Captain Nico Hischier is the heart of the New Jersey Devils and, after a disappointing two seasons, he's turning the page and leading the team by example, as he does, once again. Hischier, 26, earned himself a day off from practice after a three-assist, 22-minute effort against the San Jose Sharks that saw the Devils escape with a 3-1 win after some tense moments.
The playmaking has been there, as has the defense, as we all know, but the scoring chances are still coming for Hischier, too.
After potting a career-high 35 goals for the Devils last season, Hischier could find yet another level with some luck with the way he's been playing.
According to NHL Network analyst Mike Kelly and his Sportlogiq analytics model, Hischier actually leads the NHL in high-danger chances with 19. Both of the Swiss captain's two goals this season have come on those high-danger chances, though he hasn't been the most lethal when facing the net.
Alex DeBrincat is 4th in the league in high-danger scoring chances and still hasn't buried his first of the season. He's the only guy in the top-40 without a goal.
— Mike Kelly (@MikeKellyNHL) October 25, 2025
He's getting on the board tonight.
Blues vs Red Wings coming up on @FanDuelSN_DET pic.twitter.com/PaK6zLVrFv
Mika Zibanejad is second on the list with 16 high-danger chances, but he actually has more goals than Hischier. Mark Scheifele and Seth Jarvis have 15 high-danger chances, but have scored seven goals on those chances. One can expect the Devils' captain to score more goals if he continues to get chances at this rate.
That's fine, though, because it means the Devils are winning with players scoring on fewer opportunities, while Hischier is due for a positive scoring regression at some point, even while already having nine points in eight games overall.
Forwards Dawson Mercer, Cody Glass, Jesper Bratt, and Connor Brown are all scoring at a 20% clip or greater so far this season, while Hischier is sitting at 10.5% - a few notches below his career average of 13.3% and the 18.7% he had last season.
Lost in all of the scoring talk, too, is the fact that Hischier has had to match up with players like Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Kirill Kaprizov, Macklin Celebrini, Nikita Kucherov, and Auston Matthews.
According to Devils statistician Nick Cahill, McDavid, Matthews, Kucherov, and Kaprizov were limited to just two assists, six shots on goal, and a cumulative -6 rating when facing Hischier and the Devils this season.
With Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov set to the entire 2025-26 season, this could be the dominant run that finally sees Hischier win his first Frank J. Selke Trophy for the New Jersey Devils.