Bratt will be thrust right back into the mix when he hits the ice, skating on the top line with Nico Hischier and Drew Stafford.
Bratt had been playing some of his best hockey leading up to his injury, with six points in his last five games played - playing mostly alongside Hischier, who has a game he believes compliments his well.
"We think hockey the same way," Bratt said. "We both want to play with a lot of speed and we're both pretty skilled guys. We want to play a lot with the puck and be hard to play against in the offensive zone. We both want those scoring chances and we both want to score goals, it's something we keep working on."
While both Bratt and Hischier are in their sophomore NHL season, their other line mate, Drew Stafford is a veteran of 15 years and plugs into top line duty with so many injuries to the Devils squad.
"That's one of the reasons why we signed Drew, be brings so many things to the table," coach John Hynes said. "We had him the other night with McLeod and Bastian and he's a good veteran guy that works really well with young players. He's a smart player. His influence there is strong. He's playing good hockey also as of late - he certainly deserves to be playing where he's playing with Nico and Bratt."
As for Stafford, he's looking to be complimentary to his two young linemates, and perhaps tap into his scoring touch that he had earlier in his career.
"I try to do my best to contribute in any way possible," Stafford said. "Where ever that is, I'm being used as a utility player. The game changes a little bit with those two, but you always want to have the foundation of being hard on pucks, defensively responsible as best you can and making sure you're managing the puck well. But on the flip side you can tap into a bit more offensive creativity which obviously I'm wired like that, so it's nice to get a bit of a change on that aspect. Hopefully we can contribute on the scoresheet."
Hynes also provided an update on Mirco Mueller, who was stretchered off the ice in the Devils last game against the Calgary Flames. After Mueller went head first into the boards, he was taken to hospital and discharged later that morning.
"Really good news on Mueller," Hynes said. "He has no head of neck injury at all, no concussion. He basically has a left shoulder injury right now. He's under the guidance of our medical staff. For as bad as the hit looked and what we all thought possibly could happen, there was really good news on that. It's nice to see him not be too injured, and a left shoulder injury coming out of that is a real positive."
Hynes also added that based on the current results, there is the possibility that Mueller will return to play this season.
Projected Devils Lineup:
Bratt-Hischier-Stafford
Agostino-Zajac-Coleman
Lappin-McLeod-Bastian
Pietila-Rooney-Gabriel
Greene-Severson
Butcher-Vatanen
Yakovlev-Carrick
Schneider
Blackwood
