New Jersey Devils fans are reeling on Friday night after the shocking news that Jack Hughes is going to miss time with a hand injury. The injury did not happen on the ice, however. Reports say that Hughes got injured at a team dinner in Chicago this week. The Devils just called it a “non-hockey” injury.
If the Devils weren’t in first place in the entire Eastern Conference, this would be considered a season from hell. On top of the most recent Hughes injury, the Devils have had Evgenii Dadonov, Seamus Casey, Brett Pesce, Dougie Hamilton, Zack MacEwen, Cody Glass, Stefan Noesen, (takes a breath) and Johnny Kovacevic on the shelf. They are statistically one of the most injured teams in the league.
And we didn’t even mention Connor Brown. The Devils big offseason signing has been a perfect fit with the Devils, adding a scoring touch and defensive responsibility on the third line. Unfortunately, he suffered an injury on October 30th. Brown hasn’t played in November, despite the injury originally expected to be minor. Brown even started skating, but now he’s back on the shelf.
And it sounds like they are putting him on the shelf for longer than we expected. On Friday, while everyone was paying attention to Jack Hughes’s debacle, The Hockey News’s Kristy Flannery found that the Devils made a different move as well.
The #NJDevils now confirmed what I saw on the NHL Media Site. Connor Brown has been placed on injured reserve retro to 10/30/25.
— Kristy Flannery (@InStilettos_NHL) November 14, 2025
NJ recalled Shane Lachance. He will join the team in Washington, D.C., per the team.
Devils confirm that Connor Brown is headed to injured reserve
Maybe the Devils are just trying to make room for another body to make up for the absence of Jack Hughes, and Brown going to IR doesn't impact anything since he's already been out for the minimum of seven days, but it's not encouraging that this is the route the Devils went.
The Devils had Shane Lachance on their original opening night roster, but he was quickly sent down to the Utica Comets. There, he's had just one assist for a Comets team that has been struggling mightily to start the season. Lachance had more points in Utica last season despite playing just two games.
It's unfortunately a bad news Friday night for Devils fans. The injuries continue to pile up, and the team is running out of reinforcements. Everyone is waiting to hear more about Hughes's injury, but this is not encouraging news for what's happening with Brown in the meantime.