The New Jersey Devils announced the news nobody wanted to hear. Jack Hughes is injured. Hughes is now going to miss Saturday's game against the Washington Capitals, and that might not be all he misses.
The circumstances around the injury, unlike other injuries that have impacted the Devils, have been reported by Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman. He says that Hughes suffered the injury during a team dinner in Chicago. The Devils stayed in the Windy City after beating the Blackhawks in overtime on Wednesday night.
"Exact details are unknown at this time, but it’s believed he slipped and cut his hand, in what multiple sources are calling a “fluke accident.”"Elliotte Friedman, Sportsnet
The severity of the injury is not yet known. However, the fact that we haven't heard that it's minor is already bad news. The Devils absolutely cannot deal with a Jack Hughes injury. It would be even worse right now. The Devils top six looked much better against Chicago, with Hughes partnering with Arseny Gritsyuk and Dawson Mercer for a powerful top line. They dominated play, and Hughes added to his point total. He's up to 20 points in 17 games.
The Hughes injury is especially frustrating since the Devils just lost Cody Glass and Zack MacEwen on Wednesday. Those injuries happened during the game. Glass was seen at the team dinner in question, leaving some fans thinking he might be okay. MacEwen was placed on injured reserve, however.
Hughes has to be out short-term. The Devils are already playing without their entire right side of the defense. They don't have top-line winger Evgenii Dadonov after he broke his hand on opening night. The injury list is getting ridiculous, but this is the most ridiculous injury of all. Hughes being out because he cut his hand at a team dinner will be one of the record books. Hopefully, this is a funny anecdote to a great season and not the start of the downfall of the Devils, who currently sit in first place in the entire conference.