The New Jersey Devils have been struggling since the Christmas Break. While the Devils are still in third place in the Metro Division, the injury bug has again hit this team. It is the same old story with the Devils. It seems like their season gets derailed because of injuries. And those injuries happen to the wrong players like Nico Hischier and Jacob Markstrom.
The Devils have the goaltending depth to tread water until Markstrom gets back with Jake Allen and Nico Daws, but down the middle at the center position, it’s a different story. Nico Hischier is the heart and soul of the Devils. He is the captain because of his work ethic and commitment to playing a two-way game. New Jersey knew they had a gem in Hischier when they took him number one overall in the 2017 NHL Draft.
Injuries Starting to Pile Up for the New Jersey Devils
However, every time Hischier is out of the lineup, the Devils always seem to struggle. Dating back to the 2018-19 season, Hischier has been out of the lineup 11 times due to injury. Since the 2022-23 season, the Devils are 5-10-0 without Hischier in the lineup. This season, with Hischier in the lineup, the Devils are 28-17-6.
According to the Devils and head coach Sheldon Keefe, Hischier has missed the last three games with an upper-body injury and is considered week-to-week. The injury occurred on January 25th against the Montreal Canadiens. Hischier appeared to injure his ribs after taking a cross-check from Canadiens forward Nick Suzuki.
Even though the Devils won that game in overtime, the damage was done to the lineup. New Jersey had nobody to replace Hischier on the top line. He is the Devils best two-way forward, playing in all aspects of the game, from the power play to the penalty kill. Not to mention, Hischier is the Devils best player in the faceoff dot. He is out there in crucial offensive and defensive zone faceoffs.
The Devils are 1-2 so far without Nico Hischier in the lineup. New Jersey lost to the Philadelphia Flyers last Monday by a score of 4-2 before shutting out the Flyers this past Wednesday by a score of 5-0. However, the Devils have been really inconsistent lately, especially defensive and that showed up in their 4-3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday.
Everyone Needs To Pump The Brakes on Quinn Hughes to the Devils Talk
The Devils spotted the Sabres, not one but two, with three-goal leads. New Jersey fell 3-0 to the Sabres in the first period and then again 4-1 in the second period. Though New Jersey rallied to make it 4-3, the defensive lapses in the first period might not have been as bad if Nico Hischier had been in the lineup.
Head coach Sheldon Keefe pointed out the defensive errors and the poor start to the game following Sunday’s loss to the Sabres.
We just don’t play with enough intelligence or purpose defensively, Keefe told the media following the game on Sunday. And if you don’t have that, it’s really hard to win consistently in the league. Even harder when you have someone out of our lineup, like we do, so that’s disappointing. It’s two out of the three games here since Nico’s gone out, and our group just has not responded with the type of play that we need to have early in games and you see what happens.
In 51 games this season for the Devils, Nico Hischier has recorded 43 points (24 goals and 19 assists) with a plus/minus of +11. He also has a faceoff-winning percentage of 55.5 percent. Not to mention, he has a shooting percentage of 17 percent. Hischier is the reason why the Devils are never out of any game.
Since becoming a two-way player, Hischier has been getting high praise, including being called the next Patrice Bergeron. Everyone knows what Bergeron did for many years with the Boston Bruins. Bergeron was one of the best two-way centers in the game, winning multiple Selke Trophies as the best defensive forward in the NHL. Hischier is already there; you can see it when he is not in the Devils lineup.
While Jack Hughes gets all the attention, Hischier is the detail-oriented player who drives the ship. When watching the Devils play recently, you can see they are missing that defensive forward who knows exactly where to be on the ice. Hischier is also in the offensive zone and knows how to pressure the puck carrier to cause turnovers.
Nico Hischier Showing Why the New Jersey Devils Are His Team
The players inside the room have to step up and realize they need to follow the captain’s lead even when he is not there. However, getting the Four Nations Faceoff break will be huge for the Devils. They have a big stretch of games before the break, with three more games against Pittsburgh, Vegas, and Montreal.
The Devils have two winnable games to give them momentum before they play Dallas after the break. New Jersey hopes Nico Hischier will be back in the Devils’ lineup by February 22nd. Ideally, they would get him back before then, but with the two-week layoff, that would allow him to rest even more. The same goes for Markstrom.
The New Jersey Devils just have to find the defensive game that made them successful in December as they try to survive without Nico Hischier for just a few games. If they can’t, the season could take a turn for the worse.
