The New Jersey Devils have something in Fabian Zetterlund

Be sure to join the Discord channel to talk hockey, and everything else, with our writers and subscribers.

---

By Alex Chauvancy (@AlexC_THW)

The New Jersey Devils' 2021-22 season has mercifully come to a close. They finished with a 27-46-9 record and lost about 11 wins due to poor goaltending.

While goaltending tanked their season, and has them set for another top-10 pick at the draft in ~two months, there are still positives to take away from the year. 

Some of those positives came throughout the whole season, such as the continued development of Jesper Bratt, Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier. But others appeared over the final month of the season when it was clear it was time to give younger players more ice time. 

One forward who caught the eye of many Devils fans was Fabian Zetterlund. He tallied a goal and an assist in Friday’s regular-season finale, bringing him to three goals and eight points in 14 games.

The Devils and general manager Tom Fitzgerald will likely look for size and scoring up front, as he hinted in yesterday's pregame show on MSG. Perhaps some of that can be provided internally from someone like Zetterlund.

In his 14 games with the Devils, Zetterlund finished with a Corsi For percentage (CF%) of 52.68 percent and expected goals percentage (xG%) of 61.75 percent.

Of all Devils skaters to log 100 minutes or more at five-on-five, his CF% and xG% ranked fourth and first, respectively. His goals above replacement of 4.9 ranked 10th on the team. The sample size is a factor, but that's still impressive nonetheless. 

With the two-point game against the Detroit Red Wings, Zetterlund finished averaging 2.96 points per 60 minutes at five-on-five, ranking first on the Devils. He was not afraid to shoot the puck during his time in the NHL as well: 

• Shots per 60: 10.71 (1st)

• Shot attempts per 60: 15.52 (3rd)

• Scoring chances per 60: 9.97 (2nd)

• High-danger chances per 60: 3.69 (8th)