FEATURE: Bratt Back Home in Sweden

Jesper Bratt's experience of the past few months looked a little different than the experience of living in North America.

As soon as the NHL permitted players to return to their off-season homes, Bratt made his way back to his native Sweden.

Unlike many places around the world, Sweden elected to approach the pandemic without largely shutting down business. Cafes, bars, and restaurants have remained open through the last few months, as did hockey arenas.

"The restriction has been a little different here," Bratt explained, answering questions from Devils Black and Red members, "compared to New Jersey that I've been following too, and I know [New Jersey] has been in quarantine, they've been pretty strict about the restrictions, but it's been okay here. A few local rinks around my area has been open for a few people. They're not letting more than 10 or 20 people in the arena at the same time.

"They've been closed for a couple hours, when they actually let me be there and skate. So, the rink where I play, they've been technically closed from eight in the morning to 2pm where do you let me go there and skate, and I had a coach with a couple other NHL guys there."

The access doesn't stop with ice availability, as Bratt mentions he and several other NHLers have access to hotel gyms where they are welcome to work out and are under strict sanitation rules.

"I think for me back home here in Sweden has been way easier than for you guys there in North America," he admits.

The 21-year-old had been working over the last few months as if a return to play would be imminent, for Bratt that won't happen with the Devils not part of the 24-team Return to Play format the league and Players Association are hoping to progress with. Instead, Bratt has shifted his mentality to embrace what will be a tremendously long off-season and focus on the positives that may come out of it.

"I'm trying to see the positive part," Bratt assured, "and for me, I see this part here as a long process that's going to be good for me - to have a long offseason, building up my strength, my speed and my conditioning - everything. I really see this as a huge opportunity for me to take the next step and be an even better player when I come back to the ice."

While this current off-season will be unlike any ever experienced for any professional athlete, Bratt thinks back to his first off-season from the NHL as a source of

He remembers in his first season, hitting a wall around Christmas time, new to the North American game, the demanding travel schedule, and an 82-game schedule. The so called 'wall' was something that he never wanted to hit again and took it upon himself to address the situation with one of his coaches in Sweden, Andreas Ohgren. After Jesper's rookie year, Ohgren and Bratt put together a workout plan for off-days and day-before game days to help maintain his muscle mass. Bratt has found it so effective, he recently onboarded his friend Pavel Zacha to do the same. It's where he now has his focus, as he enters an official off-season.

"Right now it's a little different preparing because we don't really know for how long and [when] the next game is going to be," Bratt said, "So for now, I'm just trying to focus on every day, to keep focusing on all my off-ice goals that I have for this summer. And to make sure that I'm in the best shape possible when I come back to play.

"There's for sure a longer time than usual until we play next game, so it's a little harder but because I've been skating since I got home from New Jersey, so I'm for sure going to try to take a little break off the ice and refresh and reload to make sure that I'm in my in my best shape when I come back."

It's uncertain when that time will be, but in the meantime, Bratt is getting in family-time that he hasn't had in his three years living in North America. He's back home living with his parents, Conny and Karin, and his younger 18-year-old brother Filip. It's extended family time for the Bratt's, who normally spend Christmas all together in New Jersey. This time, they're going on two-plus months since Jesper returned.

"Yeah, it was weird," he said of the unexpected trip home, "I got back here, and I remember leaving New Jersey, it was sunny and warm. And I came back here, and I had to bring back the winter coat."

The Scandinavian country sees little light in the wintertime, an estimated five and a half hours of daylight each day.

Jesper returned home on March 25.

"It was it got dark around three 3pm here so it was definitely pretty weird," he recalled, "And it was, it was probably a month and a half with a winter jacket on, it was pretty cold but [there is] some sun starting to come out here now and the weather is actually pretty good."