Jesper Bratt was selected to Team Sweden's 4 Nations Face-Off roster and played in his 500th NHL game this week.
Jesper Bratt was selected to Team Sweden's 4 Nations Face-Off roster and played in his 500th NHL game this week.forward Jesper Bratt is 500 games into his NHL career and tied for fifth in scoring this season, accolades that might seem ho-hum until his draft position is considered — sixth round, 162nd overall in 2016. And he’s still only 26.
“Five hundred games is so far away from ,” Bratt said Friday. “I was hoping, wishing and working to play at least one game at that point. I’m obviously very thankful for the position I’m in right now. I worked my way here. I’m thankful that from the start I had the opportunity from everyone in my first couple of years. I worked hard for it.”
Bratt’s success story is not unlike players drafted higher — it often just takes time. Bratt, who never played a game in the American Hockey League, has always been one of the fastest players in the NHL with slick skating ability. But now, he’s combined those traits with offensive skills to become a dynamic forward.
Then he broke out with 76 points in the 2021-22 season. Bratt produced more than a point per game for the first time last season when he was an All-Star in the first year of an eight-year $63 million deal he signed ahead of restricted free agency. Now, he’s on pace for 105 points and making that contract look like more of a bargain. He’s been the sidekick to former No. 1 picks Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier during the Devils' 18-9-2 season.
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