NHL Team Profiles: New Jersey Devils

As it currently stands, the New Jersey Devils are one of the teams dominating in the East. Their number one competition this season is the Boston Bruins and although the NHL odds might be in the Bruins’ favor, the stats show that the Devil is in the details.

So far the team has scored 39 points over which is the highest number of any division, and it’s all due to the amazing players below.

Top Goal Scorers

This season the top goal scorers are Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt, and Yegor Sharangovich.

All but Hischier have played in 23 games out of 24, while Nico has played 22. However, Nico Hischier is the second-highest scorer on the team, having netted 10 goals this season so far. 

Bratt and Sharangovich come in joint third place, having scored 8 each. 

Jack Hughes is the current top scorer with 12 goals under his belt. He is one of the youngest players on the team at only 21 years old, and yet this center is dominating the ice.

Jesper Bratt shouldn’t be ignored either, as this 8-goal scorer is actually a left wing player. He is the only Left Wing player to make a decent amount of goals as the other top 4 are all centers.

Granted, left wings are the most likely to score overall, but the New Jersey Devils have created a new strategy this year which has been working well for them. The aim? Use the centers to loop through any open spaces. 

Top Saver

The New Jersey Devils currently have 3 goalies on their roster. They Are Akira Schmid, Vitek Vanecek, and MacKenzie Blackwood.

One reason why the New Jersey Devils are doing so well this season is due to this amazing trio. MacKenzie Blackwood is currently the worst-performing goalie on the team, with a save percentage of 88%. Blackwood only lets in an average of 2.79 goals a game.

The top saver on the team is Akira Schmid. He has a saving percentage of 95%, with an average of 1.24 goals a game. 

A critical reader will see that tricky number 4 and question the merit of Schmid, and you’re right. Seeing as he has only played in 4 games, we have to take his high percentage with a pinch of salt. 

So, now it’s time to look at our dark horse of the New Jersey goalies – Vitek Vanecek. Vanecek has a saving percentage of 92%. He has maintained that high percentage through 15 games having allowed 29 goals to come through and saved 377. This means he has allowed 2.11 goals per game.

Vanecek is basically a wall for the team, preventing their opponents from breaking through the barrier as his high-scoring partners claim goal after goal.

It’s this combination of high scorers and strong defense which is allowing the New Jersey Devils to fly!

Strongest Assisting Players

The players who have created the best-assisting shots may sound familiar. They are Jesper Bratt, Nico Hischier, Jack Hughes, and Dougie Hamilton.

Bratt, Hughes, and Hischier we have spoken about before, but Hamilton is new to this little profile.

Jack Hughes is a center player, while Dougie Hamilton is a defensive man.

Hughes has only had 19:00 minutes on the ice per game, however, in that time he has assisted the team 14 times helping him gather 26 points for the Devils.

Hamilton has had more time on the ice with 21:46 per game. He has scored 6 times, earned 16 points, and assisted 10 times.

Hamilton is our highest-scoring defensive player and has made 6 power play assists so far.

Bratt is our number one assisting player for the team, having assisted the team 18 times to wrap up 26 points, 7 of which were power plays.

Nico Hischier is creeping up behind Bratt with 15 assists, earning 25 points while only two of the assists were power plays.

Highest Point Scorer

In joint first place, left wing Jesper Bratt and center player Jack Hughes have both earned 26 points for the New Jersey Devils.

In close second place is Nico Hischier with 25 points. 4th place is a 9-point dip to Dougie Hamilton who still has an impressive 16 points to his name.

New Jersey Devils To Watch Out For

The team as a whole has made an impressive show for us hockey fans this season. They have created new strategies, paired up fantastic players, and are working together in one fluid motion.

The most important players on this team are Jesper Bratt, Jack Hughes, and Nico Hischier. This trio is the make and break of the New Jersey Devils and if one of them gets injured the whole team may falter.

Summary

The New Jersey Devils have taken the ice by storm this year. They have a strong defensive team, a powerful attacking team, and a center squad that seems to be everywhere all at once.

However, if an injury takes out the magical trio then the Devils might fall from grace.