Look Back: Palat's First Season in Jersey

Last off-season, forward Ondrej Palat was one of New Jersey's significant signings to bring depth and playoff experience to an up-and-coming team. With two Stanley Cup Championships and three straight Stanley Cup Final appearances, Palat knows what it takes to win. The Devils also wanted the forward's compete, strong leadership, and game changing abilities on the roster as New Jersey was chasing a return to the post-season in 2023.

One year later, Palat was a significant part of the Devils success last year both on and off the ice. Let's take a look back at Palat's first year in New Jersey.

The Bullet Points:

New Year, New Team

For the first time in his 11 years of playing professional hockey in North America, Ondrej Palat was suiting up for a different franchise. New city, new teammates, new coaches, new staff, new systems, new everything. Palat was ready for the opportunity and showed up to the Garden State ready to bring the same high level of play, knowledge, and support to the Devils locker room this year.

The Devils started out the season with two losses; however, Palat started the comeback against the Anaheim Ducks which helped New Jersey pick up their first win of the 2022-23 campaign. Two nights later, Palat scored twice to help the Devils beat the Islanders 4-1. The pair of goals were from his line mates of Nico Hischier and Jesper Bratt and following the game, Palat credited his teammates for making his job easy.

"They're two great players, they're unbelievable," Palat shared post-game. "They passed me two nice passes today and I had the easy job to finish them."

Three goals in the first four games of the season, check. A great start by the newest addition to the Devils.

Things changed quickly for Palat after the Devils Oct. 24 game against the Capitals as the forward was sidelined with a groin injury that required surgery. Palat was added to the I.R. and one of the key parts of the Devils offense was out for the time being.

The Recovery

Although he was out of the lineup and working his way back to playing form, Palat continued to show up for his team. Whether he was sharing advice with players, giving his perspective to the coaches, or physically being around, he had an impact.

That wasn't something Devils head coach Lindy Ruff or even General Manager Tom Fitzgerald had to ask Palat to do, he was already doing it, which once again shows Palat's strong leadership. Palat knew he couldn't physically be out there with his new teammates so he did everything he could off the ice to be a part of the team.

Palat detailed his recovery, what he learned, and how the team supported him Video: Ondrej Palat | POST-GAME RAW 10.20.22, including this quote about how he felt welcome from a group he only played six games with before leaving injured.

"This group is very young and very welcoming," Palat explained. "It was great when they saw me and they were like 'Pally, we need you back,' or something like that. They're awesome guys there and I felt very welcome."

He's Back

As the Devils resumed on-ice activities following the winter break, Palat was right back out there with his teammates. Dec. 27, 2022 was his first full team practice and Palat returned to the lineup on Jan. 5. In his fifth game back from injury, Palat picked up his first point since Oct. Then things started to pick up again. From Jan. 14 through Feb. 14, Palat had 11 points: three goals and eight assists.

Although Palat didn't produce as much on the scoresheet in the regular season as years past, he still finished the year with eight goals, 15 assists and 23 total points through 49 games played. He battled back from a significant injury, and still continued to influence the team as the Devils went on to finish the year 52-22-8 and qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 2018.

Post-Season Play

When the puck dropped in the Devils first game of the 2023 Playoffs, Video: Ondrej Palat | POST-GAME RAW 10.20.22. On top of that, five more players only had experience playing in five or less games. Although the roster was inexperienced when it came to the post-season, they weren't concerned due to veteran leadership from several players including Palat.

Palat played 138 playoff games with the Lightning over eight post-season appearances. That knowledge was relied on throughout the First and Second Rounds. In addition to his experience, Palat showed up on the scoresheet. With three goals and four assists, Palat had the second most points on the Devils during their 12 playoff games.

As other players were learning how to score or contribute in these intense games, Palat did his part to score or set up various goals. One of the best contributions Palat had was in Game 7 of the First Round against the New York Rangers. The Devils were on the penalty kill halfway through the second period and no one had scored yet. Palat stripped the puck from Adam Fox, lost it for a second to Chris Krieder before he got it back. He moved down low, passed it off to Michael McLeod who went on to show some patience and finesse himself and score what ended up being the game-winning goal.

The play perfectly showed Palat's understanding of when to push for something, even in a high stakes moment. His skill helped him get the puck from two of New York's best players to set up his teammate perfectly for a shorthanded goal.

A strong performance in the playoffs by Palat wrapped up the year on a high-note and adds excitement for what he can bring to the Devils during the 2023-24 season.

Remember This?

Palat knows how to score, we all know that. But let's look back at when Palat scored two goals within a minute of each other against the Vancouver Canucks back in early February.