The integrator’s name is Jesper Bratt

Jesper Bratt turns 26 in late July. I think he will consider the 2023-24 season a failure because New Jersey Devils Missed the playoffs. But if he thinks it’s a success, then he has every right to do so. Because he’s right. Of all the real problems the Devils had last season, Jesper Bratt was the least of them. We named Blatt the MVP of this season. He exceeded his first year’s goals. His current contract Scored a career-high 83 points in 82 games. The NHL website listed the top 20 left wingers, but it didn’t include the Devils winger. This article is not a rejection of the list, but a praise for the winger’s performance and a good reason to recognize certain points.

Jesper Blatt has been a scoring machine for the Devils. While his scoring totals were around 30 points in his first three seasons and his fourth season was shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic, Blatt burst onto the scene in 2021-22. His minutes increased significantly, his field goal percentage nearly doubled his career high, and his scoring total of 73 points more than doubled his career high. This is how he ended his transition contract. Blatt signed a one-year contract to avoid an arbitration hearing for the 2022-23 season. This was interpreted as Blatt betting $5.45 million – a number I’m sure Dawson Mercer and his agent knew. He scored 73 points again. The only downside to that game was a mediocre playoff performance. (The overtime in Game 3 certainly wasn’t, but his performance overall wasn’t what you and I would have expected) Blatt will still get paid in the 2023 offseason Blatt signed an 8-year, $63 million contract with the team. The first season of this contract was last season, in which he scored a career-high 83 points. In the past three seasons, Blatt can be said to be in his prime in terms of age. The winger scored 85 goals and 144 assists in 240 games, with a total of 229 points.

A lot? Yes. This is where some perspective comes into play. First, Only 30 players in the entire NHL have scored more than 229 points Over the past three seasons. That number puts Blatt ahead of the likes of Brady Tkachuk, John Tavares, Filip Forsberg, Zach Hyman, Anze Kopitar, Brad Marchand, Jonathan Huberdeau, Carter Verhaeger, Claude Giroud, Jonathan Marchesseau and Evgeni Malkin. It’s also a number that no New Jersey Devils player has surpassed over the past three seasons. Big man Jack Hughes put up 229 points (96 goals, 133 assists) in 189 games. Impressive – but not more than Blatt. The point is that Blatt really is a scoring machine.

If we filter out position, this number becomes even more unique. On NHL.com, Blatt is listed as a left winger. Among left winger, Blatt ranks ninth in the entire league in total points from 2021-22 to 2023-24. This is a bit of an odd filter, since Blatt was often ranked right wing for the Devils. If we were to compare him to other right wingers, he would be ranked sixth – Ahead of Clayton Keller but well behind William Nylander. Scoring may not be everything, but for a scoring winger, scoring means a lot. Scoring is one of the hardest things an NHL player can do, but also one of the most valuable. Based on what Blatt does on the ice, his scoring means he is among the top scoring winger.

Blatt’s performance over the past three seasons is even more impressive if we only look at 5-on-5 performances. We can easily do that here at Natural Stat Trick. There is value in performing well in hockey’s most common situations, and that’s where Blatt shines relative to the rest of the league. He accounted for 57 of his 85 goals and 86 of his 144 assists at five-on-five for a total of 143 points. That’s 14th in the entire league regardless of position. Blatt is slightly above Kirill Kaprizov, Brayden Pointer, William Nylander, and all the other players I mentioned in the last two paragraphs. The 13 players ahead of him are all NHL Hall of Famers — as are several behind Blatt. And, again, no Devils player has come close to his 143 points at 5-on-5. Nico Hischel and Big Trade have 126 and 121 points, respectively, over the past three seasons. Great, but still behind 63rd. Blatt’s performance is far more impressive than he seems to get credit for. You could even call it elite.

This brings me to the larger question of perspective. When you or I point out that someone is top 10 in the entire NHL in something, we assume that player is elite. Maybe at the time, but it quickly becomes clear. Last season, the league ranked 24th in pointsnot so much. To understand how awesome that is, we have to understand that there were 924 skaters across the league who were on the ice for at least one second last season. Or, for the last three seasons, 1,255 skaters combined. Knowing that helps to understand that being 24th out of 924 skaters, or 31st out of 1,255 skaters, is truly remarkable.

Or, if you know how many players in the league actually played this season (or on their team), you can tell what percentage a player is in. With 924 players in the league, any player ranked 9th or higher would be in the top 1%. A player ranked 18th or higher would be in the top 2%. And so on. Blatt ranked 24th, which puts him in the top 3% of all players. A 31st ranking in scoring over those three seasons puts Blatt in the top 2%. Again, you could even call that elite.

(Considering Blatt’s salary cap is $7.875 million Ranked in the top 10% of NHL players according to PuckPediathen this is an easy way to prove that Blatter is at least performing at the level specified in his contract, if not above.)

There is another approach, which I have used before in this post: comparison with other people. Most important people would agree that when Brad “Rat-Faced Thug” Marchand is not throwing elbows to the head, he plays hockey pretty well (e.g.: one, two, three). He scores a lot and is good at 5-on-5. So if I point out that Jesper Bratt is better than Marchand and Also good at 5 on 5 gamesthen you know Blatt is at that level. Even without quoting numbers or making charts, you know Blatt is at least better than or similar to that player in terms of production. Again, production isn’t everything (Kopitar’s value, for example, is in being a dominant three-zone player and scorer), but it means a lot to Blatt and many other players on this end of the scoring chart. This also brings up some interesting points. For example, Blatt is higher on the scoring chart than Matthew’s less successful brother, Brady Tkachuk, For a slightly smaller capital shock.

That being said. Why aren’t people excited about Jesper Bratt? The fact is, he’s one of the highest scoring wingers in the entire NHL. Alas, excitement is a feeling, and feelings don’t matter. I can think of a few reasons why this might be the case.

• For the important ones, they may still be worried or anxious about his poor performance in the 2023 playoffs when the scoring winger doesn’t score many points. He can perform well in the regular season, but what about the playoffs?
• For many others, they might point to the lack of playoff appearances. That’s not Blatt’s fault alone. He made one (1) playoff appearance in 2018, then 12 in 2023. Despite the talent the Devils have accumulated, they haven’t made the playoffs at all in five of Blatt’s seven seasons in the league. (Five of the seven when Hisschel joined, four of the five when he joined via a big trade, etc.) It’s hard to get players excited when the team isn’t even in the top half of the league. RELATED: Tom Fitzgerald real The team needs to make the playoffs in the 2024-25 season.
• Additionally, other Devils players were considered stars, making it harder for #63 to take the spotlight. The Big Deal and Luke Hughes have made the cover of EA SPORTS’ NHL series. The team relies on Professor Dougie D. Admin Dougie Hamilton runs his own promotions. Nico Hischier has Advertising for his native Switzerland. There is a limit to the amount of attention you can get.
• He’s just not big enough, not strong enough, not North American enough, not tall enough, and other traits that I find ridiculous, but some hockey fans still cling to Cherry’s style. Bratt may have more points on the scoring charts, but Brady Tkachuk is bigger, so to some, that’s better in some way.

despite this, Similar to the article I wrote earlier this summer about Jack Hughesit is better to appreciate the player for what he is, rather than wishing he could be something he is not. Blatt is a high-scoring winger. He Clip back Clip back Clip A lot of goals. He will get a big contract soon. Jesper Blatter is a great winger. He is a scoring machine. Thank you for reading.