NHL Fans Owe Devils’ Jack Hughes an Apology

"Jack is one of the most injury prone players, gonna only get worse as his body gets older. It’s unreliable to count on him each year. Lots of Devil fans want him traded asap before he loses more value," one NHL fan wrote on X.

"I’d trade Jack Hughes," another Devils fan said. "He is made of tissue paper and not reliable enough to get this team where it needs to go."

It's also been rumored that fans and certain other members of the media placed calls to the restaurant where the accident occurred (Chicago Cut) and inquired about further details before Jack was even out of surgery.

Fans Need to do Better by Hughes

Injuries can be very personal and emotional for a lot of players — regardless of sport. Athletes in the professional world frequently do not have the choice of keeping diagnoses private and are often forced to reveal intimate details of an injury to the media and the public.

Calling for Jack to get traded is nothing short of asinine. His injury has been described by the Devils as an accident on multiple occasions, and not wanting a former No. 1 overall draft selection who comes from a family of storied success in hockey across the youth, professional and international level is certainly a choice.

Now, it's important to point out that injuries are a part of athletics and can be difficult to avoid. Any athlete in any league understands the risk that they are placing on their body. Jack, in particular, was also just coming back to peak health after his season was cut short last year when he underwent shoulder surgery back in March.

But, at the end of the day, athletes are still human beings who deserve well-wishes in times of health scares just like anyone else. Wishing for someone to be traded just because of an injury is completely unacceptable. And let it not go unnoticed that Jack has still yet to comment on his latest injury — perhaps because he feels so unsupported by certain members of the fanbase.

"It's a tough situation obviously," New Jersey Devils Head Coach Sheldon Keefe said. "You feel for Jack. He's been playing so well. He worked so hard last summer to get himself back and was playing very well, so it's tough for him, tough for us as a team. We've unfortunately had to get used to these situations of people dropping out of our lineup and pressing on as a team so that's what we'll have to do ... I think just out of respect for the situation, and it doesn't do anybody any good to dig too much into the details of what happened other than to say from our end of it, we're satisfied it was a freak accident that could have happened to anyone"

Despite Jack's injury, the Devils most recently took down the Washington Capitals on the road in a 3-2 win, which was earned in shootout fashion. It was their first game since Jack's injury in Chicago. Shane Lachance of the AHL's Utica Comets made his league debut and both Dougie Hamilton and Connor Brown are also now expected to join New Jersey at practice on Monday after Simon Nemec put up the game-winner over Washington.