New Jersey Devils: Jack Hughes Silently Playing Well
With the New Jersey Devils on a nine-game heater and the likes of Jesper Bratt and Nico Hischiers‘ point production exploding, we haven’t heard much about Jack Hughes or as much as we hoped.
Hughes hit a new level of play and production at the end of last season prior to his season-ending knee injury. The hockey community took notice and expected an absolute explosion in production.
While Hughes hasn’t lit the world on fire with his play, he’s quietly having another stellar season. Through 15 games this young NHL season, Hughes has 5 goals and 10 assists for 15 points. That includes this stellar goal on Saturday night against the Arizona Coyotes that gave them a 2-1 lead. Hughes is good for a point per game. He’s had some really good performances, with six multi-point games this season.
Sure, he’s had a few challenging games early this season regarding finishing up on chances. His shot percentage has dropped from 15.8% last season to this year, just a mere 7.4% this, and he’s still maintaining a point per game.
While he has had the benefit of playing on a life with Bratt, he’s also playing primarily with Eric Haula. While Haula has been solid for the Devils and a stellar faceoff guy, he’s been hampered in the offensive end. As you probably know, he’s yet to score a goal this season. But Jack keeps putting up the numbers, with another two assists in the thrilling overtime win vs. Ottawa.
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In short, don’t worry about Jack Hughes. He is a special player and will heat up eventually. The finer points of his game will return to him, and this team will be all the better.