NEWARK, NJ – Devils superstar center Jack Hughes participated in his first organized team activity Thursday afternoon with the opening practice of Devils 2025 Training Camp since suffering a shoulder injury in early March.
“I feel good. Body feels good,” Hughes said. “I’m excited for the year.”
Hughes, 24, suffered the injury in game in Las Vegas against the Golden Knights on March 2 when late in the third period he became tangled with Knights forward Jack Eichel and crashed shoulder first into the boards. Hughes underwent shoulder surgery and has fully recovered.
“It was frustrating because of how sudden my year ended,” he explained. “I’m excited for this year and ready to go.”
The most difficult part of the injury for Hughes was being away from the game, away from his teammates and missing playoff action.
“For me, the most important thing is to refresh my brain and be excited for this year,” he said. “I wanted to be refreshed, have a good summer and be excited to come back here and play hockey.”
Part of that mental refresh was learning to enjoy his life.
“Enjoying life outside of hockey. Enjoying myself being at home with my friends and my family,” he said. “Then when it’s time to dial in, be ready to go, be excited for the year. That’s what makes things great. You start to miss the game, and you want to work harder when you come back.”
Hughes skated with Jesper Bratt and Evgenii Dadonov to open camp.
“That was a really good start for us,” Hughes said. “That’s all you can do, have another good day tomorrow and just keep building.”
Hughes, the first-overall pick in 2019, will be entering his seventh NHL season. He has totaled 141 goals, 210 assists and 351 points in 368 NHL games so far in his career.
“They always say it goes fast, and you don’t believe them when you’re 18, 19,” Hughes said. “Now I’m in Year 7. I was talking to Bratt today. He’s in Year 9. When he and Nico (Hischier) get into Year 10, that’s going to be crazy for the fans, for me.”
Hughes has been part of the Devils rebuild that has seen the team make the playoffs in two of the previous three seasons. He and his teammates are ready to take yet another step this year.
“The expectation is obviously playoffs,” he said. “Last year, we wanted to just get in. This year, we want to get in and actually compete and strive for a long run in the playoffs. Today is Day 1. It’s a good start. But the group wants to get over the hump and become a team that can compete.”
