Devils’ Nico Hischier Day-To-Day, Jack Hughes Banged Up

The New Jersey Devils could soon be without their two top forwards. Captain Nico Hischier left the team’s Saturday night matchup against the Montreal Canadiens in the second period, after receiving a slash from Canadiens center Nick Suzuki. No penalty was called on the play, and instead Suzuki skated up the ice and recorded the primary assist on Montreal’s second goal. Now, Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe has shared that Hischier could be out day-to-day with an undisclosed injury, per James Nichols of New Jersey Hockey Now.

Nichols also shared that Jack Hughes is, “less than 100 percent” due to a nagging finger injury. He suffered the injury partway through New Jersey’s Wednesday win over the Boston Bruins, exiting in the first period to get stitches in his finger but returning shortly after the start of the second. Hughes missed the team’s Friday practice to avoid risk of infection or further inflammation, but played in 20 minutes of New Jersey’s overtime win on Saturday. His status will be monitored closely as the Devils gear up for two weekday games against the Philadelphia Flyers.

There’s been no indication of whether or not the Devils top two centers will play on Monday. If they don’t, New Jersey will play their first game without the star duo in over two years. Despite routine injuries, one of the Devils’ star centers has found a way to stand at the top of the lineup – which would make matching absences incredibly tough to fill. Hughes and Hischier currently rank first and third on the Devils in scoring, with 57 and 43 points in 51 games respectively.

The only extra forward on New Jersey’s lineup is presently Kurtis MacDermid, who’s stepped into four games since the start of January. He doesn’t have any scoring through 19 games this season, which could force the Devils to look towards their minor leagues for meaningful fill-ins. Nolan Foote and Brian Halonen lead the AHL’s Utica Comets in scoring, with 25 points in 33 games and 24 points in 34 games respectively. Both players have served as injury fill-ins throughout the season, though neither has managed any NHL scoring in their spot starts. New Jersey could also turn towards Adam Beckman, who has 22 points in 29 AHL games and also managed two assists in 11 NHL games earlier this year. But none of those players bring natural center ability to the NHL lineup, likely meaning that any recall would need coupled with someone like Stefan Noesen, Ondrej Palat, or Dawson Mercer shifting into the middle-lane.