To say New Jersey Devils forward Nico Hischier is off to a hot start to the 2024-25 campaign would be a massive understatement.
On Friday, Hischier stayed red-hot, opening the scoring for the Devils against the rival New York Islanders, netting a first-period tally to tie the score 1-1 at 11:36.
The 2017 No. 1 overall pick has scored five goals over the last four games. Meanwhile, Hischier raised his season total to eight, tied with Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning for the NHL lead.
The 25-year-old isn’t immune to scoring, having posted four seasons of 20 goals or more, including 31 in 2022-23. But Hischier has rarely scored at the pace showcased early in the 2024-25 campaign.
Hischier tallied eight goals over the first 13 games of the 2022-23 season. However, that was seemingly an outlier since he needed 39, 33, 32, 28 and 24 games to reach the number over the remaining five NHL seasons he’s played.
It’s incredibly early, but Hischier is on pace to net 63 goals. Of course, it’s unlikely he’ll reach that lofty total, but it’s clear the Devils captain has put more focus on finding that back of the net this season.
