With Hughes Out, The Devils Need More From Their Captain
The Devils are in for one rough stretch.
I’m not stating the obvious based on New Jersey’s first game--a 4-1 beatdown from visiting Washington on Thursday night--without budding star center Jack Hughes, who was diagnosed with a dislocated shoulder from a hard hit and fall in the second period of the Devils’ 4-2 victory over expansion Seattle two nights earlier. The Capitals have been a tough matchup for the Devils for years, winning for a ninth consecutive time in a 28-4-2 run dating back to the start of the 2014-15 season.
No, with so many other key players out of the Devils’ lineup, including both goaltenders, Thursday might have looked like a “schedule loss” even with a healthy Hughes, who opened the season with a pair of spectacular goals, including the overtime winner, to beat Chicago. Getting an off night from their top defensive pair of Dougie Hamilton and Ryan Graves didn’t help matters against the heavy Capitals either.
Still, the Hughes injury packed a wallop, even in a “no-excuse league.” He was starting to develop into one of those rare players who put you on the edge of your seat every time he touched the puck. He’s far and away the team leader (and among the league leaders) in metrics like takeaways and offensive zone entries. He is irreplaceable.
The Devils are free to announce that Hughes will “be evaluated in a week,” but that’s just hockey talk. Given how tight-lipped teams are with any injury, I’m surprised the Devils even shared the diagnosis. In any event, that particular condition is fraught with risk for any player who attempts to return to NHL action prematurely. One bodycheck into the boards and it’s back to square one, or worse.
Depending on the severity, the Devils could be going on a couple of months without their top—and only—high-end play driver. Remember how center Nico Hischier was “day-to-day” with the dreaded “lower-body injury” at the beginning of last season? Well, it was actually a broken fibula, and it cost Hischier the first 11 games (which was supposed to have been 16 games but for New Jersey’s COVID-19 cluster).
Hughes (2019) and Hischier (2017) are both centers who were No. 1 overall selections in the NHL Draft, but their games are not at all similar. Hischier, as he was projected to be, plays more of a 200-foot game and isn’t in Hughes’ class as a skater. Then again, who is? For the Devils to have any hope of treading water during this difficult period, though, they will need their captain to pick up at least some of the offensive slack.
In New Jersey’s first three games, Hischier has produced just one secondary assist, and that by deflecting a puck in the defensive zone that instigated Pavel Zacha’s empty-netter against Seattle. Now in his fifth NHL season, Hischier’s point-per-game average has dropped since Years 1 and 2. Some of that decline could be due to injuries, the departure of linemate (and 2018 Hart Trophy winner) Taylor Hall, or, as he told The Athletic, he “was sick of hockey” last season.
Though Hischier promised to enter this season with a refreshed outlook, I just haven’t seen him carry the puck with the confidence that made him a significantly more dynamic threat in seasons prior. Something still is amiss.
Against Washington, he had two odd-man rush opportunities that could have gotten New Jersey back into the game. On the first, he passed the puck into the Capitals defenseman instead of taking a clear shot. Later, he did opt to shoot, but it was easily blocked.
Hischier has shown that he is capable of much more. He won’t beat goalies from long distances, but the release on his shot makes him dangerous in the slot. He’s also not afraid to go into the hard areas around the net to hunt for garbage. That’s how he potted 20 goals in his rookie season and was on another 20-goal pace as a sophomore before injuries derailed that season.
Defensively, no one is arguing that Hischier hasn’t been solid. He’s still a bit under water on faceoffs, but he hasn’t been on the ice for any even-strength goal against this season. The Caps couldn’t even generate a high-danger scoring chance in his 19 minutes, according to NaturalStatTrick.com, though he was only matched up with the Great Alexander Ovechkin’s line for about six of them. But that’s on Devils coach Lindy Ruff.
For all of Hischier’s prowess in his own end, though, the Devils didn’t extend his rookie contract two years ago for seven years at a $7.25 million AAV so he can act as a third-line checking center. They need more offensive bangs for those bucks.
If Hischier can’t deliver in Hughes’ absence, the Devils season can go sideways in a hurry.