New Jersey Devils shine bright at Olympics
Led by Jack Hughes, the team's representatives fared well on the biggest stage.
Follow along on Twitter @ToddCordell | @InfernalAccess
The New Jersey Devils had seven players represent their countries at the Olympics – and all of them were impactful.
Headlined by Jack Hughes, let’s go player by player and comb through their contributions.
Jack Hughes 🇺🇸
The golden goal is what everyone will remember but Hughes was excellent for USA throughout the entire tournament.
Hughes was dynamic as anybody, weaving his way up and down the ice while carrying the puck on a string and creating chances in bulk.
Excluding the finale, which has not yet been added to HockeyStats.com, Hughes averaged 5.4 scoring chance contributions. He managed that output despite starting out on the 4th line and playing a little over 12 minutes per night.
Nobody on USA came close to matching his efficiency – Hughes was well clear of Auston Matthews and Jake Guentzel on a per-60 basis.
Of course, all of those chances led to a lot of production. Hughes paced Team USA in goals (4) and tied Matthews for 2nd in points (7). Only his older brother, Quinn, factored in on more goals for USA.
It was a truly fantastic showing for Hughes on the biggest stage. I guess he can play in big games and make an impact!
Jesper Bratt, Jacob Markstrom 🇸🇪
Jesper Bratt didn’t make the mark he hoped on Sweden but not to the fault of his own.
For whatever reason, the coaching staff determined Bratt wasn’t one of the team’s top-12 forwards (LOL) and spent half the tournament either scratching him or having him rot on the bench as a 13th forward.
Bratt was very dangerous when he did play. He contributed to 13 chances in just over 32 minutes of ice.
Like Hughes, he created opportunities more efficiently than anybody else on the roster.
Sweden had a disappointing Olympics and didn’t create offense the way they would have hoped or expected.
It goes without saying their puzzling usage of Bratt, and Filip Forsberg, caused some self-inflicted wounds.
No. 63 wasn’t trusted to play for much of the tournament, yet when Sweden desperately needed offense against the eventual gold medal winners, Bratt was suddenly leaned on.
I’m sure Bratt was very frustrated with how things played out but it was still good to see him provide a spark in his limited minutes.
Meanwhile, teammate Jacob Markstrom was relied on to carry the mail after Filip Gustavsson went through some early struggles.
Markstrom played surprisingly well, stopping 87 of 93 shots faced to the tune of a .935 save percentage.
He only appeared in three games for Sweden but ranked 4th among goaltenders in Goals Saved Above Average (+2.09).
