The Devils drafted Hughes on June 21 and acquired Subban in a trade with the Nashville Predators on June 22. New Jersey signed right wing Wayne Simmonds (one year, $5 million) as an unrestricted free agent July 1 and acquired left wing Nikita Gusev in a trade with the Vegas Golden Knights on July 29.
Coach John Hynes was asked if high expectations to begin the season make the start even more discouraging.
"You want to be able to maximize the group and be able to have our group be able to win games, and that's what the focus was coming (into the season)," Hynes said. "We'll dig into this game and we'll come back out. The guys will have a day off [Tuesday], and we'll come back here on Wednesday and make sure that we continue to work and fix the areas that need to get fixed.
"Internally, we knew that we had some guys coming along and although our record is not close to what we want it to be, I believe there's evidence that we should have a couple wins on the board. Unfortunately, we don't, but there's not an overreaction."
The Devils next play Thursday when they host the New York Rangers (7 p.m. ET; NBCSN, NHL.TV). Hughes will face the No. 2 pick in the 2019 draft, right wing Kaapo Kakko, for the first time.
"That'll be the last thing on my mind," Hughes said. "I mean, our team hasn't won a game yet, so that'll be the No. 1 thing. We're trying to win the game. It doesn't matter who we're playing."