DALLAS -- The NHL's youngest player turned 19 on Thursday, and Nico Hischier's wild ride as an 18-year-old is over.
Over 365 days, Hischier capped off a stellar season of junior hockey while playing in North America for the first time and handling the hype as one of the top prospects for the 2017 NHL Draft.
Hischier emerged as the No. 1 overall pick by the Devils in June's Draft, becoming the first Swiss-born player ever taken first overall.
He shined through his first NHL preseason, making the Devils' roster out of training camp while grabbing a top-six role in the process.
Through 39 games, his eight goals and 17 assists have him tied for second on the Devils with 25 points, and he has headlined an infusion of youth that catapulted the team into the thick of a playoff race.
Not a bad year.
"It's hard to explain or hard to find words for that," Hischier said. "It's crazy how things can change in one year, but I'm really glad it worked out that way, and I'm really glad to be here."
Two days before his 18th birthday, Hischier scored two goals for Team Switzerland in a 3-2 loss to Team USA in the quarterfinals of the World Juniors Championship. Hischier finished that tournament with four goals and three assists in five games at a 17-year-old.
That run vaulted him into the spotlight at the top of draft boards, and he hasn't shied away.
Since Devils coach John Hynes started watching Hischier play, the rookie center has found ways to keep raising the bar. The Devils didn't put expectations on him to be the team's top-line center, but Hischier went out and took the job.
"From day one, he's kind of stepped up and really shown he can play in those roles and he continues to get better," Hynes said. "I was really proud of him (Tuesday), just the fact St. Louis is a big, strong, heavy team, playoff-laden team, lots of size, and I thought he was a big difference maker for us.
"It's all those little times when he continues to impress you where he can elevate his game or he can come up in big moments, or he doesn't back down from competitive situations or challenges. It's nice to see, and he continues to do that throughout the year."
Hischier has maintained the mantra that this is still a learning season for him. Playing at the NHL level with an NHL workload is still new for him, but he's challenged himself to improve every time he takes the ice.
"Each night I try to learn something and get better each day," Hischier said. "I think that the whole year is going to be an adjustment year for me. Everything is new, every city is new, every rink is new. It's going to be a process that I'm going through, but there are lots of guys helping me through that and it's been awesome so far and I like it."
His 19th year could be another exciting one. Hischier and the Devils should be involved in a playoff race through the end of the regular season, and with 51 points through 39 games, the Devils and Hischier could snap a five-season postseason drought.
While it's one of the end goals for Hischier in his rookie season, he won't allow himself to aim too far beyond the next task at hand.
"We don't want to look too far ahead. Just look game-to-game and month-to-month," Hischier said. "Obviously playoffs (is a goal), but for now it's about (Thursday's) game. Then we go to Brooklyn."
Chris Ryan may be reached at cryan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @ChrisRyan_NJ. Find NJ.com Devils on Facebook.