Nico Hischier is headed back stateside to save the New Jersey Devils’ 2020.
To paraphrase legendary sports broadcaster Marc Zumoff, buckle up, New Jersey Devils fans, Nico Hischier is coming in for a landing.
… like, literally.
As you may or may not know, Hischier is a native of Brig, Switzerland, and has returned to his home country each summer since hearing his name called first overall in the 2017 NHL Draft. While this offseason probably hasn’t been a typical one – though no offseason will be as weird as his time doing mandatory Swiss civic military service in 2019 – it must have been nice to at least return to some semblance of normalcy after a bizarre end to the Devils’ regular season.
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But fear not NHL fans, even though we still technically don’t have an official word on when the 2020-21 season will open up, how many games each team will play, or how the division will be formatted, Hischier’s return is a clear sign of good things to come.
Why? Because this very well might be the year Hischier finally establishes himself as one of the league’s premier young centers.
Now granted, one could make the argument that Hischier has already accomplished that feat many times over, as the 21-year-old forward is ubiquitously featured on pretty much any 25-under-25 list worth its salt, but outside of the confines of the Garden State, he remains somewhat of an enigma.
Since bursting onto the scene as a rookie with a 20 goal, 32 assist season, Hischier has watched his stat line dip with each passing season. Though this can and should be directly correlated to an increasingly diminished number of games played, that excuse isn’t being thrown around for other, similarly drafted players like Auston Matthews, who came a non-abbreviated season away from scoring 50 goals at the tender ager of 23.
Hischier may never score 50 goals in a single season anytime soon, but he could certainly score in the 30s; giving Jersey their first 30 goal scorer since Hischier’s former linemate, Taylor Hall, put up 39 in a Devils jersey in 2017-18.
Could that happen as soon as 2020-21? Eh, probably not if the team plays sub-60 games, but he could surely return to the 50 point club without too much effort and maybe even set a new personal record if his assist totals return to the 30s.
After filling a secondary role behind Taylor Hall, Andy Greene, and Blake Coleman to start out his career, the New Jersey Devils are now unquestionably Nico Hischier’s team – whether he’s officially named a captain or not. While only time will tell just how high his ceiling is considering the unique nature of the forthcoming season, a statement year by the do-it-all center, both as a scorer and as a playmaker would go a long way to finally establishing the 21-year-old center as one of the better young stars in the NHL right now – which would be a pretty solid consolation prize for nine months and counting without Devils hockey.