New Jersey Devils: Smart For Keeping Jack Hughes Away From World Junior Championships

It is smart for the Devils to keep Jack Hughes from going to the World Juniors.

It has been a long 10 months since we saw Jack Hughes and the New Jersey Devils suit up for the last time before COVID-19 put an end to their season. They were not invited back to the bubble because they were one of the seven worst teams in 2019-20 so we weren’t able to see him after a few months off to get bigger, stronger, and faster. When the NHL finally returns to play, Hughes should be able to be a big-time impact player.

USA Hockey made it pretty clear that they want to have Jack Hughes on their roster for the 2020-21 World Junior Classic. He would be their best player en route to a chance at a Gold Medal. They are already going to be a very good team but they have their work cut out for them to beat Canada this year. That team north of the border is going to be as good as they’ve ever been this year so the Americans can use as much help as they can get.

As good as Team Canada should be, they aren’t going to have their best eligible player this year as the New York Rangers are not letting Alexis Lafreniere go. He would be a dominant player for Team Canada but the Rangers are holding him back as well. The Devils and Rangers are making the right decision by keeping their young prized possessions away from the tournament this year.

It is a little bit different for Lafreniere because he hasn’t even made his NHL debut yet. Hughes has some more experience being a year older, but Lafreniere is a little bit more developed to make an impact at the NHL level. Either way, New Jersey needs to make sure Hughes is good to go whenever they are able to start training camp.

Hughes showed that he is an NHL player in year one. He didn’t have the same monster rookie year that we have become used to seeing first overall picks have but he still had flashes of brilliance. There were still moments throughout the year where you watched and were just wowed. He has the potential to be a superstar in this league. The tools are there but he just has a bit more development to go through.

For all of these reasons, it is smart to let Hughes continue getting ready for whenever the NHL comes back. He would go to the World Juniors and dominate the lesser competition. There isn’t much he can learn down there so it is better for him to not go. He is a New Jersey Devil and should be getting ready to start back up with them.