Devils Notes: Hughes, Miller, Nosek, Palát

Devils star center Jack Hughes has missed seven games with an upper-body injury, and that number will climb for at least a couple of weeks. Head coach Lindy Ruff told reporters Monday that the team doesn’t expect Hughes to return to practice before the All-Star break, let alone game action (via the team’s Amanda Stein).

The news puts his availability for the 2024 edition of the event in question. Hughes had been tabbed to serve as an assistant captain under his brother, Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes, for one of the four teams participating in next month’s game. He’ll now miss at least 10 games with his injury, as being out until the All-Star break rules him out of the team’s next three games.

Despite the extended absence, he’s only recently been passed as the team’s leading scorer by winger Jesper Bratt, who’s posted 47 points in 44 games. Hughes’ per-game production still leads the team by far, however – his 15 goals and 45 points in 32 games is good enough for 1.41 per game, a 116-point pace. The 22-year-old leads Devils forwards in ice time this season (20:30 per game) and has been extremely effective at controlling possession, posting a 58% Corsi share at even strength and controlling 59.2% of expected goals when on the ice with Bratt and Tyler Toffoli, per MoneyPuck.

Other notes from Ruff this morning:

• Defenseman Colin Miller will miss tonight’s game against the Golden Knights with an illness, making him the fourth Devils defender to be held out of the lineup at the moment. The 31-year-old has been a good value pickup for the Devils after coming over from the Stars via trade last summer, posting five points in 25 games while dominating his bottom-pairing minutes in the possession department. His absence means 23-year-old Santeri Hatakka will make his New Jersey debut after the team recalled him last week.
• It’s not all bad news on the injury front. Injured forwards Tomáš Nosek and Ondřej Palát have begun skating on their own as they work their way back from respective foot and lower-body injuries, per Ruff. They’ve yet to return to practice, but a return is now in sight for the players who haven’t suited up since the calendar flipped to 2024. Palát, who has 14 points in 35 games in his second season in New Jersey, has missed the team’s last nine games. Nosek hasn’t played since late November after undergoing foot surgery.