Younger Hughes Breakout Has Devils Flying Into Sorely-Needed Break
Late in the second period of Friday’s tied hockey game in Detroit, Devils center Nico Hischier won a defensive zone faceoff. In most instances in New Jersey’s system, they would prioritize a safe clear out, either by a hard wrap around the boards or a flip into the air.
Except when you have Luke Hughes on the ice, other options present themselves.
After picking up the puck inside the circle, Hughes took a few strides and simply skated it out. Using his body to shield a Red Wings checker from behind, Hughes got through center ice and entered the offensive zone where he backhanded a pass to Hischier on his left and headed to the net to receive a give-and-go feed. Hughes then put the puck on net to force Detroit goalie Cam Talbot to make a save, but he couldn’t control the rebound. After a few whacks, New Jersey’s Stefan Noesen put in his 11th goal of the season for a 4-3 Devils lead in a game they’d go on to win, 5-4.
It was a play that I don’t think got talked about enough, for I believe there’s only a handful of NHL defensemen, if that, who have the skating speed and power plus the playmaking ability to make it. Maybe it was because Hughes didn’t register a point on the play—thanks to the scramble, the NHL deemed the goal unassisted.
No worries, because Hughes, the often-overlooked younger brother of Devils face of the franchise star Jack, has been in the midst of a production boost. Luke Hughes, who missed the first nine games of the season while recovering from an offseason shoulder injury and then recorded just two points in his first 13 games in action, is up to six points in his last six games courtesy of his two-assist night in New Jersey’s 5-1 victory over the rival Rangers on Monday night at Madison Square Garden. The win was the Devils’ fifth in their last seven contests corresponding to Luke’s breakout and sent the team, which has played four more games than their closest Metropolitan Division competitors, into a dearly-needed three-day break feeling good about their game.
The Devils, who took advantage of a chronically slow starting Rangers squad to grab an early 1-0 lead, doubled it up following another spectacular Hughes sequence that he makes with apparent nonchalance. It started when he broke up a Rangers rush with an interception of a Will Cuylle pass at the Devils blue line. Again, the speed in which Hughes can transition plays is outstanding, and though he got caught with the puck in his skates along the left wing wall, he managed to find his supporting wing Dawson Mercer at the top of the circle. Mercer then got the puck back to Hughes at the left point for a one-timer that was blocked. The puck, though, fell directly to Mercer, who then cut across the slot and beat Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin.
I highlighted that assist over the other more conventional “throw the puck at the net and watch Jack Hughes bury the rebound” goal in the second period because it showed off Luke’s phenomenal maturation as a 21-year old in just his second full NHL season (he played two games for New Jersey plus three more in the playoffs after Michigan exited the 2023 NCAA Frozen Four).
As a rookie, Luke Hughes, the Devils No. 4 overall selection in the 2021 NHL Draft, was all about high-risk offense. Like many young defensemen, he was turnover prone and subject to missed defensive zone assignments. He was on the ice for 85 goals against at even strength last season, the seventh-most of all defensemen in the league, per NaturalStatTrick.com.
Thanks in part to new Head Coach Sheldon Keefe, who put together the pairing of Hughes with veteran free agent acquisition Brett Pesce from the night of their simultaneous Devils season debuts, Hughes has been a two-way horse. The Devils have allowed only 7 goals against in the nearly 280 minutes the Hughes/Pesce duo has been on the ice at even strength, with a healthy 57% expected goals share, per NST. Their 1.30 goals against per 60 minutes placed them tied for sixth among qualifying NHL pairs going into Monday’s contest, according to MSG analyst Bryce Salvador.
Salvador has shared his access to certain tracking data that showed how Hughes has developed the defensive side to his game, namely the number of stick checks per game and the small gaps he gives to opposing skaters coming his way, both of which rank among the NHL’s best.
The eye test backs up the metrics. Hughes just eats up space with a few quick strides to halt plays before they have a chance to do damage. Though 6-foot 2 and 184 pounds, he isn’t overly physical, but he usually can get away with using his skating and reach to dispossess puckhandlers.
There are occasional lapses—Hughes was outworked by Washington’s Taylor Raddysh and then didn’t tie his stick up to prevent him from redirecting a Martin Fehervary point shot past Devils goalie Jake Allen for the go-ahead goal with six minutes remaining in the third period of the Capitals’ 6-5 back-and-forth victory on Saturday night. However, everything from zone coverage to puck management has been night-and-day when compared to last season.
Offensively, you worry that Hughes might feel snakebit because he has yet to light the lamp this season after a 9-goal, 47-point rookie campaign, but it isn’t for lack of chances. Few are better at walking the blue line and then powering their way into more dangerous scoring positions. The floodgates could open any game now.
My guess is that the slow start will keep Hughes off the Team USA 4 Nations Faceoff roster that will be announced on Wednesday. It would have been cool to see Luke play with brothers Quinn of Vancouver and Jack.
It’s probably not Luke’s time—yet. Given the trajectory based on the one-year growth, however, he might soon be a mainstay at top-level international events, not just on the Devils’ blue line.