It's officially panic time for the New Jersey Devils. As they attempted yet another comeback against the Vegas Golden Knights, Jack Hughes got tangled up near the front of the net and went down hard against the boards. He was slow to get up, and when he skated to the bench, he was hunched over. Many have pointed out this could be a shoulder injury, something Jack Hughes has dealt with multiple times over his career.
The Devils have been terrible lately, especially offensively. They haven't been able score at all, and Jack Hughes has been the proponent of most of the scoring. So, without Hughes in the lineup, a bad offense loses its best weapon.
There is no sugar coating this; if the Devils lose Hughes for any extended period of time, they might not have anything to play for. It would ruin the first season of Sheldon Keefe's Devils career. It really puts Tom Fitzgerald in an uncomfortable position with ownership. Everything goes from high marks to down in the dumps.
Jack Hughes left the ice after colliding with Jack Eichel and the boards. pic.twitter.com/ms3Ye5CJoP
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 3, 2025
With the NHL Trade Deadline on the horizon, many might hope there's someone who can help. That seems unlikely. A player like Ryan O'Reilly would definitely help, but he obviously won't replace the impacts of Hughes. He's also going to cost a ton since he has term left on his deal, but the Devils might be better off just paying the price for O'Reilly to try and save this season.
This is the second night in a row we've had an injury scare involving a Hughes' brother. Luke Hughes had an awkward collision with a player on the Utah Hockey Club and missed the end of the second period on Saturday night. He was able to recover and return to the game, alleviating further scares for Devils fans.
This one might not end so lucky. This looked more serious, and there was an actual collision involved here. Hughes has a history of these types of injuries. As of this writing, we have no update on Hughes.
Keefe on Jack: “Real hard to see him go down. There’s no update. He’s going to have to be evaluated. Obviously it didn’t look good. We’re gonna have to take our time to know the full extent of it.”#NJDevils
— Sam Kasan (@samikasan) March 3, 2025
That's not a quote we want to see from Sheldon Keefe after the game. We don't want to talk about this scenario and seeing no positivity in the postgame. It's just a bad situation for everyone involved. Hopefully, this incredibly unlucky Devils team gets a miracle and the injury is minor, but we're preparing for the worst.