Another day, another injury. It’s really starting to feel like the New Jersey Devils can’t come out of a game without losing at least one player. Coming into their contest against the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday afternoon, they were already without Cody Glass, Johnny Kovacevic, Evgenii Dadonov, Juho Lammikko, and Zack MacEwen, but they had some guys coming back. Stefan Noesen recently returned, Seamus Casey made his season debut with the Utica Comets, and Jacob Markstrom was back as the backup goalie against the Avs.
Now, another key player is going to be out, although the length of his injury is not yet known. Defenseman Brett Pesce has been incredible with New Jersey, and he really took on a massive role this season. He’s paired with Luke Hughes, and that line has been great.
Pesce-Hughes has been the 14th-best pairing in terms of scoring chance percentage. They’ve been on the ice for 127 and allowed just 97. It’s similar percentages when looking at high-danger chances, according to Natural Stat Trick.
Unfortunately, the Devils now have to find a new pairing for Luke Hughes.
Sheldon Keefe said Brett Pesce has an upper-body injury and won’t travel with the Devils as they start a four-game road trip out west.
— Peter Baugh (@Peter_Baugh) October 26, 2025
While head coach Sheldon Keefe didn't get into specifics, knowing that Pesce isn't traveling with the team as a long run trip is on the horizon is bad news for a team that's had about as good an October as possible.
Jack Hughes's overtime goal gave the Devils a win, so that helps the team in the standings. Losing Pesce could have longer-term impacts.
It’s too early to overreact to the situation. If Pesce is going to miss time, Seamus Casey is the likely first guy up. As we said, he just returned from his own injury this weekend, but Keefe said earlier this month his injury wasn’t serious.
The right side of the defense gets very young very quickly. They have a 30-year-old Brett Pesce and 28-year-old Johnny Kovacevic signed, but the Devils are forced to play a 21-year-old Simon Nemec and a 21-year-old Seamus Casey.
It’s not an ideal scenario, but the Devils do have the talent to replace Pesce in the short term. Casey looked great in training camp, so hopefully he can add offense to the back end while he’s here. If the Pesce injury is just until the road trip is over, then it’s not a big deal.
However, with us already knowing he’s out for the trip and being just minutes after the game was over, it sounds like it could be longer.