The NHL regular season might not be over, but Jack Hughes season is. On Tuesday the star forward was diagnosed with a low-grade MCL sprain and shut down for the remainder of the New Jersey Devils’ schedule. The team initially held off on providing detail of his injuries. Some on Twitter found that suspicious that there was a greater problem with Hughes. Remember when Taylor Hall was “day-to-day” for six months?
Hughes ends the season with 56 points in 49 games after missing time earlier this season with a dislocated shoulder. This Devils team isn’t going to the playoffs, but the absence of Hughes takes away some of the storylines we were watching for down the stretch. While it may have been Hughes best season in his career, it’s one that left us all feeling a little unfulfilled.
Thirty Goals Is Out Of the Question
Even after missing those 17 games earlier this season, Hughes was still able to score 26 goals on the season. That made the 30 goal mark an attainable goal leading into the season’s final weeks. He would have been the fourth Devil to reach the mark since the 2011-2012 season when they reached the Stanley Cup final. Kyle Palmieri and Adam Henrique both reach exactly 30 goals in 2015-2016. Taylor Hall reached 39 in 2017-2018 Hart Trophy winning season.
Overall Team Offense
Including Hughes, the Devils have two other 20 goal scorers with Jesper Bratt (23 goals) and Yegor Sharangovich (20 goals). Nico Hischier sits at 19 goals and Dawson Mercer at 16 goals, so they have a realistic chance of joining the 20-goal club as well. It would be the first time since 2011-2012 the Devils had five 20 goal scorers in their lineup, if Hischier and Mercer reached the mark.
With Hughes out, let’s look at how much Hughes was involved with each other scoring:
Jesper Bratt: 20 of Bratt’s career high 67 points have had Jack Hughes as part of the scoring. Interesting fact though is that they didn’t share points on the same goal until December 29th of this season.
Sharangovich: 13 of Sharangovich’s 40 points have had Hughes as part of the scoring.
Mercer: Six of Mercer’s 41 points have had Hughes as part of the scoring.
Nico Hischier: Nine of Hischier’s 52 point have had Hughes as part of the scoring. Five of those nine points were on the power play.
Why They Can, And Can’t, Still Get There
It’s not surprising to see Hischier and Hughes scoring tied together so little since they’ve spent the season centering separate lines. With Hughes out, Hischier will assume the role of first line center, giving him more ice time and more of a chance to find that 20th goal. Seven of Mercer’s 41 points have had Jesper Bratt as a part of his scoring. Tuesday’s game featured Mercer moving over back to playing center instead of win. Bratt is firmly locked into the winger role. Whether he finds himself on Hischier’s line or Mercer’s line might determine how much Mercer finds himself on the score sheet. Seeing Bratt with Hischier seems more likely.
Opens Up A Spot
If Tuesday’s game is any indication, that newly available center role in the lineup will be filled by Mercer switching positions. That opens up a winger spot for the season’s last few weeks. A.J. Greer and Fabian Zetterlund have since been called up. Greer scored his first goal as a New Jersey Devils in Thursday’s loss to the Montreal Canadiens while both finished with four shots apiece.
Overall Outlook On Team Offense
In the 17 games Hughes was out earlier this season, the team average 2.88 goals. That might provide some hope the team can still be somewhat exciting offensively. Then again, the overall mood and confidence of this team was much higher back then.