New Jersey Devils fans have had a lot of heartbreak during the 2025-26 season. Even with an eight-game winning streak under their belt, they are fighting for their playoff lives every week because the Metropolitan Division is insane. On top of that, they have been dealing with as many injuries as any team in the league. Most injury accumulators have only the Florida Panthers and Vegas Golden Knights as "more" injured than the Devils.
The most important injury for the Devils was also the most insane. Jack Hughes got hurt during a freak incident during a team dinner in November. However, after months of bad news, the Devils got a trove of good news on Sunday before Christmas. Jack Hughes is back!
On top of that, Arseny Gritsyuk, Timo Meier, and Johnny Kovacevic started practicing. At different points in the season, 70% of the lineup has missed time. It’s impacted every position, but the Hughes injury has had the most impact to their day-to-day success. Since Hughes has been out, the Devils have a losing record, including a five-game losing streak.
With Jack Hughes back, most Devils fans couldn’t be happier.
Well, they could be a little happier. The Devils could have traded for Quinn Hughes while his brother was recovering. Multiple reports say the Devils had the deal ready to go, but different factors got in the way. Whether it was an inability to move money, say from a Dougie Hamilton or Ondrej Palat trade, or scoffing at the price to acquire the eldest Hughes brother, the Devils couldn’t pull the trigger.
Obviously, Jack Hughes was probably upset in the moment that he wasn’t going to play with Quinn, but he knows more about the process than we do, so he likely knew the ins and outs of the trade before they happened. We’d also hope Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald had a conversation with him first.
During his media availability on Sunday, Hughes was pretty straightforward about his feelings on the situation.
"It happened fast. Think (Quinn is) happy in Minnesota now... A little bit (of disappointment). You knew there was a likelihood it wasn't going to be New Jersey just because there are 30 other teams outside New Jersey and Vancouver. I'm sure that he's excited to be in Minnesota now and be on a good team. We're happy for him."Jack Hughes, Devils forward
Obviously, Quinn Hughes would have really helped the Devils on their journey to a Stanley Cup. Unfortunately, for now, they have to "settle" for Jack Hughes. Honestly, that's a pretty good consolation prize.
See Jack's complete comments, including his first explanation of the "freak" injury, via Ryan Novozinsky of NJ Advanced Media.