It was a fun weekend to be a New Jersey Devils fan. Jack Hughes was a ton of fun during All-Star Weekend, and he played extremely well during the actual games. He might have even been the All-Star MVP, but the voters chose the veteran Claude Giroux instead. The Devils and the Metropolitan Division (yes, we are claiming this) won the tournament, ending Hughes’ first All-Star Game as a success.
And just as Devils fans started to feel a little happiness despite currently being involved in a six-game losing streak, with their last game being a 7-1 drubbing at the hands of the Toronto Maple Leafs at home. It’s been a terrible season, with Jack Hughes missing six weeks after the second game of the season being one of the many things that went wrong this season. Now, with four games on the slate this week, it looks like Hughes is going to miss every single one of them.
Dougie Hamilton skated on Sunday, but he doesn’t seem that close to returning. Jonathan Bernier is out for the season, and we haven’t even received an update on Mackenzie Blackwood. So, this week is not going to be fun. Just calling it like it is.
Jack Hughes falling ill right after All-Star Weekend is a shame, but it’s just one issue on a long list of problems the Devils face this season. The trade deadline is about a month away, and the Devils need to figure out which players are staying and which players are going. They can’t go into full rebuild mode again, but there could be some interesting names on the list of players available.
Either way, this is going to be a long week without Jack Hughes. The celebration of his accomplishments at All-Star Weekend is now off. It’s back to sadness again as the Devils star is going to miss at least three of the games this week.