New Jersey Devils: Jack Hughes Era Begins Against Winnipeg
The New Jersey Devils have been built well through the middle the past several drafts. The Nico Hischier era was the beginning of something special in New Jersey, getting a special center with the first-overall pick in the NHL Draft. However, what starts tomorrow night feels completely different.
What is different about this season is that you have “Captain America” in Jack Hughes. Unlike Nico Hischier, Hughes provides a very fast, really agile, very gifted young center. Once number 86’s blades hit the ice for the first time, the opposing defense will be on “red alert.” Jack Hughes has yet to play a game and yet the hockey universe is anticipating his every play.
One of the things Jack Hughes is going to do right is playing a nice two-way game. Having John Hynes as his coach is going to make a really gifted and highly skilled center on both ends of the ice. That kind of threat defensively and offensively tomorrow night is something that increases every Devils players confidence in the team’s chances to win.
Jack Hughes isn’t Wayne Gretzky, but a player of his caliber can make guys like Jesper Bratt lethal. It’s not often players with this much speed, agility, smarts, and hockey IQ join the league. If you paid attention to his drop passes in preseason that form of deception is very useful when applied correctly. Having Jack Hughes part of this lineup is an amazing feeling knowing Hynes can anchor all 4 lines. Once in awhile, Pavel Zacha will play wing if he can’t stay at center. Travis Zajac on the other end is a really vital 3rd line center and adds skill, leadership, and depth.
Travel back in time to when Auston Matthews scored four goals in his NHL debut. That bar is pretty high up there. We don’t expect Jack Hughes to do that, we just want to see Hughes score his first of many NHL points. What needs to be done is to tamper those expectations is that Hughes can range from 60 to 80 points as a measuring stick. However it is fair to assume the way Jack plays on a very stacked Devils roster is that John Hynes will unleash this young forward to fire and score at will.
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This Devils team isn’t old, slow, or inexperienced like teams in the past. The 2019-20 Devils have the perfect mix of big bodies that will create traffic and speed that will make teams tired. Not very many teams will be successful getting under the skin of Jack Hughes because P.K. Subban, Wayne Simmonds, John Hayden, and Miles Wood are the kind of players that won’t allow other teams to take hits on Hughes.
One of the things Don Cherry always points out is that it’s great to have a physical bodyguard type player to protect your scorers. He is correct in the sense you allow your Jack Hughes-type players focus on scoring and winning games. Hopefully Coach Hynes delivers just that. Time to unleash the beast in Jack Hughes for many seasons to come.