November 5th: In more unfortunate news surrounding Hughes, the Devils announce that Hughes will be on a week-to-week recovery timeline, and he has not traveled with the team to Chicago.
November 4th: New Jersey Devils superstar forward Jack Hughes left last night’s eventual 4-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues with an upper-body injury, per team reporter Amanda Stein.
Midway through the first period, Hughes crashed into the boards at a significant velocity, and he was slow to get up with the impact appearing to largely be endured by his head and right shoulder. Hughes is still to be fully evaluated by the team, meaning the full extent of the injury he suffered is, at this moment, unknown.
Should Hughes miss any time, his absence would represent the biggest loss the Devils could possibly suffer from any one injury.
Hughes, 22, is the Devils’ most important player. He currently leads the entire NHL in scoring with 20 points in just 10 games, and he could even be considered an early contender for the Hart Trophy due to Connor McDavid’s injury and the Oilers’ general struggles.
He plays in the all-important first-line center role for the Devils, skating in between Timo Meier and Tyler Toffoli. In the case that Hughes does miss some time, the Devils’ depth chart at center would be dealt another blow.
Team captain and second-line center Nico Hischier did not dress for last night’s game due to injury, meaning any Hughes absence could come at a time when the team is also missing its second-best pivot.
The result of both players being absent at one time could be that crucial top-six center roles are trusted to players originally planned to be bottom-six pivots, such as Erik Haula or Michael McLeod.
Any extended Hughes absence, especially when combined with injuries to Hischier and Tomas Nosek, could have a ripple effect covering the entire Devils’ organization. Veteran Chris Tierney is already in the Devils’ NHL lineup now, and a Hughes injury could even prompt the team to recall another center from their AHL affiliate, the Uitca Comets, just in order to be able to dress four players at the position.
The Comets are currently led in scoring by Xavier Parent and Max Willman, two players who are far from established top-end AHL players. The ripple effect of the Hughes injury could make it so Utica is even more reliant on those two centers, which might not be ideal if their early-season success is not an indication of how they’ll be able to produce on an extended basis.
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