The New Jersey Devils have announced that center Jack Hughes will be returning to the lineup for Thursday’s game against the Calgary Flames.
Hughes, 22, had been out of the lineup ever since he suffered an upper-body injury on January 5th during a 4-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks. He had missed the past 11 games for New Jersey, with the team going 4-6-1 during his absence.
Based on the lines run during Thursday’s morning skate, Hughes appears to be slotted on what is technically the third line for the Devils with Tyler Toffoli and Alexander Holtz. While Toffoli has been Hughes’ most common linemate this season, Holtz has had a bit less time with him, as the trio has just 18 minutes together in 2023-24, and have split the on-ice goals at 1-1 and have a 56.5% expected goal share in that time.
When he hasn’t been hurt, Hughes has been one of the best players this season, with 15 goals and 30 assists for 45 points in 32 games. That has him in 5th in the league in points-per-game at 1.41, and would be a 115-point pace in a full season, although with what games he has left he’s still on pace for an excellent 92 points.
Hughes was the first-overall pick for the Devils in 2019, and after a slow start to his career, he’s developed into one of the best players in the league over the course of his five seasons with New Jersey.
The Orlando, Florida product is currently in the second year of an eight-year contract with an $8 million cap hit, a deal he signed as an extension during the 2021-22 season before he broke out as one of the league’s better players.
The Devils will hope that Hughes’ return will help them build on Tuesday’s 5-3 win over the Colorado Avalanche when they host the Flames on Thursday at 7 p.m. EST. New Jersey currently sits in sixth in the Metropolitan Division with a 25-20-3 record, and are five points behind both the Philadelphia Flyers and Detroit Red Wings for either a divisional playoff spot or a wild card spot.
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