A crisis that was not caused on the ice, but inside a restaurant. If you didn’t know, Devils star forward Jack Hughes suffered what the team called a “freak accident” at a team dinner. Come to find out, a glass broke on his hand, going through it, resulting in an emergency surgery. In every photo recently taken of him, he seems to be hiding his hand, leaving fans suspicious. This is just the start for the Devils. Dougie Hamilton was injured, but has come back, as well as Jacob Markstrom. The other player injured who has not come back yet is defenseman Brett Pesce.
Since November 29, the Devils are 1-5. Their lone win was on December 9th, against the Ottawa Senators. Hughes is expected to return in 6 weeks. A lot can happen in that time frame, especially with how hard the Devils’ schedule is. They have already played the top 3 teams in every division, and are expected to play more great teams as well. In my opinion, they desperately need a forward. The only problem is that the Devils do not have a lot of trade assets, due to the value of their players. Currently, the team is in 6th place in the Metropolitan Division with 35 points. Honestly, the Metro is a very strong division this year, with the last-place team only seven points behind the first. I expect this division to be the best this year, a challenge for New Jersey. However, I think that when Hughes returns, the Devils could reclaim the division once again and possibly become the best team in the NHL.
