The New Jersey Devils managed to avoid another terrible loss in last night’s overtime win over the Nashville Predators. However, they could not do so without sustaining another injury. Early in the game, Jack Hughes left the ice and went to the dressing room, with the broadcast and attending media mostly oblivious to his absence and the cause of it. Jack later came back out to skate through a test-run shift, but frustratingly left the ice again, never to return last night. In total, Jack Hughes played 2:27 across three shifts, attempting one shot in that time.
My immediate worry was that Jack had re-injured his hand on the shot, but Sheldon Keefe reported post-game that it was a lower-body injury and that he would be evaluated today. This is on top of Cody Glass’s day-to-day leg injury, for which Sheldon Keefe said there is no concern of a long-term absence. If Jack’s evaluation does not go well today and Cody Glass misses his second straight game, the Devils would be down to Nico Hischier, Dawson Mercer, Paul Cotter, and Luke Glendening as centers against the Senators. Unless Timo Meier wants to magically turn into a center, that is a really rough look.
It’s especially rough because the New Jersey Devils are desperate for wins. Currently, the Devils are in 11th place, but they’re seven points out of eighth. With three games until the Olympic Break, it will not be possible for the Devils to regain a playoff spot before several Devils go off to play Olympic hockey. Losing Jack Hughes for one game and playing with a short lineup was difficult enough, and the Devils still came out on top last night. Can they do that twice?
The reality is that — freak accident or not — Jack Hughes’s finger injury at the steakhouse dinner in Chicago turned a promising season on its head, massively contributing to the team going from a solid playoff team to being on the outside looking in. And yes, there have been several contributing factors to the team’s slide. Whether it be inconsistent goaltending, defensive breakdowns, or insufficient scoring, all three cardinal sins of hockey reared their heads from Jack’s accident to now. Going through the process of potentially losing him again is concerning, at best.
General Manager Tom Fitzgerald finally pulled off an in-season move on Tuesday, packaging Ondrej Palat with a couple of draft picks in exchange for Maxim Tsyplakov, a large winger who had 35 points in his first NHL season in 2024-25. Acquiring Tsyplakov cleared up $3.75 million against the cap ceiling for the Devils, moving on from a very rough contract in Ondrej Palat to allow room for further acquisitions. But with Jack Hughes battling injuries, what would be the point of trading futures and assets for a doomed playoff run? At least the Palat-Tsyplakov trade remains beneficial next season, but it would be disappointing to create cap space, get in position to make a better run, and then fall apart due to injuries anyway.
The good news is that, as of now, Cody Glass might play tomorrow. Per Sheldon Keefe, Glass skated today and is traveling to Ottawa. However, his status for tomorrow is uncertain. Glass has been outstanding over the last few weeks, scoring six goals and nine points in nine games before being ruled out with a leg injury sustained on a blocked shot on Tuesday. Glass might not be the offensive dynamo and reliable producer that fans hope for in the top six, but he has been a steady middle six presence when healthy. When healthy is a repeating theme with this team.
The less good news is that, while Jack Hughes reportedly does not have a long-term injury, the language surrounding him seems less hopeful for tomorrow’s game:
If Jack Hughes proceeds to miss the next three games and then plays in the Olympics, it’s going to be a tough look. He hasn’t gotten into a real flow since November, when he sliced his finger. The team’s season is standing on the edge of a knife at best, and the Devils need their star player on the ice. Is this a serious enough injury where he can’t play tomorrow? What about Tuesday and Thursday next week? If he’s out until the break, I would not really enjoy seeing him play in Milan.
Since returning from the finger injury, Jack has two goals and 16 points in 19 games. Most people watching Devils games would likely agree that no, Jack Hughes does not seem like he is playing with two fully-functioning hands. Even so, the Devils clearly need him. Whether he is creating scoring chances for his teammates or just drawing matchups so other lines have better chances to score, him being on the ice for the Devils has a massive impact on the team. Maybe the Devils can pull another win off without Jack, like they did without Jack and Glass on Thursday night. But the Ottawa Senators are a team in a similar position to the Devils, fighting for their lives and every last point before the Olympic break begins in a week. I think that, especially in a road game, the Devils will have a lot of trouble winning tomorrow with just Nico Hischier being their only reliable option at center. These games are must-win.
Defensively, the team is still reeling from the loss of Luke Hughes to a shoulder injury. I would imagine that, given how easily his injury happened, that Luke has been battling through it for some time this season. But the Devils lost their best skating defenseman and their only blueliner who can transition the puck with his legs. Without Luke, Jack even started to take on more of a breakout role at even strength — and I thought this was necessary. None of the Devils’ remaining defensemen are particularly fast skaters, and Jack is the only forward on the team I trust to effectively work from the point (despite Jesper Bratt’s repeated attempts to do so). Playing without Luke is difficult enough, leaving the team with just Dougie Hamilton and Simon Nemec to create offense from the back end. But missing two Hughes brothers? That could be fatal for the team at this juncture.
Your Thoughts
What do you think of these three games before the break? If Jack Hughes cannot play in these games, should the Devils ask him to stay out of the Olympics? Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and thanks for reading.