Keeping Jack Hughes healthy, deputizing for injured Kovacevic among unknowns
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NHL.com is providing in-depth roster, prospect and fantasy analysis for each of its 32 teams from Aug. 1-Sept. 1. Today, three important questions facing the New Jersey Devils.
As painful a question it is, it’s justified. Since entering the NHL in 2019-20, Hughes has played more than 62 regular-season games once — when he had 99 points (43 goals, 56 assists) in 78 games and the Devils reached the Eastern Conference Second Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2022-23.
Hughes missed 25 games in 2024-25, including all five playoff games, after having shoulder surgery on March 5. He was sidelined twice in 2023-24 totaling 16 games before it was announced April 9, 2024, he would miss the final four regular-season games to get shoulder surgery. In his second NHL season, Hughes was placed on injured reserve with a dislocated left shoulder and missed 17 games.
The bottom line: New Jersey needs Hughes on the ice to get to where it wants to go. He’s a proven point-producer not only in the regular season, but playoffs.
“I look at it this way, he’s had both shoulders done,” Devils assistant general manager Dan MacKinnon said. “They always say, once they’re done, they’re a little bit stronger than they were before. It’s not like Jack’s had a bunch of knee injuries … that can be long-term problems. I think you’re just counting on the fact he’s older, more physically mature. He had this procedure done on both sides so there shouldn’t be any reason we’re dealing with it again and you get a full season out of him.”
Kovacevic, who signed a five-year, $20 million contract ($4 million average annual value) on March 7, had knee surgery in June and won’t be ready for the start of the regular season. There is no timetable for his return. The 28-year-old was injured in a 3-2 double overtime win against the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference First Round. Carolina won the best-of-7 series 4-1.
The two candidates to fill the void are Simon Nemec (2022 NHL Draft, No. 2), who came on strong at the end of last season, and Seamus Casey (2022 draft, No. 46), a smart, dynamic, puck mover.
“Nemec has to work harder than he’s ever had in training camp,” general manager Tom Fitzgerald said. “We love where he ended, where his game was, and he looked like the player we thought we were drafting so I’m really excited about his growth. Seamus, same thing. He’s still a young player in this League. You look at the experience Nemec has … Seamus will get that experience again. It’s always nice to have depth, especially a right shot.”
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Forwards Arseniy Gritsyuk, Shane Lachance and Lenni Hameenaho will each have an opportunity to earn a roster spot from the get-go.
“I’m excited to watch Gritsyuk, Lenni or even a Shane Lachance come into camp and make it hard on us to send them down (to Utica of the American Hockey League),” Fitzgerald said. “They’re all different. They all have NHL upside. I’m curious to see how Gritsyuk will adapt. He’ll be here mid-August to become accustomed to North America. I’m told he’s got the upside of Evgenii Dadonov at the same age, so it’ll be nice for Dadonov to be a mentor.”
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