Can Hughes Save This Devils Season?
A long-absent center took to the Devils’ practice ice on Sunday in the team’s first skate following its extended All-Star break. He was absolutely giddy about joining his teammates after a lengthy injury recovery.
Unfortunately, the center was Thomas Nosek, a bottom-six checking specialist, not the dynamic Jack Hughes.
These days, it’s nice to see any Devil returning to action, for the injuries (not to mention the leave taken by center Michael McLeod due to his arrest in Canada for sexual assault) had piled up to unmanageable levels during a first half that saw New Jersey (24-20-3) drastically underperform to expectations. Instead of building upon last season’s franchise record-setting campaign that yielded the team’s first playoff series victory since 2012, the mission for the remainder of this season has been marked down to merely qualifying for the postseason.
And for that to happen, the Devils desperately need Hughes to come flying out of the gates—and then stay healthy. According to Head Coach Lindy Ruff, Hughes is “close” to a return from his mysterious upper body injury, with Ruff hinting that there is a chance he could practice on Monday in preparation for their home tilt versus Colorado on Tuesday night.
The sooner the better. Over the ten games that Hughes missed following his spill in Chicago on January 5, the Devils won just three and averaged 3.00 goals scored per game, a dropoff of more than half a goal per game from their previous rate. Their power play was the third-most efficient in the league at 29.1%; they’ve gone 2-for-32 since, with two shorthanded goals against for an embarrassing league-worst 0% net power play percentage in that 10-game span. Hughes’ elite skating ability not only helps the Devils set up their attack with possession, he also is one of the best in the league at moving pucks out of danger in the defensive zone.
It should be noted, however, that at the time of Hughes’ injury, the Devils were barely hanging on to a wild card slot. For all of Hughes’ breathtaking dashes through each zone, New Jersey had been outscored, 26-20, at five-on-five when he was on the ice. The advanced NaturalStatTrick.com metrics showed that the Devils registered above 50% in chance creation and expected goals for percentage with Hughes on the ice, so some of that production deficit could be traced to goaltending variance or just plain old bad luck. Still, New Jersey simply can’t get outscored during Hughes’ shifts over the final 35 games.
Hughes’ presence will certainly provide the Devils a much-needed additional line that is a scoring threat. In the last 10 games during which the team scored 30 goals, Nico Hischier and/or Jesper Bratt were on the ice for 18 of them, per NST. Since Ruff plays the duo together more often than not, that’s no way near enough balance.
Ruff hasn’t had much choice in terms of adjusting the style in which his club played during Hughes’ absence. With so much speed sitting in the press box and a youthful defense that is stuck in a learning curve, the Devils have evolved into a team that prioritizes moving pucks north anyway, anyhow, as opposed to their old puck possession model. If Ruff saw someone like Chris Tierney circle with the puck in the wrong direction, as Hughes is wont to do, Tierney would find a bus ticket back to Utica sitting in his locker room stall after the game.
Hughes has never really been a fan of the dump-and-chase game, so it will be interesting to see if he is given the same freedoms in this new system. And by freedom I mean that Ruff has rarely held Hughes accountable for all his glaring turnovers, some of which have cost the team with goals against. Ruff has always figured that the net result would end up on the right side of the ledger, so Hughes’ gaffes were always treated differently than, say, Alexander Holtz’s.
My guess is that we’ll be seeing the Devils go back to the run-and-gun style that made them so fun last season. I know, that’s a scary notion. because it leaves the shoddy defense and goaltending at the mercy of counterattacks, which didn’t go well during the first half of 2023-24. It will be on Hughes to make it work in the Devils’ favor going forward.
Six years ago, another Devils All-Star missed the game with an injury and then carried the team on his back to lift it into the playoffs. Taylor Hall won a Hart Trophy for his efforts. Hughes has missed too many games, including the five games in November after crashing into the boards in St. Louis, to be considered for the 2024 award, but he’s going to have to play like a league MVP down the stretch to save New Jersey’s season.