Deep-Diving How Jesper Bratt Plays the Game

The first part of a many-part series deep-diving how each Devils player plays the game of hockey.

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With the Devils seemingly at a standstill until Luke Hughes gets signed, I thought it would be a fun exercise to take stock of what the Devils already have and detail how, exactly, their roster plays the game on an individual level.

Sure, systems play a part in how the team functions as a whole, but each player has individual strengths and playstyles that remain unchanged through systemic differences, and great coaches allow their players to play to those strengths.

First up is Jesper Bratt, who is and has been one of my favorite players since he entered the league in 2017-18. His pass-first style of hockey overshadows the fact that he’s still an above-average shooter, and he largely relies on footwork and deception to get the job done on a fundamental level.

Without further ado, let’s get into it:

Skating

The first attribute within Bratt’s game that most will notice is his freakish skating ability, and it’s one of two main driving forces behind what makes him such a threat on the ice.

Bratt’s straight-line speed is decent enough — he ranked in the 70th percentile among forwards in terms of top speed at 22.68 mph, as compared to the league average of 22.18. What’s more impressive, though, is his explosiveness.

Bratt ranked in the 91st percentile in speed bursts of 20+ mph, logging 174 of these charges as compared to the league average of 76.5. He also ranked in the 92nd percentile of forwards for speed bursts of 22+ mph; whereas the average NHL forward only surpassed that threshold 3.7 times in 2024-25, Bratt did so 12 times.

It seems like every movement he makes is at Mach-10, and that’s supported by the NHL’s tracked data on NHL EDGE. Operating between 18-20 mph is commonplace in the league, particularly from forwards who are expected to be the facilitators of transitional play, and that’s supported by the fact that the mean number of 18-20 mph bursts among forwards last season was 325.6. Quite a lot, right? Bratt, though, nearly doubled that

One of the most impressive parts of Bratt’s skating game, to me, has been his ability to stop and start. During transitional plays, cutbacks to a standstill are commonplace for the now-26-year-old. He’ll rush through the neutral zone with possession, drawing close-knit coverage to his locale before stopping on a dime and sending the covering defender flying past him. This opens up a plethora of opportunities, because 1) Bratt now lost the coverage directly impacting him, and 2) the defender covering other players is now forced to steer towards Bratt because of the gap in coverage. It’s a beautiful thing to see, and commonplace in his game.

Edgework

As elite as the acceleration and top-end speed are, the real showcase in terms of Bratt’s skating aptitude is his edgework.

Bratt’s constant shiftiness and direction changes keep defenders constantly on their toes, allowing him to create gaps in coverage that otherwise wouldn’t be there. One move that he brings out with semi-regularity in terms of skating is opening up his hips and feet to a 10-2 posture to get defenders off-balance. Below are two examples of what I’m talking about — keep a close eye on his feet:

With these examples, Bratt’s open hips create some hesitation with the coverage, allowing him to slip by while baiting movement from the defenders. That allows him to either continue his skating path toward the net or opens up a gap that is easily exploited by the savvy winger.

Another Bratt-ism is a lightning-quick direction change, swiveling his lower body to draw and promptly lose coverage. Drawing defenders in is a talent in and of itself and allows for opportunities that otherwise wouldn’t be there to open up, but sending them in the opposite direction of where he plans on going in order to either draw in another defender or create a semi-odd-man opportunity is a whole other level of elite. This assist against the Anaheim Ducks is a prime example of what I’m talking about:

To me, straight-line speed is all fine and well, but the true hallmark of a top-end skater is how he is able to manipulate the defense through edgework and shiftiness. Take Jeff Skinner as an example — Skinner is an abysmal skater in terms of speed, but he is able to create gaps in coverage through his pristine edgework and subtleties within his skating mechanics. Bratt is like this, but to the nth degree; comparing the two is like comparing a kid’s sketchbook to the Sistine Chapel.

This combination of supreme edgework and high-end straight-line speed makes Bratt a demon in transition and one of the most dangerous players in the league through the neutral zone. From the defensive zone through to an offensive-zone possession, Bratt enjoys carrying the puck on his stick through the entire process, and for good reason. This skill is exacerbated by playing alongside Jack Hughes, one of, if not the best, transition players in the NHL, making it an impossible duo to stop through center ice.

Playmaking

The other aspect of Bratt’s toolkit that makes him a legitimate game-breaker is his playmaking chops.

I’ve always been impressed by his ability to truly slow the game down and take in what is happening on the ice with extreme poise. Bratt scans the ice ultra-quickly, reading plays that can happen immediately and plays that he can bait into fruition.

via AllThreeZones

Unsurprisingly, no player on the Devils logged more primary shot assists — passes leading directly to shot attempts — than Jesper Bratt on a per-60 basis in 2024-25. In fact, only nine players in the entire NHL logged more than him. This puts him ahead of league-renowned playmakers Mitch Marner, Artemi Panarin, and Aleksander Barkov. Bratt also led New Jersey in scoring chance assists — passes leading directly to scoring chances — on a per 60 basis, too, besting Marner, Panarin, and Barkov yet again in this regard (as well as practically every other NHLer).

As a result of these primary passing accolades, Bratt finished 2024-25 13th in primary assists per 60 minutes in the NHL among forwards with at least 300 minutes played, ahead of the likes of Nathan MacKinnon and Leon Draisaitl. Not too shabby, I’d say.

