Jack Hughes Still A Top-10 Player Despite His Scoring Slump

The “Hughes for Hart” trend got rolling when Jack Hughes was playing his best hockey of the season for the New Jersey Devils. Now, that movement has subsided. From Jan. 13 to Feb. 19, Hughes grabbed at least one point every single game. There were multiple games in that period where he had more than one point.

As of Tuesday, April 4, the Orlando native has 90 points to his name, 40 goals, and 50 assists. Which puts him in 13th place among all NHL player’s point totals. On top of that, Hughes has a chance to make Devils history. The single-season points record for the Devils is held by the great Patrik Elias, the total being 96.

With five games remaining in the regular season, the 21-year-old has a chance to overtake the throne as he needs just six points to tie the record and seven points to beat it. Hughes can’t look ahead at making history though, he needs to focus on the recent slump he has encountered.

Recently, the two-time NHL All-Star’s scoring game has gone rogue, as he has not been scoring as much as he was earlier in the season. In the month of March Hughes only found the back of the net four times. Four goals in 16 games is beneath what we’ve come to expect from the Devils superstar.

When looking at this stat it makes you wonder what went wrong in his game but I think we should dive in deeper as it is not as bad as it sounds. Hughes is still heavily contributing to the game despite his inability to light the lamp at his previous clip. With only four goals, Hughes had to make up for it with his incredible passing. Nine assists helps bring Hughes’ point total in the month of March to 13.

Now, 13 points in 16 games doesn’t seem as bad, does it?

The last goal he scored for the Devils came on March 25 in New Jersey’s 5-3 win against the Ottawa Senators. Hughes also had a helper in that game which boosted his stats as well.

Many have argued in recent seasons that Jack Hughes is a top-ten NHL player due to his shot, speed, IQ, and puck handling. In recent seasons when Jack was getting love from NHL fans the max points he finished with was 56 at the conclusion of the 2021-22 season.

Since entering the league in 2019, Hughes has drastically progressed every season.

2019-20: 7 goals, 14 assists, 21 points.
2020-21: 11 goals, 20 assists, 31 points.
2021-22: 26 goals, 30 assists, 56 points.

Once Hughes regains traction on the scoring sheet, he will be a huge scoring asset to the Devils during the 2023 playoffs and if he can’t find the score sheet by then, you will definitely see his name on the assists sheet.