The Decade Men

There are very few people who truly understand what it has meant to grow up as a New Jersey Devil.

Nico Hischier and Jesper Bratt have never had to explain it to one another.

They were there for each other at the beginning, two teenagers trying to find their place in a new league, a new city and a life that suddenly looked very different from the one they had known.

And they’ve been there for virtually everything since.

The wins and the losses. The playoff runs and the early summers. The expectations, the disappointments, the changes around them and the growing up that happened along the way.

They’ve watched each other become established NHL players. Leaders. Men.

They've been teammates through all of it, but somewhere along the way, they became something much closer to family.

“We’ve been through it all together,” Bratt said. “Literally, just me and him. We have really been kind of our own safety and comfort through all these years. We’ve always had each other.”

And now, somehow, they’ve arrived at Year 10.

By the calendar, it’s been nine years. But when your life is dictated by a sports calendar, the Gregorian calendar can start to feel a little secondary.

So welcome to the Year of the Decade: Nico Hischier and Jesper Bratt’s 10th NHL season.

When they first walked into Prudential Center, wide-eyed and full of promise, Hischier was 18 years old, Bratt was 19. They had the world in front of them and so much still to experience for the first time.

Who could have imagined that a decade later, they’d still be standing side by side, preparing for another season in New Jersey?

Still with the same belief. Still with the same hunger. Still chasing the same goal they had on Day 1.

Actually, that’s probably not entirely fair.

Because if anything, that drive — tested, challenged and strengthened by everything they have experienced together — is running on overdrive heading into No. 10.

Bratt can laugh now at just how naïve he was back then.

The Devils made the playoffs in his rookie season, and at 19 years old, he figured that was simply how this worked.

“My first year when I got in, we made it to the playoffs, and I was just right away like, ‘Oh, okay, now we made it to the playoffs, but we’ll just get better from here, and each year we’ll be in the playoffs,’” Bratt recalled. “You’re kind of naïve to understanding how extremely hard the league is.”

Nine seasons have provided that understanding.

There is so much that has changed about both of them over the last decade. They’ve grown from teenagers into leaders, from prospects into cornerstones of the franchise.

And yet, so much has stayed the same.

They remain remarkably grounded, humble and kind.

They are relentlessly competitive and, perhaps most importantly, deeply invested in what they have helped build in New Jersey.

Their relationship, too, has evolved into something that stretches far beyond the rink.

“Obviously, like a brother,” Hischier said of Bratt. “We've known each other for so long, and we really became great friends.”

It isn't always about hockey, either.

They know each other well enough to recognize when something is off. They know when to push, when to listen and when the other might simply need someone around.

“If someone is not feeling well, you know this. If he’s feeling bad, you know this,” Hischier has said. “Everything that comes through life, through the hockey together, he’s always there.”

They push one another, too.

Hischier describes Bratt as “a machine,” someone whose commitment to his craft is impossible to miss. He’s watched Bratt obsess over the details of his preparation, taking care of his body and mind while constantly searching for another area in which he can grow.

“He’s not satisfied,” Hischier said. “He keeps wanting to almost get a bit in this uncomfortable area where he can grow.”

And when one pushes, the other follows.

“The way he competes, I want to compete more,” Hischier said. “And I think the way he sees me compete… that’s how I think the team should be, very competitive going against each other in practice and just push each other. That’s how you get better.”

_This summer offered perhaps the clearest example of their bond.

When Bratt was preparing for his wedding, he was given two options.

Either just have a Best Man, or, as his wife Nicole put it, at least seven groomsmen.

There was no in-between.

They ultimately settled on just a Best Man and Maid of Honor, with Filip, Jesper’s younger brother, the obvious choice.

But Bratt wasn't about to leave some of the most important people in his life out of the moments leading up to the ceremony.

Before the wedding, Bratt gathered a select group of friends to sit down, have a glass of whiskey and, perhaps, take the edge off.

Hischier was one of them.

“For him to just be there at my wedding, he was in my group too, where we were hanging out before the ceremony,” Bratt said. “Me, him and Pav, and my closest friends from home.”

Pav, of course, is former Devil Pavel Zacha, who made up the third member of an inseparable young trio when Hischier and Bratt were first finding their way in New Jersey.

Nearly a decade later, there they were again.

Only this time, the nerves had nothing to do with hockey.

“It meant a lot, for sure,” Hischier said. “We've known each other for so long and we really became friends. So, it’s nice to be part of such a special day.”

And yes, Hischier confirmed, Bratt was nervous.

“He was definitely a little bit nervous,” Hischier laughed.

Although, in perhaps the most Bratt way possible, Hischier remembers the groom being less concerned about himself and more concerned that everything was going smoothly for everyone else.

His friends assured him they would figure it out.

That’s what friends do.

“That’s really what it’s about,” Bratt said. “It’s really the friends and the amazing people that you get to share this journey with. And I’m so thankful that me and Nico have done that together.”

_And now, they get to share another part of the journey.

Hischier has worn the captain’s “C” since 2021. And on the opening day of training camp this September, Bratt was officially named to the vacant alternate captaincy spot, joining Hischier and Jack Hughes as the Devils’ permanent on-ice leadership group.