Beyond the astronomical IQ, Bratt possesses the passing ability to make these plays come to life. He’s an expert in high-danger, high-difficulty passes, executing dangerous passes that practically no other player in the league can execute. This pass, a barely-looked-at saucer from the blue line to the inner slot, was one of my favorite highlights from this past season:

This innate ability to scan the ice and identify high-danger opportunities is commonplace within Bratt’s game, consistently finding the right player to pass to in all situations without the need to take a step back and let the defense settle into position:

Another key ingredient to Bratt’s facilitation skills comes with quick cuts to the interior of the ice and no-look, short-distance drop passes. It might sound like a niche play, but the reality is that this happens at least once, if not more, every game. Bratt uses the combination of his freakish stop-start abilities and his superstar-level edges to make an innocuous-seeming play dangerous, driving to the slot himself with a quick cutback before leaving the puck for a teammate who is crossing paths behind him. Take a look at what I’m talking about below:

Between his skating and passing abilities, Bratt is a true game-breaker in every sense of the word. His utility as a player lies primarily in his playmaking talent, and while there have been some arguments as to his effectiveness as a player because of his penchant for passing over shooting, those arguments lie in a fundamental misunderstanding of different playstyles and playing into an individual’s strengths.

Shooting

This isn’t to say that his shot isn’t great when utilized, though. While his skating and passing abilities are the two best attributes within his toolkit, Bratt’s clinical shot deserves a shoutout, too.

He’s surpassed the 20-goal mark in four straight seasons, logging as many as 32 in a single campaign. His shot volume took a hit this past season because of his primary deployment alongside volume shooter Jack Hughes and Sheldon Keefe’s system — one that prioritizes a balanced offense instead of primarily focusing on rush opportunities — but the reality is that he still shoots at an above-average clip, volume-wise.

His 180 shots on goal, which average out to 2.22 shots per game, were the lowest in the past four seasons for the Swede, and the lowest on a per-game basis since 2019-20. I would imagine that settling into the new system will have a positive outlook on his shot volume, but again, he still shot above average from a volume perspective this past season.

Bratt is more of a clinician than a volume shooter, though, for sure, relying more on accuracy than shooting often. Disregarding two outlier seasons in which Bratt shot sub-10-percent, his career numbers have him putting 13.0% of his shots in the back of the net, an above-average mark relative to the rest of the league.

Even beyond his deceptive, zippy release on wrist shots and quick-triggered-and-surprisingly-often-used one-timer, Bratt uses deception in his body language to get the job done when he has time and space to shoot the puck and isn’t solely relying on accuracy and reaction time for a play.

This is particularly evident in his breakaway opportunities, which allow viewers to really zero in on the habits that are used on most of his shot opportunities. The sequence below is a great example:

In that clip, you can watch him deceive the goalie with a few different moves: 1) the leg kick, baiting the goaltender into thinking that he’s shooting the puck earlier than he actually is; 2) the toe-drag during the leg pump, again signaling to the goalie that he’s going to shoot (even though he didn’t); 3) head fakes in order to draw the goalie to a different part of the goal than he intends on driving toward; 4) quick-handed left-right dekes with pauses; and 5) footwork to mirror his hands and really sell the idea that he’s moving in a direction that he isn’t.

Death, taxes, and Jesper Bratt on breakaways.

Even beyond the breakaways, though, these skills and habits are evident. Head fakes, leg kicks, patience, baiting, and savvy footwork make him a threat to score from practically all distances, especially when he has even an iota of time and space. Elite players punish when given opportunities to play to their strengths, and Bratt is no different than any other elite player in that regard.

Physicality

One part of Bratt’s game that has evolved over the seasons is his physical game. Whereas at the beginning of his career, he generally shied away from contact, using his shiftiness to his advantage instead of bulldozing his way through the offensive zone and using physicality to make plays, he now has that under his belt.

Only one player in the entire league had at least 82 points and 82 hits, and that was Bratt. Hits aren’t everything — in fact, I’d argue that hits are generally indicative of a negative trait, which is not having possession of the puck to begin with — but it does make him a dual threat in terms of playing off the rush and off the forecheck.

I won’t talk about it for too long, simply because it isn’t a huge part of his game, but the added injection of physicality Bratt has added in the past season or so has certainly generated a few more points than would have otherwise been there. If anything, the physicality and strength play a part in winning board battles, where he is able to then use his shiftiness to escape the tight coverage and generate temporary odd-man situations for him and his team to exploit.

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The Devils are lucky to have a player of Jesper Bratt’s quality and playstyle within their lineup. His skating and passing abilities make him an unstoppable playmaking force regardless of game context (playoffs or otherwise). Pair this with his generally clinical finishing abilities, evolution of physicality to win board battles, relatively young age, and incredibly team-friendly contract ($7.875 million until 2031), and there is no doubt in my mind that he will be a driving factor in why the Devils will be a successful playoff team for years to come.

If you’re not a Bratt truther, I implore you to really hone in on the expectations you have considering his playstyle. If you’re of the opinion that playmaking is just as critical to success as goal-scoring, which should be the case considering you can’t have one without the other, Bratt should be one of your favorite players on the team and widely regarded as a top-10 winger in the game. He’s elite by all measures and should be considered as such.