New Jersey Devils 2021-22 season awards

While the season did not go as planned, there were a handful of standout performers worth highlighting.

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After each season I like to hand out major awards to the New Jersey Devil most deserving.

While this season - like almost all over the last decade - was extremely disappointing, there were still plenty of players who deserve to be highlighted; more so than most years.

Let’s get into it.

Art Ross: Jesper Bratt

Jesper Bratt slowed a little down the stretch - perhaps due to the illness he was fighting - but he was an absolute monster for much of the season.

The 23-year-old set new career highs in goals (26), assists (47) and points (73), destroying his previous bests in each category.

Bratt’s chances of claiming the award were helped by Jack Hughes dealing with multiple long-term injuries, and Nico Hischier also missing time (while spending plenty of early games with linemates like Jimmy Vesey and/or Nathan Bastian), but he still deserves plenty of credit. Leading the team in scoring wasn’t the easy handout it was a year ago.

Bratt’s production stemmed from remarkable efficiency at 5v5. Bratt averaged a whopping 2.90 points per 60 in that gamestate, ranking him 16th in the NHL.

He graded out even higher in terms of raw production. Bratt put up 50 points in that gamestate, tying him for 14th – with the likes of Jonathan Huberdeau, Nathan MacKinnon, and Jordan Kyrou. Good company.

With a little help from a half decent power play, Bratt could’ve easily averaged well over a point per game.

He’s going to get paid handsomely this summer; as he should.

Rocket Richard: Jack Hughes/Jesper Bratt

There was once again a tie for the team lead in goal scoring. Jack Hughes played 27 fewer games, though, so I’m going to focus more on him.

The growth we saw from Hughes was nothing short of remarkable. He scored only 17 goals over the first two seasons of his career and his shot drew about as much respect from opponents, and goaltenders, as mine would.

Jack spent a ton of time working on his shot last off-season and it showed. His release was quicker and yet there was a lot more torque behind each shot he took. He really developed into a legitimate shooting threat and someone you had to worry about; even from range.

Hughes looked much more confident as a shooter and, with the continued development elsewhere, was able to generate quality looks at a much higher rate.

A season ago Hughes averaged 13.57 attempts and 0.75 xG per 60 minutes of 5v5 play. Those totals were up significantly in 2021-22, with Hughes generating 17.52 attempts and 1.04 xG per 60 minutes.

That helped him net 1.28 goals/60 at 5v5, which was the exact same output as *checks notes* Alex Ovechkin.

This isn’t some cherry picked stat. Hughes was among the leaders in efficiency, scoring more often than the likes of Steven Stamkos, Jason Robertson, Nikita Kucherov, and Chris Kreider at five a side.

He is now a legitimately good finisher and can probably be relied upon to flirt with 40 moving forward.