Hischier and Bratt to stay healthy and avoid a cliff. Bratt is currently 51 points behind Parise (with Bruce Driver, Jamie Langenbrunner, and Petr Sykora ahead of him). Hischier is 57 points behind Parise.
Could both Bratt and Hischier join the top 10? As long as they have good seasons, they could knock Scott Stevens out of the top 10 as well. He has 430 career points with New Jersey, so Bratt would need 71 points (which he has broken three seasons in a row), and Hischier would need 77 points (which he broke in 22-23).
Then of course, there’s Jack Hughes. He has the record for most points in a season with 99, and if he can remain healthy, he should become the first Devils player to break 100 points. Despite starting two years after Bratt and Hischier, he’s only 72 points behind Hischier.
If Hughes gets 100 points this season (a big if), he will find himself right outside the top 15. No rush with Hughes, as most expect him to break any and all points records if he remains in New Jersey for most or all of his career.