5 Goals New Jersey Devils Must Have In 2022

1. Get Jack Hughes To Superstar Status

The New Jersey Devils paid Jack Hughes. He’s making $8 million per season starting next year. The worry with Hughes putting up superstar numbers is the Devils would be forced to pay him a superstar price. Getting Hughes locked up for under $10 million was important. Now, he can score 100 goals for all we care, it won’t change his price.

Now, Hughes has to continue his progression to superstar status. He’s looked like the best player on the ice for a lot of this past week. He was named the second star of the week by the NHL after putting up eight points in three games. That huge output has him with 16 points in 16 games. Getting him to a point per game is perfect. He needs that kind of output sooner rather than later.

Hughes does need to get back to what is more natural to him. He has as many goals as he has assists. That’s great for the Devils right now who desperately need finishers, but that isn’t the best version of Hughes. The best version is playing a game similar to Sidney Crosby, who can score 30+ goals but his best asset is setting up his teammates. He’s never finished a season with as many goals as he has assists even going back to high school. The closest he came is when he scored nine goals in seven games at the 2019 U18 World Juniors. He ended up with 11 assists, so he still had more assists.

Hughes is back with Yegor Sharangovich, and he spent the past few games with Jesper Bratt. That pairing is really working, and it seems like the Devils found the correct wingers to put on the first line. If he keeps this pace, getting Hughes to that stratosphere is only a matter of time.