Although the Latest Jersey Devils might be without Jack Hughes after they tackle the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night, it might be the one game the superstar forward misses.
Head coach Sheldon Keefe provided an enormous update on the injured American after the morning skate in Canada’s capital city.
“Evaluation yesterday confirmed excellent news which is that it’s nothing serious,” he told reporters, including team senior producer Sam Kasan. “I believe we’ll see him on the ice soon.”
That is a breath of fresh air for all the organization, because the 24-year-old has already missed 18 games this season as a consequence of a hand injury. Despite the absence, Hughes is third in team scoring with 36 points in 36 games in 2025-26, behind only Jesper Bratt (40 points in 54 games) and Nico Hischier (41 in 54).
Hughes is about to represent Team USA on the Winter Olympics in Milan next month together with brother Quinn; the ice hockey competition begins on Feb. 11.
The Orlando, Florida native sustained the injury during Thursday night’s 3-2 victory over the Nashville Predators. He left the competition after playing just three shifts totaling 2:27 of ice time in the primary period.
Although he won’t play on Saturday, Hughes might be an option for one or each of Latest Jersey’s last two tilts before the Olympic break. The Devils will host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday and Latest York Islanders on Thursday before being out of game motion until Feb. 25.
Devils battling for playoff lives ahead of Olympics
It has been a difficult campaign overall in Newark; the Devils are 28-24-2 and sixth place in a competitive Metropolitan Division. They have been higher as of late, winning six of 10, but remain seven points out the No. 3 seed within the division, and nine back of the ultimate wild card berth within the Eastern Conference.
Things might be even harder without Hughes and potentially Hischier as well; the captain didn’t take part in the morning skate as a consequence of an illness and might be a game-time decision on Saturday.
Despite the ailments, the Devils still imagine they could be one in all the last eight teams standing within the conference at the top of April.
“We imagine with proper structure and process, we will be in every game and provides ourselves a chance to get points in every game,” Keefe said, per NHL.com’s Mike G. Morreale. “We all know we put ourselves in a troublesome spot here but we have shown signs of coming back and getting some very priceless points here within the last while to stay within the fight and the hassle [on Thursday] reflected the assumption the group has.”
Banking some points over their last three games before the pause is critical to getting the Devils back right into a crowded playoff race. The hope is that Hischier will have the opportunity to suit up, and Hughes might be join him within the lineup on home ice on Tuesday night.
Puck drops between Latest Jersey and Ottawa just past 7:00 p.m. ET from the Canadian Tire Centre.