The New Jersey Devils will be without one of their top players when they come to DC this weekend, announcing Friday afternoon that star center Jack Hughes had sustained a “non-hockey, hand injury.”
Though the Devils didn’t provide details, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that Hughes got hurt during a team dinner.
“Exact details are unknown at this time, but it’s believed he slipped and cut his hand, in what multiple sources are calling a ‘fluke accident,'” Friedman wrote.
The Hockey News’ Kristy Flannery later reported that Hughes sustained the injury after accidentally leaning on a glass. The team is still evaluating Hughes to determine his exact timeline, per Friedman, but he is not expected to suit up against the Washington Capitals on Saturday.
In an unfortunate coincidence, the restaurant in question appears to be the steakhouse Chicago Cut. Devils rookie Arseni Gritsyuk posted a photo to Telegram of the team, including Hughes, dining there during an off day in Chicago on Thursday.
Hughes’ injury adds yet another absence to an injury-riddled Devils roster. Both Cody Glass and Zack MacEwen left Wednesday’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks hurt, and the team was already missing Johnathan Kovacevic, Evgenii Dadonov, Brett Pesce, and Connor Brown. Since the Chicago game, the Devils have recalled Nathan Légaré and Shane Lachance from the AHL’s Utica Comets, placing MacEwen and Brown on injured reserve.
Despite those injuries, the Devils currently lead the Eastern Conference with a 12-4-1 record, and Hughes has been a critical part of that early-season success. He’s scored at above a point-per-game pace over his first 17 games and currently leads the team with 20 points (10g, 10a, four points more than any other player.
In 24 career games against the Capitals, Hughes has recorded 19 points (5g, 14a). Saturday’s meeting will be the first time the Caps and Devils face off in a regular-season game this fall, though Washington earned a preseason shootout win against New Jersey in September.
The Capitals will look to snap out of a largely unsuccessful four-game road trip on Saturday, dropping the puck against New Jersey at 7pm at Capital One Arena. They’ve lost seven of their last nine games.
Update (11/15): The Devils announced Saturday that Hughes has undergone finger surgery and will be out for the next eight weeks.
