The New Jersey Devils announced that star forward Jack Hughes will miss the remainder of the 2023-24 season to undergo shoulder surgery on April 10, 2024. Unfortunately, the news does not come as a surprise as the 22-year-old center has had shoulder-related injuries since the 2021-22 NHL season.
Hughes ends his fifth NHL season with 27 goals and 47 assists for 74 points. He managed to post those totals in only 62 games this season. When the season is all said and done, he missed 20 games due to upper-body injuries, which can be assumed were related to his shoulder.
Hughes Presumed Ready for 2024 Training Camp
Hughes will undergo the surgery in Vail, Colorado. Dr. Peter Mellett will be performing the surgery, the same surgeon who performed shoulder surgery on Montreal Canadiens’ forward, Cole Caufield. Though it is unknown if Hughes will be receiving the same type of surgery, Caufield returned to the NHL and posted a career-high 24 goals and 35 assists in 77 games played.
Hughes suffered his latest injury in January, when he missed 11 games due to an upper-body injury. He returned to the lineup on Feb. 8 against the Calgary Flames. However, fans noticed the star player did not look the same upon his return. To further speculate that the forward was still playing injured, Hughes has not taken a faceoff since Dec. 2023. Finally, fans’ fears became true when the Devils announced that he would miss the rest of the season and finally fix the issues with his shoulder. On the bright side, the organization also revealed that Hughes should be ready for the 2024-25 training camp.
The Devils have four games remaining on their schedule before their nightmare of a season is over. Thus, a massive offseason will ensue where New Jersey must focus on making pivotal moves to find themselves back in the postseason next year.
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