The New York Rangers’ Hudson River rival received a distressing update on their young star defenseman Luke Hughes on Thursday. The New Jersey Devils announced that Hughes sustained a left shoulder injury during off-season training earlier this month and gave a timeline of 6-8 weeks for his return and will not require surgery.
Hughes is in New Jersey, receiving physical therapy with the Devils medical staff. His timeline means he could miss between 11-17 games to star the season.
The injury update comes after the Devils were met with another shoulder injury concern when defenseman Simon Nemec was hurt after an awkward collision during an Olympic qualifying game with his native Slovakia against Hungary earlier this month. He did not return to play after the hit to his left shoulder and missed the final qualifier against Kazakhstan.
It was initially reported that nothing was dislocated nor broken. Nemec returned to New Jersey but the Devils haven’t provided a further updates on the 20-year-old, so his status may not be fully known until training camp begins next week.
Hughes was New Jersey’s first-round pick (No. 4 overall) in the 2021 NHL Draft. Nemec was their first-round selection the following year (No. 2 overall). Each is expected to be a regular on the Devils blue line this season.
The Devils hoped their injury woes from 2023-24 were over since Dougie Hamilton is healthy again, after their top defenseman was limited to 20 games last season because of a torn pectoral muscle. All-Star center Jack Hughes, Luke’s older brother, has recovered from shoulder surgery in April and will take part in training camp. So, the Devils finally seemed to be healthy again until this 1-2 punch of bad news.
The injuries cast a pall on the Devils upbeat offseason. After finishing out the playoff race last season with a disappointing 81 points, the Devils acquired goalie Jacob Markstrom in a trade with the Calgary Flames and forward Paul Cotter from the Vegas Golden Knights, and signed several key free agents, including Brett Pesce, Brenden Dillon, Stefan Noesen and Tomas Tatar, to vault right back into contender status.
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Hughes was a rookie last season and notched nine goals and 38 assists, when the 21-year-old suited up for all 82 games. He averaged just over 21 minutes of ice time per game and was a key part New Jersey’s top power-play unit, amassing 25 points with the man advantage.
He led rookie defensemen in goals, power-play goals (four), power-play points, and takeaways (42). Hughes finished the season tied for second in rookie scoring (47 points) with Brock Faber of the Minnesota Wild, placing both defensemen behind only Chicago Blackhawks center Connor Bedard, the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft.
