The New Jersey Devils announced that center Nico Hischier is sidelined as day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
#NJDevils Nico Hischier officially out with an upper-body injury.
He’s considered day-to-day.— Amanda Stein (@amandacstein) March 4, 2019
Nico Hischier Injured
Hischier played 11:04 and left at 7:21 of the third period with an undisclosed upper-body injury.
So far this season, Hischier has scored 17 goals and 27 assists for 44 points to go along with 26 minutes in penalties. His possession numbers were 50.5 percent Corsi and a relative Corsi of 5.1.
Over his two-year NHL career, Hischier has played for the New Jersey Devils. He has 37 goals and 59 assists for 96 career points in 144 career games. He was originally drafted by the New Jersey Devils in the 1st round 1st overall in the 2017 NHL draft.
Hischier’s status was just updated by Amanda Stein who covers the Devils. It looks like he may be able to play tomorrow night against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
⚠️ Nico Hischier and Sami Vatanen are considered possibilities to play for #NJDevils tomorrow versus Columbus.
So is Stefan Noesen.
— Amanda Stein (@amandacstein) March 4, 2019
What This Means for the Future
The 20-year-old center has been an integral member of the Devils since being drafted. In his rookie season, he contributed 52 points including 20 goals in 82 games.
This season he is not slowing down and is on pace for 71 points. He is really going to be needed in the lineup if the Devils intend to be a playoff team next season.
They are currently pretty much on the outside looking in for the playoffs this season. As of this writing, they trail the last wild-card team, the Montreal Canadiens by 19 points with just 16 games remaining.
They have a 25-33-8 for 58 points. They are currently on a three-game losing streak. The Devils’ demise has been their defense. They allow 3.33 goals a game ranking them 27th in the league.
Their offense is less than powerful with a 2.83 goals for per game putting them 20th in that category. The special teams are not bad which is a head-scratcher as to why they aren’t playing better. The power play ranks 19th with an 18 percent success ratio. The penalty kill is actually quite good coming in 4th with a respectable 83.3 percent.
So, it’s vital that their second-leading scorer Nico Hischier is healthy and can be out on the ice helping his team collect W’s.
It just hasn’t happened enough this season and thus the results are not attractive.
There’s always next season.
