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New Jersey Devils Star Forward Out for Remainder of the Season

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Jack Hughes Injury

The New Jersey Devils have announced that star forward Jack Hughes underwent shoulder surgery on Wednesday and will be placed on the long-term injured reserve. The injury will keep Jack Hughes out for the remainder of the 2024-25 season. Hughes is expected to make a full recovery and will be available for training camp in September.

Devils Star Out for Remainder of the Season

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Jack Hughes suffered the injury on Sunday, March 2nd, in the Devil’s 2-0 loss at the hands of the Vegas Golden Knights. Hughes crashed hard into the boards while on a 2 on 1 rush. Jack Eichel was backchecking to catch Hughes and gave him a bump which made Hughes lose his balance and crash into the boards shoulder first. The news is crushing to the Devils organization as they are currently sitting in third in the Metropolitan Division.

So far this season, Hughes has scored 27 goals and 70 points in 62 games. In 368 career games, Hughes has scored 141 goals while adding 210 assists for 351 points. Hughes was selected in the first round, first overall, in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft.

Devils Forced to Move On Without Jack Hughes

The injury to Jack Hughes is a major blow to the New Jersey Devils. The club was expected to be buyers as the team enters the trade deadline on Friday, March 7th. However, losing a player of this magnitude greatly impacts that decision. General Manager Tom Fitzgerald really has to sit back and reassess things as they’ll never truly be able to replace a player like Hughes at the deadline and even just replacing him doesn’t do enough to make the Devils legitimate contenders. You also don’t want to tell your team that without your best player, it’s just as well to fold. That’s not a message you want to send to a young group of players.

That being said, the Devils could still make a swing and go after a player like Mikko Rantanen, who is currently on the trade market. He would certainly be the player who would be able to best replace Hughes’ offence on the market. Acquiring a player like Rantanen doesn’t need to be just a rental either. He is looking for a new contract and acquiring Rantanen now would give the Devils the upper hand to get him signed long-term. This is a situation everyone should be closely following as we inch closer to the trade deadline on Friday.

Main Photo: Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images

 

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