New Jersey Devils: 3 Options To Replace Jack Hughes

1. Call up Holtz, move Sharangovich

The easiest way to replace the skill and production is to call up Alexander Holtz from the AHL. In just one game, he showed his ability to take over a game. He scored two goals in exactly the way fans want to see from him against the Rochester Americans. He got past the defense on his first and made an insane move to beat the goalie. Then, he hit just a rocket off his stick for a one-timer on the power play.

Of course, Holtz does not play center. He is a pure wing. So, the Devils would need to figure out who to put at center on the top line. The easiest move would be to move over Yegor Sharangovich. That is what they did in the preseason for one game. Sharangovich did fine at center, although he didn’t have Janne Kuokkanen and Holtz on his left.

The big overtime winner from Sharangovich in the preseason came while he was playing center. Obviously, the center is not the same in 3v3 overtime, but he was playing it for the rest of the game after Hughes went out.

This could really work in keeping a 1a line and 1b line with Hischier-Zacha-Bratt on the second line. They should get equal time because both would have an equal chance of scoring at all times without giving up too much on the other end.