New Jersey Devils: Will Break Help Or Hurt Jack Hughes’ Development?

The New Jersey Devils and the rest of the NHL are currently on ‘pause’ while the world attempts to fight the Coronavirus. With the season likely over, is it a good or bad thing for the development of Jack Hughes?

Some players just need to play themselves out of slumps. Forcing them to sit on it and think is the worst possible thing a team can do to them, because they get in their own head. However, some like to take a step back, see what was going wrong and evaluate from there. The New Jersey Devils don’t have a choice, any struggling star they have is forced to sit because of the issues plaguing the world right now with COVID-19.

There are plenty of players this could impact positively or negatively. Mackenzie Blackwood probably didn’t want the season to end ever with how well he was playing. P.K. Subban was finally seeing his named used as a positive, so we would have liked to see that momentum continue.

Then, there’s the opposite. Jack Hughes just never got a chance to get going this season. It’s not really his fault. He started off with a desperate coach, a winger who was getting used to North American ice and a system that just didn’t work. Nikita Gusev and Hughes were getting slammed in the defensive zone, so then-head coach John Hynes changed them up. It was fine at the time.

Then, he changed the lines almost every single game. One game he’d have Jesper Bratt on his line, the next it was Miles Wood. Then, he’s trying to get Wayne Simmonds going offensively, the next game he’s back to playing with Gusev. Pavel Zacha made an appearance. Towards the end, he was with Kyle Palmieri.

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Once Alain Nasreddine took over, Hughes was able to sync into a position as the second-line center. Just kidding. Nasreddine kept changing things to try and get Hughes going offensively, with him flip flopping between taking Nico Hischier‘s spot on the top to falling to the “third line” between Miles Wood and some other right winger at the time.

Then, they put him on the wing. We’re fine with taking a shot on it, but it clearly didn’t work from the beginning, and it was something they needed to abort mission on quickly. They spent too many games with Hughes on the wing, and it hurt him in the long run. It looked like before the pause, the Devils were going to put him back at center, which is best for everyone.

Now, Hughes has to just sit back and reflect on his first season in the NHL. He saw his first coach get fired two months into the season, the GM who drafted him and held his hand through the beginning processes get fired, the star forward who was his stall mate get traded, his captain get traded and four other veterans getting moved all in the same season.

Hughes hasn’t scored a goal since the NHL Trade Deadline. He only has one point in that time, and his offensive skills seem like they’re being wasted. Between bad luck, bad decision making and an inability to finish, it’s led to one of the worst offensive seasons for a top pick in a long time. However, it’s also the most tumultuous season in the history of a first-overall pick that we can think of.

Hughes is going to be fine, and honestly this break in the action is probably going to help him. Whether the NHL decides to come back and play out the season, or end it for the teams outside the playoffs, it’s fine either way for Hughes. He needs to step back, watch some tape, and put on some weight. Some season reflection with his team will help, too. Who knows how he’s adapted to the team, but situations like this tend to bring athletes together.