Devils’ Luke Hughes to miss rest of 2025-26

The youngest of the Hughes brothers, who has now completed his third full NHL season, finished his campaign with 6 goals and 29 assists for 35 points in 68 games played while skating to a minus-4 rating on an average of 23:00 of time on ice per game.

It has been a frustrating season for the Devils on the whole, as the team will miss the Stanley Cup Playoffs in a year that began with expectations of Cup contention and a scorching hot start.

Hughes was no exception, as he failed to build on his 44-point effort from a season ago despite increased ice time and opportunity.

The Michigan native had 47 points in 82 games as a rookie in 2023-24 before posting 44 in 71 last year, a season that was cut short in the playoffs when he missed all but one game of the team’s first-round series against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Hughes, who New Jersey chose with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft, just finished the first season of a seven-year contract that carries a salary cap hit of $9 million. Hughes signed the deal, which was negotiated by outgoing general manager Tom Fitzgerald, after holding out of training camp as a restricted free agent.

The Devils, led by their eventual new GM hire, will look to re-tool the roster in a bid to get back to playoff form next season. Captain Nico Hischier is only under contract for one more season, and he made waves earlier this week when said that he will “see what happens” after his contract expires.