Luke Hughes shoulder injury could be worse, but New Jersey Devils can't rush him back

New Jersey Devils fans got more bad news on Thursday when we learned that young defenseman Luke Hughes was suffering from a shoulder injury. The Devils revealed it happened during training camp, and now the team has to find a replacement for a few weeks. The current trajectory has him returning in early November, meaning he will miss the first month of the season.

This all started with a tweet showing Hughes in a sling while at the Michigan Wolverines football game, and it forced the Devils to reveal that Hughes had been injured in offseason training. It's not an ideal situation or the Devils, who are losing the one defenseman still on the roster that played 82 games last season.

The Devils might have some growing pains to start the season. Brett Pesce, Brenden Dillon, and Johnathan Kovacevic were all acquired in the offseason. Dougie Hamilton is coming off a major injury, one that has hurt players in the past for years (torn pectoral muscle). Jonas Siegenthaler is coming off an awful season.

And then, there's Simon Nemec. The Devils' other young defenseman appeared to be hurt in Olympic qualifiers, and we still haven't received an update on his injury status.

We've covered how this isn't ideal. However, this is far from the worst-case scenario. The Devils have had worse injuries. However, they need to learn their lesson with how they treated injuries for Luke Hughes' brother Jack Hughes. Often, the middle Hughes child returns from his shoulder injury and looks like half the man he used to be. About 10 games in, he turns into a superstar again, but wouldn't it be better to just wait until that's the man he is instead of wheeling him out there when he's not 100 percent?

The Devils have depth at defense this season. Luke Hughes' injury will hurt as he's a unicorn for his speed and agility, but they have Santeri Hatakka who is a good left-handed defenseman who was possibly getting lost to waivers. Now, it seems like a pretty easy bet he starts the year with the big club.

They also have two right-handed defensemen who can easily slot into the lineup. Both Nick DeSimone and Kovacevic showed last season they are NHL defensemen. Pesce has played on the left side before, at one time with Hamilton. Sheldon Keefe can get creative with his pairings now.

There's not much bright side to look at here, but the Devils have the foundation to escape previous mistakes. There is literally no reason to rush Luke Hughes back. Even if the Devils start the season slow, they have the foundation to bounce back. And even so, if they do need a bounce back, they'll need Luke Hughes at the peak of his powers to do so. Rushing him back three to five games too early just to get him in the lineup is a fool's errand. It will do more harm than good.

Let Luke Hughes recover fully. Allow him time to get back to speed. Do everything to make it as if this player is coming in with a shoulder that's fully intact.