General manager Sunny Mehta and head coach Sheldon Keefe spent some time talking about the vacancy. Together the name they kept coming back to was Bratt's.

"We talk about being the example, we talk about doing the things that are required, we talk about making the choice, making the decision to do the hard things,” Keefe said during the announcement to his team. “When Sunny and I sat down and we talked our way through this, we talked about different people it could be and we have a number of people that I know are absolutely focused on doing what it takes to bring this team to the next level. But one name that really stood out as one, A) does the right things on and off the ice but is also ultra determined to help bring himself and this team to the next level."

While the timing of the announcement caught Hischier by surprise, most certainly, the decision did not. Hischier assured that not even he knew the announcement was coming.

Bratt has long been a member of the extended leadership group in the Devils locker room that consists of several players, not just those who have worn letters on their jerseys.

For Bratt, though, the permanence of the letter carried weight.

The Devils dressing room isn't short on leaders, he was quick to point out. There are veterans. Vocal leaders. Quieter leaders. Players who lead through their preparation and others who do so through their words.

To be chosen among them was humbling.

“To get that recognition really meant a lot,” Bratt said. “The hard work that I put in and all of the extra hours of trying to show what I can do and prepare myself and how I really want to make a difference for this organization, that was paid off in that respect.”

_And there is something particularly fitting about the three players now wearing letters in New Jersey.

Hischier. Bratt. Hughes.

All drafted by the Devils.

All developed here.

Three remarkable talents in their own rights. Leaders in their own ways.

And all connected back to the late Ray Shero.

Bratt saw the observation on social media shortly after he was named an alternate.

“All of Ray’s guys are now leaders,” he said.

Shero was the general manager who called Hischier's name first overall in Chicago in 2017, and the one whose scouting staff had taken a chance on Bratt the previous summer after 161 players were selected. Current general manager Sunny Mehta was part of that front office, too. And in 2019, Shero put his faith in Jack Hughes, too, by calling his name with the first overall pick. 

"Ray is a big part because he was the first guy that made the decision 'I'm going to believe in Nico,' and he picked me," Hischier said. "I'm thinking about him too when I think about decisions about where do I want to play or stuff like that, and he's a big reason why I'm here."

It’s part of why what comes next matters to Hischier.

He believes in this franchise as much as it has always believed in him.

“The biggest satisfaction for me would be giving the organization something back,” he said, “for all the people that were part of my journey here as well.”

_But longevity alone isn't really the point.

They are not here simply because circumstances kept them here.

They've chosen this. 

Bratt signed long-term in New Jersey in 2023. Hischier made his own intentions unmistakable this summer, signing a five-year extension moments after becoming eligible to do so on July 1.

Bratt never really doubted what his longtime teammate would do.

“I was so happy for him,” Bratt said. “I knew that was what he wanted, to stay with us, with the group.”

Hischier felt the same way.

"I think that that says we trust in this organization," he said. "We want to stay here and we want to make this work. And for me, I made it clear this summer that I want to be part of this. And it would have been so easy to say for me, 'I just want to go somewhere else,' but it just didn't feel, just didn't feel right. And I have a big role here. I love it here, and for the ups and downs, it's sports. I think what would be the most satisfaction would be if we can find success here."

“We trust in this organization,” he said, using 'we' for both he and Bratt. “We want to stay here and we want to make this work.”

Because for Hischier and Bratt, the years invested in New Jersey have only made the ultimate goal more meaningful.

They've seen the good years. They've endured the tougher ones. They understand the league now in a way those two teenagers walking into Prudential Center never could.

And they believe they understand what it will take to get to where they want to go.

“Our mindset is we’re getting this right,” Hischier said. “We’ve been here for so long already. We have good years, we have bad years, and we both see the potential here.”

Ten years haven't dulled the ambition. They've only sharpened it.

Bratt was reminded of that feeling a couple of summers ago when he attended Jesper Boqvist’s Stanley Cup celebration.

He was thrilled for his friend.

And yet he couldn't shake another feeling.

“I just had a bad knot in my stomach,” Bratt said.

Not because Boqvist had won. He was so happy for his friend, who is now back to being his teammate in Jersey.

It was because Bratt wants to know what it feels like himself.

“I wanted to be in that position so bad,” he said. “And I wanted to do it with the guys in the room.”

That's the part that matters most after all these years together.

Not that Hischier and Bratt have lasted 10 seasons. It's that after everything those seasons have contained, neither has lost sight of why they started this journey in the first place.

“I have never, never taken a day for granted,” Hischier has said. “There are a lot of people that want to play in the NHL. A hard day or a couple of tough games, you have to have the right mindset and be thankful to just be in here.”

_They came in together. They grew up together.

They've leaned on one another, pushed one another and watched the organization grow around them.

“For me, having Nico here and been through this together, we’ve been through everything together,” Bratt said. “From ups and downs, it’s really special to me to have him, and just knowing that we’ve both been a part of this journey for so long.

“Now turning this around into a successful team that plays good hockey, it’s a lot of fun. And I know that - and he thinks the same way - our best years are ahead of us.”

Nine seasons already behind them. So much history shared. So many moments, milestones and memories collected along the way. Enough to fill nearly a decade.

They started this journey together.

But they’re not finished with it yet.