NEWARK, NJ - The New Jersey Devils are back at Prudential Center tonight for a preseason game against the Boston Bruins. Tonight will be a night of firsts for a couple of Devils newcomers, including Jack Hughes, P.K. Subban, and Nikita Gusev. For rookie Jack Hughes, he's just excited to finally be playing on an NHL rink.
"It's really exciting, during the morning skate on the big rink, it was pretty exciting to be on an NHL pad like that. I'm sure once it feels up with fans tonight it'll be a lot of fun," said Hughes.
Hughes, Subban, and Guesv have quickly developed a friendship that is noticeable on the ice during training camp. When asked about the trio, Jack said that PK and other veteran leaders in the locker room have been a big help to them.
"There's a lot of really good pros, vets, guys that have been in the league and been successful for a long time. There's a lot of great guys that are there to help me out."
When asked about the friendship developed between him and Gusev, Hughes said that he's a skilled player he is excited to play with and that hockey is a universal language.
"He's a highly skilled player that can really think the game. In hockey there's really only one language so for us it's going to be give and go hockey, move the puck, play to our skill, it should be a lot of fun I'm excited."
For Subban, he is trying to help out Hughes whenever he can.
"Listen he's going to be a premier player in the league for a long time. I was never in the league at 18, so I can't imagine what it's like to be Jack Hughes. The one thing I will say is that we're going to need him down the stretch to be a contending team for a long time to come. He'll be here for a really long time," said Subban.
In training camp, Subban has been paired with defenseman Sami Vatanen. Subban said that Vatanen's experience with the Devils system will help him through the rest of the preseason.
"He's got experience and obviously very skilled, he moves along really well. I'll be leading on him so that I can continue to learn the system," said Subban.
DEVILS LINES VS. BOS
Gusev - Hughes - Simmonds (RULED OUT - LOWER BODY)
Boqvist - Zajac - Bratt
Wood - Maltsev - Anderson
Studenic - Sharangovich - Clarke
Vatanen - Subban
Greene - Jacobs
Smith - Carrick
Schneider
Senn
