Devils analyst projects noteworthy statistical achievement for Jack Hughes in sixth NHL season

Pucks and Pitchforks’s Vincent Parise believes Devils star center Jack Hughes will have his first 100-point season during his sixth NHL season in Newark, New Jersey after going for 99 in 2022-23.

Hughes will have had to overcome a slow start to the year en route to greatness in the third year of his eight-year, $64 million rookie-scale extension.

“As for Jack Hughes, the first overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, his defensive game is getting much better as we move along, but being a force offensively is his game. After a slow start by his standards, he is going at full speed now,” Parise wrote.

“Hughes looked as dynamic as he’s ever been for yet another 3-point game. Hughes is now up to 8 goals and 12 assists for 22 points in 20 games played so far. His first 100-point season may be coming in his age-23 season which would be remarkable (he’s already had a 99-point season).”

Hughes has powered the Devils to the Eastern Conference lead in points. New Jersey sits behind only the Winnipeg Jets league-wide as of this writing.

In Hughes’s past 10 games, the Devils’ alternate captain has 13 points and six goals.

Devils have ‘no chance’ if it’s open season for NHL opponents on Jack Hughes

Hughes is critical to what the Devils do. Perhaps indispensable. The New York Post’s Larry Brooks believes New Jersey has “no chance” if the Devils' defenders don’t start defending their stars when opponents dish out punishment on the open ice and along the boards.

“If there is open season on Hughes, the Devils not only have no chance, but they would also deserve what they get. If they allow their skilled guys to get bullied, they have no chance. You would think that would be self-evident in the room and in the coach’s quarters, when Sheldon Keefe should have learned long ago during his tenure in Toronto that skill alone does not win championships (or even multiple playoff rounds),” Brooks wrote.

Hughes will only have New Jersey in championship conversations if he’s in uniform. This isn’t news to anyone watching the Devils of late.