New Jersey Devils: 3 Biggest Surprises Of The Season

Every NHL team has now played 20 games this season, so we are starting to get a better understanding of what to expect from them moving forward. There have been certain players who have been big surprises thus far and it feels fair to shine a light on them. In this series, we will be looking at two from each team who certainly can be classified as that.

In this piece, we will be looking at the New Jersey Devils. Although they have a 10-11-5 record, they are a very entertaining team to watch and appear to be on the rise. These two players have been primary reasons for their successful moments, so they deserve to be discussed.

Andreas Johnsson: After a disastrous first season with the Devils, Andreas Johnsson is now one of the team's most dangerous scorers. In 26 games thus far, he has a team-leading nine goals and 19 points, which is good for second on the team. When the Devils acquired him from the Toronto Maple Leafs before the start of the 2020-21 season, he was viewed as a potential middle-six option. Yet, right now he's playing like a true top-six winger and it will be interesting to see if he can continue to perform this well from here.

Jesper Bratt: Now, let's look at the team leader in points. Jesper Bratt is playing ridiculously this season, as he has eight goals and 24 points in 26 games. Thus, he is nearly a point-per-game player and appears to be taking that next big step in his development. Although this is his fifth season with the Devils already, he is still just 23 years old. Although he did have a solid 30 points in 46 games last season, it's fair to say that not too many people would have expected this high of production heading into this campaign.

Dawson Mercer: It feels criminal not to discuss how wonderfully rookie Dawson Mercer is playing, so we'll be adding a third player for Jersey. In 26 games, he has seven goals and 15 points. The 18th overall pick of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft may end up being a complete steal. It'll be fun to see how he performs from here.