Luke Hughes Is Done for the Season and the Devils Just Admitted Their Year Is Over
The New Jersey Devils shut down 22-year-old defenseman Luke Hughes on Thursday. He's heading in for an undisclosed procedure and won't play another game this season. The team's official reason: get a head start on rehab for the offseason. Translation: the season is cooked, and they're already looking ahead.
The Shoulder That Cost Them
Hughes missed 10 games earlier this winter with a shoulder injury, and ESPN reports the surgery he's about to have is to address that same issue. The guy just signed a massive seven-year, $63 million extension last October. He's supposed to be a cornerstone piece of the franchise's future. Instead, here we are in early April, and he's getting shut down with four games left on the schedule.
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👉 Claim Your Free $10 at KalshiIn his most recent game, a 5-1 loss to Philadelphia on Tuesday, Hughes played 21 shifts and logged 24:09 of ice time. Not exactly the kind of workload you're putting on a guy if you're confident he can stay healthy. He finished the season with 35 points (six goals, 29 assists) in 68 games. Not bad, but not exactly the dominant performance you want from a top-four defenseman on that kind of contract.
The Devils Are Already Out
The Devils stand at 40-35-3 with 83 points and have been mathematically eliminated from the playoff picture. They've got four games left to play, starting with Thursday's home matchup against Pittsburgh. At this point, they're just going through the motions.
Hughes was the No. 4 overall pick in the 2021 draft and has compiled 128 points (23 goals, 105 assists) in 223 games since his NHL regular-season debut with New Jersey in April 2023. He's got all the talent in the world. But injuries and a team that couldn't get it done this season have forced the organization to hit pause and focus on getting their young defenseman healthy for next year.
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