The Reality Behind Devils Nico Hischier’s Hot Start

Just about a week ago, New Jersey Devils captain Nico Hischier was on pace to shatter his career high in goals (31) which accrued in the 2022-23 season. However, Hischier hasn’t scored a goal in five games now, and was never likely to sustain the pace of his hot start.

On Monday as a guest on DailyFaceoff Live, we discussed why Hischier has seen such success, but watered down the expectations of the Devils’ captain.

“Overall, I think he’s had to take a little less responsibility as a whole, just because of his linemates,” New Jersey Hockey Now explained to Tyler Yaremchuk and Colby Cohen. “He’s now playing regularly with Dawson Mercer, who does help him defensively. Timo Meier is no slouch in that department either… It’s a really strong line, both ways, and it’s helping Hischier a lot.”

After scoring at a 62-goal pace through the first 13 games of the season, Hischier’s pace has dropped significantly to a 45-goal pace as of Tuesday, and it’s likely it will fall a little lower.

Through Oct. 30th, Hischier was converting at a ridiculous 22.7 shooting percentage. That is well above his career average of 12.7%.

In fact, Hischier’s shooting percentage has already begun to regress to the mean at 20%.

The other reality? His linemates aren’t elevating him much lately. The Devils’ second line has struggled a bit, with a collective xG% of 33.7 percent the last five games. In the last five contests, Timo Meier and Dawson Mercer have each collected a goal.

The blame is partially on Hischier’s linemates for not picking up the slack, but it’s hard to point to Hischier who has already potted 10 goals and 16 points in 18 games.

The expectation is he will pick things back up at a more sustainable pace.

“[Hischier] does have a really good shot, he can be a goalscorer, and that 30-goal season he had was no fluke,” New Jersey Hockey Now continued. “So, it would not be a surprise to see him do it again. However, he was on a 63-goal pace a week ago, so I don’t think that’s going to end up the way it is, but it shouldn’t be a surprise to see him score another 30–35 goals this year.”

Fortunately, in Hischier’s cooling-off period, Jack Hughes is heating up with three goals and six points in the last five games which has helped them three wins in that span.

And although Hischier has been off the scoresheet for a handful of games now, don’t expect things to stay that way for too long.